Record Reviews

KRZYSZTOF HERDZIN ~ JAZZ Z MACV WARSZAWSKA OPERA KAMERALNA 001 (Barcode: 5904316586829) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2021 Released: 2021 This is an album by Polish pianist / composer / arranger / conductor Krzysztof HerdzinFind albums by this artist, recorded with the Musicae Antiquae Collegium VarsovienseFind albums by this artist (MACVFind albums by this artist), an early music orchestra playing original period instruments. The album presents two works: Wolfgang Amadeus MozartFind albums by this artist’s Piano Concerto No. 17 and Herdzin’s piece called “Chopiniana con delizia”, based of Frederic ChopinFind albums by this artist’s themes. Both works are in three parts. For his entire career Herdzin floats between Classical Music and Jazz, trying to excel in both, a process which often borders on musical schizophrenia and works perfectly (well almost) only in extremely rare cases. There is no doubt about Herdzin’s talents and abilities, and he did manage to produce a fine body of recorded legacy over the time, but somehow I have always found his efforts a tad problematic, unfocused and in extreme cases pointless. Sadly, this album belongs to that last category. On the Mozart concerto Herdzin fiddles a little with the original composition, but that’s about it. There are many classical pianists in Poland who can play this concerto much more elegantly, passionately and imaginatively, and Herdzin’s minimal “improvisations” are somehow out of place. The original piece, based on Chopin’s themes, immediately brings on the problem of abusing Chopin’s Genius ad absurdum within the “Jazz” idiom, which somehow never seems to stop. It is somewhat closer to the cross-genre concept, but only slightly, and contributes absolutely nothing to both genres, trivializing them on the way and crossing into the kitsch region. Overall, this is a sad example of an attempted cross-genre Classical-Jazz Fusion, that went astray. Herdzin is perhaps a classic case of “to talented for his own good” musician, which is a great pity. But of course he will surprise us all with his display of pure Genius in the future (hopefully).

Updated: 31/12/2023Posted: 19/02/2023

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MARCIN MASECKI ~ JAZZ Z MACV WARSZAWSKA OPERA KAMERALNA 003 (Barcode: 5904316586850) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022 This is an album by Polish pianist / composer / bandleader Marcin MaseckiFind albums by this artist, recorded with the Musicae Antiquae Collegium VarsovienseFind albums by this artist (MACVFind albums by this artist), an early music orchestra playing original period instruments. The album presents three harpsichord / piano concertos, one each by Johann Sebastian BachFind albums by this artist, Carl Philipp Emanuel BachFind albums by this artist and Wolfgang Amadeus MozartFind albums by this artist. All works are in three parts and all are performed by Masecki on piano. Masecki received Classical Music education and was recognized early on as an exceptionally gifted pianist. Later on he added Jazz to his milieu and since many years is active in both genres. In Classical Music he is known for his very unique interpretations of Classical pieces, in which he shows incredible originality and innovative approach. In Jazz he seems to be truly ubiquitous, playing everything between Ragtime and Avant-Garde, always brilliantly and with matchless virtuosity. He also presents a highly idiosyncratic stage persona, which offers a fascinating live experience. This album is somewhat puzzling, since Masecki performs the three concerti with remarkable restraint and almost complete reproduction of the original scores. Only a patient and very attentive listening will lead to the discovery of his delicate personal “artifices” utilized herein, all very clever and elegant, as expected, but somewhat too modest to call this entire enterprise as an “interpretation” of the original works. Overall, this is a very nice Classical Music album, which offers excellent performances of well-known keyboard concerti with a bit of “hide & seek” detective aspect, trying to find the subtle personal alterations utilized by Masecki. Calling this album Jazz is a wide stretch, but anything played by Masecki is definitely worth listening to. Personally I’d prefer to hear more of his “wild side”.

Updated: 31/12/2023Posted: 22/02/2023

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LESZEK MOZDZER ~ COMPOSITES WARSZAWSKA OPERA KAMERALNA 005 (Barcode: 5904316586867) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023 This is an album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Leszek MozdzerFind albums by this artist, recorded with the MACVFind albums by this artist Orchestra. The album presents six tracks, two of which are traditional compositions for piano and orchestra and four are, what he describes as “composites”, which were first piano improvisations, to which Mozdzer later composed an orchestral score. The album comes in a normal digipak CD version, a black vinyl LP version and a special edition Box Set, which includes a colored vinyl, a cassette, a book and a certificate of authenticity (the only thing missing is a piece of Mozdzer’s underwear), the total price of which almost equals a monthly pension of average Polish retiree. Who does this guy think he is, anyway? The project was hyped to the media as incredibly inventive, ambitious, unique and so on, but honestly it is, IMHO, a lame Jazz-Classical Fusion attempt, which offers absolutely nothing innovative, and is incredibly unattractive and boring from beginning to end. There is a lot of pretty piano tinkering and pretentious orchestral parts, which don’t make much sense neither separately nor together. Mozdzer managed to establish a highly respected position, if not a superstar status, over time, which he is exploiting mercilessly. How much of that status is proportional to his musical achievements is not for me to judge, but I have not heard anything interesting in his music since many years. The pretentious, barefoot, shoulder-long blond hair style and sex idol stage appearance has probably a more decisive part in the matter, especially as far as his menopausal crowd of faithful followers is concerned. “Pompous-ites” my ass!

Updated: 01/01/2024Posted: 01/01/2024

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