Record Reviews

TOMASZ STANKO QUINTET ~ WOODEN MUSIC I ASTIGMATIC 020 ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 1972 Released: 2022 This is an archival live album by the iconic Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer / bandleader Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist and his legendary first quintet, which also included saxophonist / flautist Janusz MuniakFind albums by this artist, saxophonist / violinist Zbigniew SeifertFind albums by this artist, bassist Bronislaw SuchanekFind albums by this artist and drummer Janusz StefanskiFind albums by this artist. The music was recorded by Radio Bremen on June 15, 1972 and presents six tracks with uncredited music, entitled simply pieces 1-6. The sound quality, clarity and separation of this recording is better than any other album recorded by this quintet, live or in the studio. The album includes a 32 pages bi-lingual booklet presenting historical background about the quintet and the music and photographs. Stanko formed the quintet in 1968 following his departure from the Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist quintet, and it soon became Poland’s most important, searching and pioneering ensemble on the early 1970s. The quintet activity, which lasted until 1973, marked the first period of Stanko’s career as a leader and his extensive explorations of the Free Jazz / Improvised Music idiom. The quintet performed and recorded more often in Western Europe, especially in Germany, than in Poland and as a result also recorded more albums there than at home. The collective discography of the quintet includes the legendary “Music For KFind albums with this title” (Poland 1970), “Jazzmessage From PolandFind albums with this title” (Germany 1972), “Purple SunFind albums with this title” (Germany 1973), “W Palacu PrymasowskimFind albums with this title” (Poland 1973 / Side A only) and now this album and its successor “Wooden Music IIFind albums with this title”, not yet released at the time of writing. The album, in addition to the fabulous music of course, offers a highly interesting glance at the European Jazz scene at the time and presents the Polish Jazz contribution to the European emancipation from the American domination, in creating a completely new Jazz aesthetics. Other interesting aspects of the music are the hair-raising virtuosity of Seifert, who left the saxophone and concentrated totally on the violin, revolutionizing the violin’s position in Jazz, or the brilliant contributions by Suchanek, who is the absolute centerpiece of the quintet, without whom this music would never sound as coherent as it does here or the sublime polyrhythmic drumming by Stefanski, who was a superb Master of the trade. Overall, this is a brilliant addition to the Polish Jazz discography, nothing short of a holy grail, considering it took half a Century for the music to be discovered and released. Polish Jazz owes a huge gratitude to the German radio stations and record labels, which recorded the music at a time when recording in Poland was extremely limited and many treasures, such as this one, would have never been preserved for eternity. This is an essential piece of European Jazz discography and an album deserving an honorable place in any serious record collection.

Updated: 07/06/2024Posted: 19/01/2023

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Essential Recommend To A Friend

TOMASZ STANKO QUINTET ~ WOODEN MUSIC II ASTIGMATIC 026 ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 1972 Released: 2023 This is the second archival live album by the iconic Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer / bandleader Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist and his legendary first quintet, which also included saxophonist / flautist Janusz MuniakFind albums by this artist, saxophonist / violinist Zbigniew SeifertFind albums by this artist, bassist Bronislaw SuchanekFind albums by this artist and drummer Janusz StefanskiFind albums by this artist. The music was recorded by NDR Hamburg on November 9, 1972 and presents four tracks with uncredited music, which are collectively improvised. It is the second volume of the German Radio recordings and the sound quality, clarity and separation of these recordings are better than any other albums recorded by this quintet, live or in the studio. Stanko formed the quintet in 1968 following his departure from the Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist quintet, and it soon became Poland’s most important, searching and pioneering ensemble on the early 1970s. The quintet activity, which lasted until 1973, marked the first period of Stanko’s career as a leader and his extensive explorations of the Free Jazz / Improvised Music idiom. The quintet performed and recorded more often in Western Europe, especially in Germany, than in Poland and as a result also recorded more albums there than at home. The collective discography of the quintet includes the legendary “Music For KFind albums with this title” (Poland 1970), “Jazzmessage From PolandFind albums with this title” (Germany 1972), “Purple SunFind albums with this title” (Germany 1973), “W Palacu PrymasowskimFind albums with this title” (Poland 1973 / Side A only) and now the two “Wooden MusicFind albums with this title” archive albums. The album, in addition to the fabulous music of course, offers a highly interesting glance at the European Jazz scene at the time and presents the Polish Jazz contribution to the European emancipation from the American domination, in creating a completely new Jazz aesthetics. Other interesting aspects of the music are the hair-raising virtuosity of Seifert, who left the saxophone and concentrated totally on the violin, revolutionizing the violin’s position in Jazz, or the brilliant contributions by Suchanek, who is the absolute centerpiece of the quintet, without whom this music would never sound as coherent as it does here or the sublime polyrhythmic drumming by Stefanski, who was a superb Master of the trade. Overall, this is a brilliant addition to the Polish Jazz discography, nothing short of a holy grail, considering it took half a Century for the music to be discovered and released. Polish Jazz owes a huge gratitude to the German radio stations and record labels, which recorded the music at a time when recording in Poland was extremely limited and many treasures, such as this one, would have never been preserved for eternity. This is an essential piece of European Jazz discography and an album deserving an honorable place in any serious record collection.

Updated: 07/06/2024Posted: 07/06/2024

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Essential Recommend To A Friend