Record Reviews

TERCET KAMILI DRABEK ~ MUZYKA NAIWNA SOLITON 951 (Barcode: 5901571099514) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz trio led by bassist / composer Kamila DrabekFind albums by this artist, with saxophonist Marcin KonieczkowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Kacper KazmierskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven tracks, ten of which are original compositions by Drabek and one is a standard arranged by her. The music was recorded at the Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist and offers a wonderful natural sound quality. The album´s title (Naïve Music in English) is a most appropriate description of its musical contents, which is a collection of seemingly simplistic and minimalist compositions, played without much panache or exhibitionism. All this is an obvious and fully conscious approach by the composer and the trio, trying to keep the music down to its bare components, without polluting it with unnecessary adornment, which is the modus operandi of Naïve Art. Naïve is sadly often confused with primitive or underdeveloped, but in Art it simply means natural / honest / direct rather than limited. The music presented here is by all means fully developed as are the technical skills of the trio members, and the minimalist approach is extremely effective as far as getting the message through, especially in today´s noise polluted musical environment. As a result the album offers a completely innovative path, which of course is commendable, especially in view of the young age of the musicians involved. It takes a few listening sessions to get to the bottom of these compositions and discover their full blossom, but the effect is definitely worth the effort. The recording quality of the music allows the listener to hear clearly every nuance of the instrumental work, which under these circumstances is even more important than usual, as every note played counts. As already stated, this kind of natural sound complements this music perfectly. Overall this is a splendid and very unique debut, which certainly deserves to be heard and rises high hope as to the future if its creators. Very well done!

Updated: 07/08/2019Posted: 07/08/2019

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

TERCET KAMILI DRABEK ~ TAK BYM CHCIALA KOCHAC JUZ AUDIO CAVE 2024/003 (Barcode: 5908298549834) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2023 Released: 2024 This is the 2nd album by the Polish Jazz bassist / composer Kamila DrabekFind albums by this artist, recorded in a trio format with saxophonist Marcin KonieczkowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Kacper KazmierskiFind albums by this artist, same lineup that recorded the debut album “Muzyka NaiwnaFind albums with this title”, released almost five years earlier. The album presents nine tracks, six composed by Drabek, two by Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Jerzy MatuszkiewiczFind albums by this artist and one is a standard by Sonny RollinsFind albums by this artist. The music, except for the two Matuszkiewicz pieces, which are kept close to their origin, i.e. mainstream Jazz, and which are a loving tribute to his music, is wonderful modern Jazz, elegantly minimalist, often romantic and lyrical, and at all times fascinating. The entire album is a great example of the “less is more” idiom, where every note counts and every little nuance is meaningful. The arrangement of the Rollins’ tune is delightful, and I am tempted to send it over to him, to hear what he thinks of it. Although the alto saxophone is naturally at the helm, playing fluently and affluently, this is very much a trio effort, with Drabek vividly present at all times and Kazmierski at her side, with a confident and intelligent rhythmic support. The entire ambience of the trio is very unique and the excellent sound quality of the album adds significantly to its imminent success. The album is a very delicate statement, completely non-aggressive and subdued, and yet striking by its obviously carefully preconceived modesty and aesthetic determination. Everything heard here makes perfect sense musically, and at the same time keeps surprising the listener time after time. Overall, this is an excellent sophomore effort, which was definitely worth the long wait, and establishes Drabek as a musician and composer worth pursuing in the future and a proud representative of the female Polish Jazz scene, which is constantly gaining its repute in the last decade. It is certainly an album many Jazz listeners the world over should enjoy immensely!

Updated: 13/05/2024Posted: 13/05/2024

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

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

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend