Record Reviews

MICHAL BARANSKI ~ NO RETURN NO KARMA (POLISH JAZZ VOL.90) WARNER MUSIC POLAND 5021732661166 (Barcode: 5021732661166) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2025 Released: 2025 This is the 2nd album as a leader by Polish Jazz bassist / composer Michal BaranskiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with Polish pianist Michal TokajFind albums by this artist, and drummer Lukasz ZytaFind albums by this artist and Israeli guitarist Shachar ElnatanFind albums by this artist. Five additional Polish musicians guest on selected tracks: trumpeter Tomasz DabrowskiFind albums by this artist, tabla player Bodek JankeFind albums by this artist (resident in Germany) and three vocalists – Aga ZaryanFind albums by this artist, Kuba BadachFind albums by this artist and Michal RudasFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, all of which are original compositions by Baranski. This is also the 2nd album by Baranski released as part of the prestigious “Polish Jazz” series, following his sensational debut “Masovian MantraFind albums with this title”, released three years earlier. The album is everything one might hope to hear from Baranski, a wonderful amalgam of Jazz and World Music influences, which travel far and wide between Eastern Europe, Middle East, India and many other exotic locations, all perfectly balanced and incorporated within beautiful melodic themes. The masterful team of musicians enables Baranski to paint a rich tapestry of sounds and ambiences, producing a fascinating vistas and moving moments. Elnatan is an ideal partner to introduce the Middle Eastern accents as well as ornament the music with his elegant guitar soloing and oud parts, Dabrowski, one of Polish Jazz top trumpeters, adds the strong Jazz emotions. Tokaj, as usual, is the melodic dreamer and master of the atmospheres. Zyta and Janke supply the rich rhythmic textures, which pulsate vividly. The vocalists, all quite different from each other, add spark and coloring and finally the leader keeps everything in check with his brilliant bass pulsations. A true dream-team in every sense! It seems that with every listening to this album, one is exposed to some new elements, and the dense collection of the various elements needs attentive and repeated listening. Like all great Art, this music changes with the mood of the listener, and therefore stays fascinating over time, always ready with new emotional surprises. The album offers excellent sound quality, but I am not sure that the fact it was released in the SACD format, which has been de facto dead before it was born, has anything to do with it. It is often difficult to understand the decision making process of record companies, except for making more money? Overall, this is a brilliant album in every respect, which strengthens the status of Baranski as one of the leaders of the Polish Jazz scene, which he of course well deserves. The music and the performances are nothing short of sensational, and the universal power of this music should resonate with music lovers the world over, regardless of their genre preferences. An absolute Masterpiece! Side Note The iconic "Polish Jazz" series of recordings, originally released between 1965 and 1989 by the Polish state owned record company Polskie NagraniaFind albums on this label, which used the MuzaFind albums on this label label as its moniker, consists of seventy six LP albums. It presents the history of Polish Jazz recordings during that period, which includes some of the most important Polish / European modern Jazz milestones and reflects the extraordinary development of Jazz music behind the Iron Curtain. It is one of the most important historic documents of Polish Music and of course Polish Culture in general. The series had an eminent logo designed by Roslaw Szaybo and the albums were numbered sequentially from Vol.1 to Vol.76 accordingly. The album's artwork was wonderfully stylish and modernist, featuring the brilliant photographs and characteristic design by the legendary Polish Artist Marek Karewicz. Stylistically the series presented all Jazz genres, from Traditional Jazz to Avant-Garde / Free Jazz, which was extraordinarily liberal considering the cultural censorship imposed by the Socialist Regime. It suffered from some inconsistency, as far as the musical quality and aesthetics were concerned, as well as the internal "politics" of the Polish Jazz scene at the time, but in retrospect it achieved a spectacular overall result, unparalleled as far as consistently documenting a national Jazz scene is concerned. After the Polskie Nagrania catalogue was bought by Warner Music PolandFind albums on this label, the new owner started a reissue process of the Polish Jazz series, carefully remastered, repackaged and including extensive liner notes, which keeps the artwork as close to the original design as possible. So far six four volumes of the original series were reissued. In 2016 Warner Music Poland decided to continue the original series by releasing new contemporary Polish Jazz recordings under the same format and even to continue the sequential numbering starting with Vol.77 – a decision I personally consider almost sacrilegious. Some things are simply untouchable, and the "Polish Jazz" series is surely one of those things. If Warner Music Poland wants to produce Jazz albums, which is always more than welcome, they could have started a new series, under a new title, rather than exploiting the reputation of the historic series. As a result, some artist whose albums are released as part of the new series might be led to expect instant gratification, fame and stardom, just for being an artificial part of a prestigious past, which of course is as bogus as it is sad.

Updated: 05/12/2025Posted: 05/12/2025

CD 1 SACD Essential Recommend To A Friend

AGNIESZKA HEKIERT ~ STORIES UNIVERSAL 028947651475 (Barcode: 028947651475) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 Polish Jazz vocalist / composer Agnieszka HekiertFind albums by this artist, who combines the careers of a vocalist and a successful vocal coach for TV reality shows, released this album eight years after her last release called "Night And Day SwingFind albums with this title", which she recorded with the pianist / composer Krzysztof HerdzinFind albums by this artist and his trio. In the meantime she also recorded the "European ImpressionsFind albums with this title" album with my dear friend, the great Polish saxophonist / composer Leszek ZadloFind albums by this artist, which unfortunately remains unreleased so far. From that session she carried over the Bulgarian pianist / composer Konstantin KostovFind albums by this artist (who studied with another friend of mine, the Russian pianist / composer Leonid TschischikFind albums by this artist, now living and teaching in Germany), who is her closest collaborator on this album. The other musicians, who constitute the piano trio on this album, are bassist Robert KubiszynFind albums by this artist and drummer Cezary KonradFind albums by this artist. Guest appearances also include Herdzin on flute (yes I smiled too), vocalist Kuba BadachFind albums by this artist and the superb Atom String QuartetFind albums by this artist. The album includes twelve songs, four of which are Kostov / Hekiert originals, another four are by Hekiert or feature her lyrics, one is a standard, one is a song by StingFind albums by this artist, another one by Polish vocalist KayahFind albums by this artist and the last of mysterious Far East source (sic!); overall quite a mishmash of styles and influences, which are unified by the arrangements (the arranger is not listed) and excellent performances by the piano trio. Kostov is a brilliant player, which is evident both on his solo spots and his skillful accompaniment, and so are of course veterans Kubiszyn and Konrad. Hekiert is a talented vocalist, singing lyrics and vocalese with obvious ease and technical proficiency. Most of the vocals are in Polish, which of course is highly commendable, with few exceptions, which are unfortunately less impressive. Overall the vocal parts are kept within very safe limits of mainstream Jazz, which is somewhat lacking, as she obviously could have taken a few more risks and less obvious choices. Perhaps the fact that the album was released by Universal signifies an attempt to produce a much wider accessible music? In any case compared to some truly exciting vocal albums released in 2012 in Poland, this one sadly does not challenge any of them. Connoisseurs of vocal Jazz will find this a pleasant listening experience, with excellent instrumental parts and professional vocal performances, no less and no more.

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

MACIEJ KOCINSKI ~ PROVERBS 3:5 ALLEGRO 026 (Barcode: 5901157049261) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the debut recording by the trio led by Polish saxophonist / composer Maciej KocinskiFind albums by this artist, who is primarily known as the leader of the SoundcheckFind albums by this artist quartet, which received a lot of positive attention on the local scene in the last few years. The other members of the trio are bassist Andrzej SwiesFind albums by this artist and drummer Krzysztof SzmandaFind albums by this artist, who are also Soundcheck members. Vocalists Kuba BadachFind albums by this artist and Patrick JiyaFind albums by this artist appear as special guests. The album consists of ten original compositions, all by Kocinski. The trio serves as another vehicle for the leader and his cohorts to present music, which does not fit within the framework of the Soundcheck quartet, moving into areas like atmospheric / ambient / contemplative music influenced by folkloristic motifs and to some extent by contemporary Classical music. The usage of electronics and electric bass takes the music further away from purely acoustic Jazz mainstream. There is also an atmosphere of deep emotional expression, enhanced by the album´s beautiful artwork, title and of course its subject matter. Naming an album after a Biblical quote (and even printing the original Hebrew text on the cover) is surely no accident. The music is quite an unusual amalgam, which makes sense only after listening to the whole album, preferably more than once. It involves many different techniques, from "conventional" acoustic saxophone trio to purely improvised passages, electronic soundscapes, vocal chanting, recitation and others. And yet all these different elements fit together perfectly against all odds, creating truly exciting and emotional sonic experiences. Kocinski uses the EWI skillfully to produce a plethora of different sounds, enhancing the overall instrumental range. The element of melody is vital to this music and reoccurs repeatedly, with beautiful lyrical themes, which later serve as the basis for improvised excursions. The album and the music are obviously a team effort, and although the leader is the primary soloist, his partners get ample opportunity to contribute. Swies is brilliant, as always, with his bass (acoustic and electric) being the backbone of this excellent music. Szmanda fills the blanks and supports delicately, which is exactly what this music needs. His intelligence and good taste are obvious all the way through. All in all this is a superb musical effort, which keeps the listeners on their toes for the entire duration, leaving them wishing for more of the different same. The Polish Jazz scene seems to be a bottomless pit of great music and talented musicians. It is always a great pleasure to discover yet another example of the above and this album certainly stands out as one of the most interesting releases of 2012. Wholeheartedly recommended to all those lionhearted connoisseurs of exciting, surprising and adventurous music!

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

PIOTR ZACZEK ~ MUTRU ARMS 02 (Barcode: 5900238791013) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2006 Released: 2006 This is the debut solo album by Polish Jazz bassist / composer Piotr ZaczekFind albums by this artist, recorded with several fellow musicians, such as saxophonist Maciej KocinskiFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Jerzy MalekFind albums by this artist, violinist Adam BaldychFind albums by this artist, keyboardists Marcin GornyFind albums by this artist and Grzegorz JablonskiFind albums by this artist, and drummer Robert LutyFind albums by this artist. Two vocalists: Ania SzarmachFind albums by this artist and Kuba BadachFind albums by this artist take care of the vocal parts. The album includes fifteen compositions, thirteen of which are by Zaczek, one by Szarmach and the remaining one is a Pop song. The music is heavily oriented towards Fusion, Funk and Ambient, featuring the bass as a leading instrument. The musicians provide some exciting solos and vocals, but overall this is electric bass haven, and people who love the sound of fretless bass will definitely enjoy this album to the max. Zaczek is obviously a virtuoso and some of his licks are quite phenomenal. No wonder he is one of the most sought after session musicians in Poland. As much as I enjoy my Fusion and Funk, the Ambient soundscapes are less exciting, especially electronic programmed drums. Of course I realize they are an integral part of what Zaczek wanted to present here, and they are very well done, just that particular sound somehow doesn´t sit well with me. Several of the album tracks are plays solo by Zaczek, who plays basses, keyboards and programmed the drums, others are performed by a duet, trio etc. There is enough diversity and certainly a lot of excellent performances to make this a nice album to listen to. Of course this is on the lighter side of Jazz and geared mostly towards Fusion fans, which are the natural habitat for this music. Of course bass players should be fairly warned that hearing this album might be very frustrating for some of them ;)

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend