Record Reviews

GRUPA W SKLADZIE ~ PLANETARIUM MILO 304 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Ambient Fusion Recorded: 2018 Released: 2019 This is an album by the legendary 1970s Polish Avant-Garde ensemble Grupa W SkladzieFind albums by this artist, which was reactivated a few years ago and performs from time to time in different lineup configurations. This live recording was made by a trio lineup of the ensemble, which includes the founding member multi-instrumentalist Milo KurtisFind albums by this artist, veteran Jazz clarinetist Jerzy MazzollFind albums by this artist and a representative of the young generation keyboardist Milosz OlenieckiFind albums by this artist. The album presents six original compositions, one composed by Kurtis and five composed collectively by the ensemble members. The music is a meditative journey, which amalgamates elements of Jazz, World Music and Ambient explorations. It requires patience and open-mindedness to be wholly appreciated, but once the listener fully submits to the flow of the music, the experience is truly magical. The personal performances are all excellent, especially the superb clarinet improvisations by Mazzoll, but the music is created by all three musicians together and its magic is mostly a result of their close cooperation. Overall this is a beautiful album of meditative / improvised music, which enchants the listen by its calmness and tranquility, but also offers rich layers of Jazzy improvisations. Twenty years ago this might have been classified as New Age Music, but the hype of New Age is long gone, and great music stays forever.

Updated: 11/01/2020Posted: 11/01/2020

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JAZZPOSPOLITA ~ OBIEKT AUDIO CAVE 2023/010 (Barcode: 5908298549704) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Ambient Fusion Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is the 8th album by the Polish ensemble JazzpospolitaFind albums by this artist, led by bassist Stefan NowakowskiFind albums by this artist, with a new lineup including guitarist Michal MilczarekFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Milosz OlenieckiFind albums by this artist and drummer Wojciech SoburaFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight tracks, all original compositions co-credited to the members of the ensemble. The music is an interesting cross-genre amalgam of Jazz, Ambient and other influences, which continues the convoluted path of Jazzpospolita over the last decade and a half, with their chameleonic ability to constantly transform their musical direction. Nowakowski is the only remaining founding member, but the ensemble, despite the constant personnel changes, always managed to offer some exciting and innovative music over time. I followed them since their early days and they never disappointed, despite some turbulent times they went through. This album is quite different, even radically different from the earlier albums, with a much stronger Ambient, meditative and melancholic presence, with a dash of Avant-Garde, obviously influenced by the presence of Milczarek, who showed similar tendencies on his earlier recordings with his trio. Oleniecki confirms his talent as keyboard player, as evident from his previous recordings. I am sadly not privy to any recordings by Sobura. Overall, it is great to see Jazzpospolita rise as a phoenix from the ashes again, offering some new music and searching for new directions. This lineup probably needs to refine their stylistic approach some more, which I am sure they will do before their next recording.

Updated: 21/10/2023Posted: 21/10/2023

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MILOSZ OLENIECKI ~ SONGS FOR A SOLTAN ART GROUP 021 (Barcode: 5904433795029) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2021 This is the debut album as a leader by young Polish Jazz pianist / composer Milosz OlenieckiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic piano trio setting with bassist Pawel Zwierzynski-PioroFind albums by this artist and drummer Rafal DutkiewiczFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven original compositions, all by the leader. The music is all based on wonderful, highly interesting and quite “different” compositions, which manage to escape the traps of typical Polish melancholy, stunning with their diversity and cleverness. They are well based in Polish Folklore, but often touch upon contemporary Classical “trickery” with uneven rhythmic patterns and even Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist’s Spanish licks, all being unmistakably Jazzy all the way. I must say that it’s been quite a while since I have heard so much originality on a Polish Jazz debut, which means that this is definitely one of the best albums landing on my desk (or in my ears) this year. Oleniecki is also a very interesting pianist, again quite different from his colleagues, who concentrates on the delivery of his compositions rather than on playing endless arpeggios and showing off the speed of his fingers. This results on an idiosynchratic, almost minimalist at times, delivery, which leaves a lot to the listener’s imagination, rather than overloading his sensory perception. Although I am aware of two albums Oleniecki took part in before this recording, both completely different, I am not aware of any recordings by the members of the rhythm section, who contribute magnificently to the success of this album with their highly sensitive, as well as technically proficient performances. This means that the local scene has a lot of talent still waiting to be discovered. Overall, this a stunning and highly unusual debut album, which deserves all the attention it can get, as it certainly offers some new vistas on the rather conformist lately Polish Jazz scene, raising a hope that not all is lost despite the pandemic and other plagues. Hats off are in order and a lot of wishes for the future – please don’t keep us in suspense for too long. Brilliant stuff!

Updated: 31/12/2021Posted: 29/12/2021

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MICHAL SOLTAN ~ MALOGRANIE ART HORSE 002 (Barcode: 5902659800329) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is the debut solo album by Polish guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Michal SoltanFind albums by this artist, who is known to Polish Jazz / Fusion fans from his work with Imagination QuartetFind albums by this artist and the two albums they released earlier on. On this album Soltan is accompanied by many established Polish Jazz / Fusion musicians, the list of which is way too long to be detailed here, as well as a string quartet and guests from US. I should however give credit to the superb rhythm section, which keeps this music rolling: keyboardist Milosz OlenieckiFind albums by this artist (who also co-arranged the music with Soltan) bassist Lukasz MakowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Marcin JahrFind albums by this artist (who plays on most of the tracks). The album presents ten original songs (one features wordless vocalese), all written and composed by Soltan, and one bonus track which goes back to the IQ days and presents the vocalese song in an instrumental version. The music is a delightful collection of beautiful songs, all carefully weaved and beautifully executed. Bordering somewhere between Jazz, Funk and ambitious Pop, the music is uncompromisingly sophisticated, rich and elegant. Combined with the intelligent texts, vocalese and instrumental solos (especially the unisono vocalese / guitar solos by Soltan himself) the album flows like a dream and seems to be over in a jiffy. The craft of songwriting, which often seems to be completely lost these days, comes alive in these songs like a dream. Soltan is not a spectacular vocalist (neither was Bob DylanFind albums by this artist or Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist), but he does not has to be, since his songs call for expressive delivery, perfect diction and above all a heartfelt feeling of the music and the texts. Soltan has all the above in abundance and they all obviously work wanders, as this album is a true gem from start to finish. The instrumental arrangements are also perfect, all done sparingly and almost entirely acoustically, with short but superbly focused solos and careful consideration of what is right for each song. Although the instrumental parts are almost entirely Jazzy, they do not take control of the overall sound and feel of the music and remain as elegant ornamentation. The focus remains on the songs and the meaningful lyrics, which is exactly right here. Albums like this one are sadly very rare these days, and almost never manage to catch my attention for a span long enough to fall in love with the songs like in this case. Even if the songs have a tinge of sadness and melancholy, but also a great sense of humor, they are like the proverbial "honey on the heart"; unadulterated intellectual and emotional pleasure! Thank you Michal for the effort to share your world with us! Of course this album is an absolute must for all true music lovers, especially the hopeless romantics ;)

Updated: 02/12/2017Posted: 02/12/2017

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