Record Reviews

JAH TRIO ~ TRAVELERS SOLITON 1163 (Barcode: 5903684231638) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2021 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz trio, named JAH TrioFind albums by this artist, which comprises of young representatives of the local scene: pianist Jan JareckiFind albums by this artist, bassist Michal AftykaFind albums by this artist and drummer Marcin SojkaFind albums by this artist. The album presents six tracks, which are assumably original compositions, but nothing about the authors is stated on the album’s artwork. The music is all melody based mainstream modern Jazz, beautifully put together, performed and recorded, resulting in a “classic” Jazz piano trio album, which many Jazz listeners around the world should enjoy immensely. Although the Jazz piano trio recordings are pretty common these days, with many young artists adopting this format as their platform, this album is definitely one of the best ones released lately on the Polish scene. The music is often deeply melancholic and bears the typical Polish characteristic of lyricism and melancholy, which have become trademarks of Polish Jazz over the decades. The compositions are coherent and intelligent, and although do not try to innovate of step outside of the well threaded path, still manage to keep the listener alert and often pleasantly surprised. Overall, this is an excellent debut effort of surprising quality, especially in view of the age of the participating musicians, which again proves the excellent Polish musical education and widespread love of the genre. This certainly does not sound like a debut and is full of potential for future efforts. Well done indeed!

Updated: 30/11/2021Posted: 30/11/2021

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PAULINA PORSZKE ENSEMBLE ~ ADDAPTACJA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz keyboardist / vocalist / composer Paulina PorszkeFind albums by this artist recorded with a seven piece ensemble with second keyboardist Jan JareckiFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Aleksander KaminskiFind albums by this artist and Michal Jan CiesielskiFind albums by this artist, cellist Weronika KulpaFind albums by this artist, bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian KreftFind albums by this artist. Except for the two saxophonists and the bassist, the rest of the players have no previous recording experience as far as I know. The album presents five original compositions, one in two parts, all composed by Porszke. From the very onset of the music it becomes immediately apparent that this is a completely original and idiosyncratic piece of music, unlike almost everything that the Polish Jazz scene produced in 2020. Although obviously Jazz oriented, the music is all over the place (in the best meaning of the aphorism), touching on contemporary Classical Music, Free Improvisation, solid melodic themes and at times heartbreaking expressionism and even Romanticism. Such diversity might be a sign of a lack of focus and coherency, but in this case the opposite is true, since although the music is based on cross-genre pollination, it has unifying determination and above all Artistic / aesthetic depth, rarely achievable by such young musicians as Porszke. The complex and challenging music is spectacularly executed by the ensemble. Although there are many inspiring individual statements herein, it is the ensemble performance that is the true forte of this recording. The individual soli are usually short and concise, obviously purposely so, as the leader / composer wishes to present a specific collective ensemble sound and ambience rather than feature the individual statements. Porszke´s use of wordless vocalese deserves a special mention, and is another refreshing facet of the music. It is great to see that some of the representatives of the new generation of European Jazz realize that Jazz music is no longer a simplistic couple of chords theme, 4/4 rhythmic structure and "let´s go" approach. Jazz is becoming more and more Artistic, sophisticated, expressive, intellectual, emotional and above all personal, similar to what one can hear on this album. This music is obviously deeply personal and Porszke uses it as a vehicle to express her innermost experiences, exactly as other true Artists do regardless of what Art Form they utilize to express themselves. It is almost "frightening" to think that if this is Porszke´s debut album, what she will come up with next. Personally I can´t wait to hear it, but on second thought just take your time young Lady…I keep my fingers crossed!

Updated: 07/01/2021Posted: 07/01/2021

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PATRYCJA ZINIEWICZ ~ LIST DO CZARNEGO ANIOLA NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 5900378715047) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by Polish vocalist Patrycja ZiniewiczFind albums by this artist recorded with a classic Jazz piano trio comprising of pianist Jan JareckiFind albums by this artist, bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Kacper SkolikFind albums by this artist. Three other musicians guest on selected tracks. The album presents thirteen songs, associated as the title suggests (Eng. “Letter To The Black Angel”), with the repertoire of iconic Polish vocalist Ewa DemarczykFind albums by this artist, nicknamed “Black Angel”, who died a few months after this album was recorded. Anybody familiar with Polish Culture is of course aware of the unique status achieved by Demarczyk, which sets her apart from everything that happened on the Polish Cultural landscape, high and above on an unreachable pedestal. Her phenomenal interpretation of Polish Poetry and idiosyncratic vocal style, combined with music that was composed (in most cases) specifically for her, is absolutely untouchable and beyond any attempt of being mimicked. The question if her repertoire can be interpreted remains open. Before anything else can be said, the sheer audacity displayed by Ziniewicz by her attempt to tackle this unsurmountable task must be admitted – she surely has “big balls” (gender aside), the question is if that is sufficient. Ziniewicz certainly does not attempt to impersonate Demarczyk, and offers her own interpretation of these songs, which are very far from Demarczyk’s theatrics and extremism. The general idea is to Jazz up these songs, but surprisingly the transformation into Jazz is only partial, and is directly evident on just a few of the songs. That creates an impression of going halfway, rather than presenting a coherent concept. Another problem is the fact, that most of these songs, once performed by Demarczyk in her highly eccentric way, become icons in themselves, and any attempt to perform them will immediately call for a comparison, which of course in impossible. Lofty Angels, Black, Blue or any others are simply best left alone. Ziniewicz is a very gifted vocalist, that goes beyond saying, with an obvious zets, a strong voice with an impressive range, obviously appropriate for the musical stage. She is still very young and will surely crystalize her own stylistic finesse. But Demarczyk did not sing songs from musicals; she was even beyond cabaret or sung poetry, with which she was associated for a lack of a better term, she was simply herself, a mixture of an Angel and a Devil in the flesh. The piano trio sounds the best when the musicians start to swing and even manage to insert an occasional solo, but for the rest of the way they remain pretty unremarkable – professional and technically highly proficient, but nothing special. Overall this album leaves me undecided and with a lot of unanswered questions. These are magnificent songs and the lyrics are pearls of Polish Poetry, so what is here not to like. Is this music as good as the original? Surely not, that is, as already sated, simply impossible. Is it worth listening to? Sure thing, it is even enjoyable if one manages to free oneself from hearing the original in the back of one’s mind. Was this a wise decision? Personally I doubt it, as with all the courage and effort, the task was sadly underrated and proved to be too daunting. But thank you young Lady for trying and for looking up to the best. I am already curious to hear your next album, just don’t give up and remember… this is a long journey up the hill. God bless!

Updated: 21/03/2021Posted: 21/03/2021

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