Record Reviews

URI GINCEL ~ FREE UNIT 4402 (Barcode: 7640114794025) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2010 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by Israeli (resident in Berlin) Jazz pianist / composer Uri GincelFind albums by this artist and his trio, which also includes Danish bassist Andreas LangFind albums by this artist and German drummer Moritz BaumgartnerFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight compositions, one of which is an original by Gincel, two are by John ColtraneFind albums by this artist, one is a standard, one is a folk tune, one is a classical tune, one is by the Israeli bassist / composer Eyal GanorFind albums by this artist and finally the last one is credited to all the trio members. The album presents a classic Jazz piano trio, playing pretty diverse musical themes, which are all transformed into the mainstream Jazz milieu. Of course Gincel demonstrates excellent technique and sensitivity, but this recording does not show his ability to break away from the Jazz tradition and take a step beyond. With Coltrane´s music aboard the listener expects much more freedom, especially when conditioned by the album´s title, which is not truly present herein. Even the album´s title track, which is the most "free" piece of music on the album, sounds still very conventional to Free Jazz connoisseurs. On the other hand as a mainstream piano trio album, this is quite an excellent effort. The rhythm section is absolutely superb, with Lang being among the finest European bassist these days. Baumgartner also performs very well, supporting the piano with just the right amount of rhythmic seasoning. The music is beautifully recorded (in one of Poland´s best recording studios) with beautiful sonic ambience, which will make piano trio fans extremely happy. Considering the fact that this is a debut recording, it is definitely quite an achievement and shows a lot of potential, which will be hopefully fully realized in the future. In the meantime this is definitely a very pleasant listening experience.

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IGOR OSYPOV ~ DREAM DELIVERY FOR TUNE 0091 (Barcode: 5902768701920) ~ UKRAINE ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the second album by Ukrainian (resident in Berlin) guitarist / composer Igor OsypovFind albums by this artist recorded in a quartet setting with German saxophonist Wanja SlavinFind albums by this artist, Polish bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and German drummer Moritz BaumgartnerFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight tunes (one is repeated twice in different versions), six of which are original compositions by Osypov and two are co-credited to all four members of the quartet. The music is floating somewhere between mainstream Jazz and Fusion, dominated mostly by guitar sounds. The compositions are stylistically diverse, and somehow lack a coherent direction, and as a result the album sounds confusing and uninviting. The musicians are much more professional this time than those on Osypov´s debut album, but sadly their abilities are not potent enough to save this album from the fate of its predecessor. Slavin is a formidable player and his parts are absolutely stunning, but Osypov´s guitar, which sounds out of tune all the time, really stands in the way to enjoy them. Mucha and Baumgartner try their best to keep this music together and often play some wonderful parts, but alas again not being able to save the overall result. I am sorry that for the second time Osypov´s playing is simply painful to my ears. I tried my best to approach this album without predetermination, but alas I failed again to discover its beauty. As cruel as it might sound, I think that this music with the guitar parts removed could produce a great trio album.

Updated: 17/08/2024Posted: 10/07/2016

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WIECEK & GAWEDA QUINTET ~ BERRY AUDIO CAVE 2019/011 (Barcode: 5905669566841) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2016 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by a quintet co-led by two of the most noticeable upcoming Polish Jazz musicians in the last decade: saxophonist / composer Kuba WiecekFind albums by this artist and pianist / composer Mateusz GawedaFind albums by this artist. The quintet also includes veteran American trumpeter Ralph AlessiFind albums by this artist, Polish bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and German drummer Moritz BaumgartnerFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original compositions, all co-credited to Wiecek & Gaweda. The music is typical American Post-bop based on sketchy melodic themes and open to extensive improvisations by the quintet members. The outcome of such approach is totally dependent on the musical chemistry that develops between the musicians and their ability to offer group improvisation, which is more important than the individual improvisations each of the participants is capable of. This quintet is a collection of very strong musical personalities, each and every one of which is an accomplished performer, leader and composer on his own right. The question arises of course if this specific grouping of musicians works well in total, which as far as I am concerned remains undetermined. There is certainly a lack of balance as far as soloing is concerned, with Alessi, who in my opinion is definitely not the most interesting soloist herein, playing most of the soli whereas Wiecek is almost completely silent except for the unisono intros, outros and a few brief solos. Gaweda and the rhythm section manage to hold their ground all in all and the piano trio parts are the highlight of this album. There is also the basic stylistic dissonance that hinders the quintet´s unity, with Alessi pushing the music into the Bebop schematics whereas the four young Europeans are trying to break away into the freedom zone, time after time. Having said all that, this is still a very interesting album, which offers some great playing and joyful, spirited music, which is very enjoyable to listen to. The four young Europeans have the whole life ahead of them and this album proves their incredible talents, which surely will bring us all a lot of superb music in the future.

Updated: 15/11/2019Posted: 09/11/2019

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