Record Reviews

LAM ~ LAM INSTANT CLASSIC 048 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by Polish Improvising Music trio LamFind albums by this artist, which comprises of veteran Polish Avant-Garde activists: clarinetist / composer Waclaw ZimpelFind albums by this artist, pianist Krzysztof DysFind albums by this artist and drummer Hubert ZemlerFind albums by this artist. Berlin based producer moorycFind albums by this artist, who was involved with the production, adds some electronic sounds. Together they present seven original compositions, all composed by Zimpel, two of which were co-composed by mooryc. Listeners familiar with the music of Zimpel will find this album closely following his usual concept of contemplative, meditative music, which develops painfully slowly and progresses on a very limited emotional level, almost like the music of Far Eastern cultures, which serves mostly for meditation and prayer. This music has a restricted melodic content, with short melodic themes, which are then repeated in an endless cycle, changing only marginally within each piece. Of course serial, cyclic, minimalistic and repetitive music techniques exist also in the Western Classical Music idiom, but Zimpel´s music has more affinity to the folkloristic directions. Personally this is not a kind of music I´d listen to intentionally, as usually I find it rather limited and annoying. Nevertheless this particular album is an exception, as I quite enjoyed the music herein and listened to the entire album with interest and pleasure. Zimpel´s highly emotional and expressive playing on one of the pieces is the absolute highlight of the entire album and justifies getting a copy of it. Dys, who is a brilliant piano virtuoso, sadly has little opportunity to show his super technique and exceptional ability, staying mostly in the background. Same applies to Zemler, who is a very creative drummer but this music hardly allows him to show his entire arsenal of possibilities. But all the limitations are balanced by a tight correlation between the musicians and the aesthetics of the musical concept, which inspires calm personal introspection, which perhaps is the main purpose of this music. Not for everybody of course, but Zimpel has many fans on the Polish scene, who will welcome this album openheartedly, which is always a good thing. Personally I´d love to hear Zimpel playing other kind of music for a change, perhaps more Jazz oriented, but I respect his consistency and obvious talent.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 08/11/2016

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SAAGARA ~ SAAGARA 2 INSTANT CLASSIC 059 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2016 Released: 2017 This is the second album by the Jazz-World Fusion ensemble SaagaraFind albums by this artist led by Polish clarinetist / composer Waclaw ZimpelFind albums by this artist and including several traditional Indian musicians. On this album Zimpel again cooperates with the Berlin based producer moorycFind albums by this artist, who mixed the album. The album presents eight original compositions, all composed by Zimpel except one which was co-composed by him, mooryc and Sara KaluznaFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded in India. This album marks a change of direction for the ensemble and in contrast to the debut album´s traditional Indian Music orientation this album tries to create an amalgam with more Western Music involvement. As a result it is overall more Jazz oriented and certainly much more open to a wider music-loving audience. Although Zimpel certainly did not invent the concept of interaction between Indian and European Music, which has already been attempted by many excellent musicians since the early 1960s, his approach to the process of amalgamation is in many respects much more organic, and as a result the music on this album does not sound like an artificial effort to force two dissimilar musical traditions to coexist, but more like a new music born in the process. Zimpel, who has always displayed an affinity or even an obsession with drone-like repetitive musical elements, finds a gentle version of these reverberations which are an intrinsic element of Indian music, and uses them most effectively. His Jazzy solos and melodic improvisations feel also completely at ease with the rest of the instruments. Overall this is a superb World-Jazz Fusion album, definitely one of the best such endeavors on the Polish scene in the last few years. It is also one of the best Zimpel´s recordings as a clarinetist in a while. It is a delightful musical experience from start to finish and has a tendency to keep growing on the listener with each listening session. Most warmly recommended!

Updated: 21/04/2017Posted: 21/04/2017

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