Record Reviews

ENTROPIA ENSEMBLE ~ ENTROPIA ENSEMBLE ALPAKA 007 (Barcode: 192914874195) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2018 Released: 2018 This is the debut album by the young Polish Jazz quartet Entropia EnsembleFind albums by this artist, which consists of saxophonist Dariusz StanislawskiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Marcel BalinskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Rafal RozalskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Kacper KazmierskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven original compositions, six composed by Balinski and one each by Kazmierski and Stanislawski. The remaining three compositions remain mysteriously unauthored. The music was recorded at the Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist with the usual spectacular sonic quality. The music is a highly interesting collection of modern Jazz compositions, melody based but clearly open to include unexpected twists and turns, polyrhythmic tempi and Free group improvisations, all this without loosing the focus for a single moment. These clever young chaps seem to have a complete disregard of stylistic conventions and frivolously move between tango, Free Jazz and Swing within one tune without even blinking, in the true spirit of the Avant Garde. There is plenty of space on the album for personal expressions and all four members of the quartet get proper exposure. The piano leads the twisted melodic plot, the saxophone improvises on top, the bass takes care of the linkage between the parts as well as carrying the lot together and the drummer adds a steady clockwork beat and frenzy explosions to confuse the listener whenever possible. Overall this is an incredibly intelligent, devilishly clever (perhaps a bit too clever), totally surprising, completely unusual piece of music, definitely one of the most striking (if not the most) debut albums of 2018 on the vibrant Polish Jazz scene. With hundreds of albums released in Poland alone, recording a highly original and completely innovative album is an almost impossible task – but these young musicians stand up to the challenge with eloquence and a fantastic sense of humor (or sarcasm). Absolutely stunning!

Updated: 17/12/2018Posted: 17/12/2018

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BARTEK HALICKI ~ ETNOGRAF SOLITON 853 (Barcode: 5901571098531) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2018 Released: 2018 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz trombonist / composer Bartek HalickiFind albums by this artist recorded with his septet which also includes trombonist Jacek NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Maciej KadzielaFind albums by this artist and Dariusz StanislawskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Marcel BalinskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Rafal RozalskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Karol SzczygielFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven compositions, the first four of which are grouped together into a Jazz Suite. Although not specifically mentioned on the album´s artwork, the compositions and arrangements are assumed to be all by Halicki. The music is an ambitious project amalgamating many stylistic Jazz elements, starting with traditional Jazz from the early 20th Century, Bebop and modern European Jazz, as well as Folkloristic themes and Big Band / Orchestral arrangements. The result, although kept well within the mainstream Jazz idiom, is fresh and full of youthful energy and offers a most pleasant musical experience. The septet performances and the excellent arrangements are able to achieve a big orchestral sound, which creates an illusion of a much bigger group of musicians being involved in the process. With solos played in parallel by several musicians and multilayered melodic division skillfully intertwined, the music makes a potent impression and forces the listener to pay attention to the many details happening at once. In spite of the young age of most of the musicians involved in this project, it is immediately obvious that they are all well educated and schooled, and most importantly enjoy the opportunity to play music together, which evidently influences the end result. Their fluency and knowledge of the Jazz tradition and its many sub-genres is impressive indeed. But as usual it is the cooperation between the septet members which is the most important factor leading to the success of this music. Since larger Jazz ensembles become less and less popular over time, for a variety of reasons: economic, logistic and artistic, it is a real joy to see a successful septet doing such a splendid job. Hopefully Halicki will be able to continue his large ensemble passion in the future as well. Overall this is an impressive debut album, which offers both excellent compositions and exciting performances, as appropriate for the young Lions of Polish Jazz, and which should keep Jazz connoisseurs happy anywhere on this planet. Warmly recommended!

Updated: 28/10/2018Posted: 28/10/2018

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