Record Reviews

TROUBLE HUNTING ~ SOMEBODY ELSE WITH A WRONG DOG RECART 0023 (Barcode: 5908285287220) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2016 Released: 2017 This is the second album by the Polish / Danish Jazz quintet Trouble HuntingFind albums by this artist, led by saxophonist / composer Tomasz LicakFind albums by this artist. On this album the other members of the quintet are: trumpeter Tomasz DabrowskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Sven Dam MeinildFind albums by this artist, bassist Richard AnderssonFind albums by this artist and drummer Kasper Tom ChristiansenFind albums by this artist. These excellent young musicians play together in many other different ensembles with various personnel constellations in the last five years and produced a considerable body of recorded music together. On this album they perform seven original compositions, all by Licak. The music is quite characteristic of the new generation of European Jazz musicians, which combines composition and free improvisation conceptually, blurring the difference between these idioms. As a result the pieces presented here are all based on composed themes, which are stated several times within the duration of each of the pieces, but most of the time serve as a basis for individual and group improvisations, which are the heart of this music. In spite of the free-spirited approach, the music manages to maintain a coherency and form, which is accessible to a relatively large fraction of the Jazz listening audiences, even though it offers no artistic compromises of attempts to sound likeable. The individual statements of all the musicians involved are all heartfelt, honest and excellent musically. Licak plays some wicked bass clarinet parts, which are, together with the electric bass, part of the pulse behind the music and of course adds saxophone improvisations. Dabrowski is as usual the virtuoso in the pack with some heartbreaking solo parts, but also great as part of the "brass section" playing the unisono melody statements. Meinild adds his beautiful gentle tone on both alto and tenor saxophones, expanding the overall sound of the band considerably. Andersson plays electric bass, which sounds perfectly in place in this environment, which is usually reserved for the acoustic double bass. Christiansen, also as usual, plays the drums, managing to keep the time and play around it with his seemingly endless box of percussive tricks. Altogether this is a wonderful display of amazing individual talents and superb ensemble work. Albums like this one are not only aesthetically pleasing and heartwarming, but first and foremost point the way towards the development of European Jazz, which is still making giant steps forwards and manages to discover new territory, to the joy of the connoisseurs of the genre. This is brilliant stuff from start to finish, which I wholeheartedly recommend to everybody who enjoys challenge while listening to music. Well done Sirs!

Updated: 28/10/2017Posted: 28/10/2017

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TROUBLE HUNTING ~ TROUBLE HUNTING MULTIKULTI MPI 020 (Barcode: 5907529223208) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2011 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by the Polish / Danish ensemble Trouble HuntingFind albums by this artist led by Polish saxophonist / composer Tomasz LicakFind albums by this artist and including Polish trumpeter Tomasz DabrowskiFind albums by this artist, Danish saxophonist Sven Dam MeinildFind albums by this artist, Bosnian keyboardist Adi ZukanovicFind albums by this artist, Danish bassist Richard AnderssonFind albums by this artist and drummer Anders ProvisFind albums by this artist. The album presents six original compositions, all by Licak. The music is typical young European Jazz, which combines composed and freely improvised music, with an emphasis on group improvisation and freedom of expression. Despite the advanced explorations, the music manages to stay coherent and tamed, which allows to the inquisitive listener to hear every little nuance of the individual contributions by the musicians. The ambience of the music combines the Polish melancholy with the Scandinavian minimalism, which works out splendidly. Despite the young age of these musicians, they all already show signs of their musical personality. Listening to this album almost a decade after it was recorded gives a wonderful perspective on the musical achievements of Licak, Dabrowski and Meinild, who made numerous other recordings since and solidified their personas. The album is also a document of the bond that was created between young Polish, Danish and other European musicians around the Odense Music Academy, which created an entire circle of musicians who cooperate actively since their meeting as students, being one of the creative foci of contemporary European Jazz. This album withstands the test of time splendidly and sounds every bit as interesting as it did at the time of its release. It is definitely worth revisiting and European Free Jazz / Improvised Music connoisseurs should definitely try and get a copy before this album (like so many others) disappears into oblivion. Great stuff!

Updated: 18/08/2020Posted: 18/08/2020

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