Record Reviews

WOJCIECH FEDKOWICZ NOISE TRIO ~ DISTANT HEROES OKO ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2020 This is the second album by Polish Jazz drummer / composer Wojciech FedkowiczFind albums by this artist and his Noise TrioFind albums by this artist, which includes pianist Dominik WaniaFind albums by this artist and bassist Jacek FedkowiczFind albums by this artist. All three players use electronic effects on their respective instruments. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Wojciech Fedkowicz with three being co-credited to Jacek Fedkowicz and one to Wania. The music is mostly within the mainstream Jazz idiom, with highly melodic themes, mostly very low key and overtly melancholic, with a few more open excursions, which are definitely the most exciting moments on the album. Although the album might at first appear as a regular Jazz piano trio release, it has a very specific sound and harmonic approach, mostly due to the application of the electronic sound effects, which distort the natural sound of the bass and the drums up to a point where the listener needs to readjust his “hearing concept” to be able to listen to this music. These effects are less dominant as far as the piano is concerned, which results in an almost “normal” piano sound. This unique overall approach is definitely controversial, and might scare some of the listeners away from the music, at least at first hearing. It seems that Wania’s genius is able to conquer any obstacle and his playing on this album is as impressive as on any of his other recordings, which of course is always a cause of musical joy. His improvisations are full of brilliant colors and his musical flow is an artistic dream come true. He is, naturally of course, at the very epicenter of the music here, and the fascinating structures of his soli are alone a good enough reason to listen to this music carefully. I personally find the playing around with the sounds more disturbing than productive, but that is of course a question of taste. Wania plays magnificently enough to make me want to listen to this music, and the rest is up to the individual listener. I can be hardly considered as a conservative music connoisseur, but not all types of experimentation or attempts to innovate are automatically acceptable to me, although I do appreciate the audacity to be different. It would be a great fun to hear this album without any electronic effects, just for the sake of comparison… Overall this is a very interesting musical twist and an exercise in “hearing”, with an added value of some superb piano playing by the top Polish Jazz pianist of the day. Highly recommended for the brave hearted…

Updated: 02/03/2021Posted: 02/03/2021

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

WOJCIECH FEDKOWICZ NOISE TRIO ~ POST-DIGITAL DREAMERS AUDIO CAVE 2013/002 (Barcode: 5902596954376) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Ambient Fusion Recorded: 2012 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz drummer / composer Wojciech FedkowiczFind albums by this artist and his Noise TrioFind albums by this artist, which includes keyboardist Dominik WaniaFind albums by this artist and bassist Jacek FedkowiczFind albums by this artist. All three players use electronic effects on their respective instruments. Three guest musicians play / sing on selected tracks. The album presents seven original compositions, five by Wojciech Fedkowicz, one by Jacek Fedkowicz and one co-credited to all members of the trio. I was not aware of the existence of this album and only after recently reviewing the trio’s second album “Distant HeroesFind albums with this title”, Wojciech Fedkowicz sent me this one, which goes almost a decade back in time. It is also one of the earliest albums released by the Audio CaveFind albums on this label label, which in the meantime earned a respectable position on the local music market. The music is in fact quite similar to the second album, with just a bit less electronics involved in the process, again based on highly melodic themes, which are given a distinct rhythmic roll-over, taking the music away from the Jazz idiom, and more into Ambient / Drum & Bass direction, but all done very gracefully and with a dash of irony. Not surprisingly, Wania plays marvelously, although being very out of his element here most of the time, which emphasizes his phenomenal diversity and open-mindedness. For Wania’s followers it is worth to mention that this album is one of his earliest recordings, which already at this point of time sets his aside from most of the competition. But the rhythm section plays also beautifully, juggling around polyrhythmic tempi and atmospheric deep bass sounds, which create a highly unusual ambience. Overall it is great to discover this early gem, as it offers some truly unusual music, surely as far as “around Jazz” is concerned, and for an attentive listener is full of surprising moments, all of which are completely time-resistant. Probably not that easy to find today, but highly recommended, surely for Wania completists, but seriously definitely worth being discovered, better late than never.

Updated: 17/06/2021Posted: 17/06/2021

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend