Record Reviews

RAFAL DUBICKI ~ SHADOW ON THE SPACE SOLTAN ART GROUP 018 (Barcode: 5903802188585) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2021 This is the second album by young Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer Rafal DubickiFind albums by this artist recorded in a classic quartet setting with the same musicians who played on his debut: guitarist Michal SoltanFind albums by this artist, bassist Mateusz WozniakFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam LewandowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven original compositions, all by the leader. Same as on the debut, Dubicki offers a delightful collection of mainstream Jazz pieces, based on excellent melodic themes, which offer diverse moods, but all swing splendidly. The quartet plays the pieces with obvious joy and all four musicians do exactly what is needed to make them sound perfect. The leader has a clear trumpet sound, which resounds with confidence and is able to create a mystic ambience of romance and anticipation as well as a burning urgency. Soltan is a wonderful guitar player and his chords lay down the entire harmonic background for this music, amicably and elegantly supported by the rhythm section. Soltan’s solos tend to slide towards Fusion, as opposed to his accompaniments, which are purely Jazzy, thus adding another dimension to the music. As a result, the entire album floats somewhere between Jazz and Fusion and even Brass Rock, despite the fact that just a single trumpet is present. As said in my review of the debut, some Jazz critics will probably find this music to be “not enough Jazz oriented”, but who gives a damn. This music is improvised, it swings like hell and is pure joy to listen to, so who cares what the Jazz snobs think. Overall, this is a sold follow up to the debut, which surely will find many listeners who love what these musicians are doing. A word of warning as to the future, since pursuing the same direction for too long might prove to be less successful, but so far so good. I simply love this stuff to bits!

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

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

RAFAL DUBICKI ~ STORY ABOUT EMOTIONS SOLTAN ART GROUP 001 (Barcode: 5907648374409) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer Rafal DubickiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with guitarist Michal SoltanFind albums by this artist, bassist Mateusz WozniakFind albums by this artist and veteran drummer Adam LewandowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original compositions, all by Dubicki. This album is also the first release on a new record label founded by Soltan, called Soltan Art GroupFind albums on this label – best wishes with the new enterprise! The music is all strongly melody based mainstream Jazz, moving between ballads and Latin rhythms, definitely on the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, which could be labeled as "late night Jazz". The music swings and is spotlessly executed by the quartet members. Dubicki has a crystal clear, somewhat "old fashioned" trumpet tone, which is sadly very rarely used today, and which brings on nostalgic memories of the Swing Era. But his soaring soli are impressive and heartwarming. Soltan is an excellent and diverse guitar player and his soli are among the highlights of the album. Wozniak sticks to the basics and offers a solid bottom layer to the music, keeping things balanced and plays just one perfectly structured bass solo and Lewandowski, as usual, is totally in charge of the rhythm department. Although this album will probably be dismissed by the Polish Jazz "critics", who will be lamenting about its straightforwardness and popular approach, albums like this are a completely valid part of the Polish Jazz scene, as long as they are as professionally put together as this one. Not everybody gets orgasmic listening to Avant-Garde doodling, and enjoying pleasant Jazz is definitely not a social crime. Overall this is a nice Jazz album offering solid compositions and performances, which will make many listeners perfectly happy, and which will hopefully launch Dubicki´s musical career in the foreseeable feature.

Updated: 31/12/2021Posted: 15/09/2019

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

MARCIN PENDOWSKI ~ KURATORIUM JUDASZ 2024 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 2024 Released: 2024 This is the 3rd album by Polish bassist / composer / arranger / bandleader Marcin PendowskiFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. PendofskyFind albums by this artist), released four years after his previous album and following a near fatal motorcycle accident, which put a hold to his prominent career and required a long and difficult convalescence. The album presents ten tracks, all by Pendowski. He plays all the bass parts and some vocals parts and is accompanied by a mighty team of local musicians, which includes guitarist Krzysztof KawalkoFind albums by this artist, organists Marcin CichockiFind albums by this artist and Kamil BaranskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marcin KajperFind albums by this artist, bass clarinetist Szymon LukowskiFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Rafal DubickiFind albums by this artist, harmonica player Bartosz LeczyckiFind albums by this artist, percussionists Dominik JaskeFind albums by this artist and Tomasz StarzykFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz WaldowskiFind albums by this artist. As if all these were not enough, a fifteen-men strong Warsaw Funky Horn EnsembleFind albums by this artist is also employed to add some serious zets to the proceedings. The music is everything one would expect from Pendowski, i.e. a wonderful mix of Jazz, Funk, Groove, Brass-Rock, etc. with great tunes and superb performances by everybody involved, in addition to his remarkable (despite the injury) bass playing, which makes him one the best electric bass players in the country. Over the years he managed to develop his unique style, which is quite different from the mainstream Polish Jazz activity, and for a blind test listener sounds rather as something created in South America or Cuba, than originating from pale-faced Slavs. This music makes your bottom move involuntarily, and if it doesn’t you are probably deaf or dead. Overall, this is a most welcome return of Pendowski and his mighty Groove, which sounds nothing like anything else recorded in Poland and rocks one’s bottom instantly. It shows a remarkable ability by the leader to get the best out of his companions, and proves that entertaining, danceable music can be aesthetically sound and interesting. Happy to see you back my Friend!

Updated: 15/04/2025Posted: 15/04/2025

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

SUOVA ~ SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is the debut album by young Polish ensemble SuovaFind albums by this artist, which consists of keyboardist / composer Arcadius MauritzFind albums by this artist, vocalist / composer / lyricist Martyna ZajacFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Rafal DubickiFind albums by this artist, bassist Artur PruzinskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Pawel NowakFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight original songs co-composed by Mauritz and Zajac with lyrics (in English, except one in Polish) by Zajac. The music is a nice mixture of Pop and Groove with strong Jazz undercurrents, similar to the excellent album by the KA1Find albums by this artist ensemble I reviewed recently, which also features Mauritz on keyboards. Although pretty straightforward the music has a charm about it, which is difficult to ignore, and is a splendid listening experience on the lighter side of the good music spectrum. The compositions are solid and the performances able, which is already better than most of the "music" made today. The modest but exactly right on the money trumpet parts are for me the proverbial cherry on top. As to the vocals, my aversion of Polish female vocalists singing in English is universally known and this album is no exception. As usual the one track with Polish vocals proves the case. Zajac offers some vocalese (sadly only a taste of) which she performs flawlessly but her accent and English pronunciation sound a bit "funny", which spoils the true abilities of her vocals. But all things considered, they are still impressive. Overall this is a very exciting debut album which offers some superb music and a great groovy feeling, without trying to be pompous and maintaining artistic quality. A bit on the "short" side with just thirty seven minutes of music, this album is definitely worthy being explored and appreciated, especially during this hot summer while enjoying a long cool drink, not to mention its danceability.

Updated: 30/06/2019Posted: 30/06/2019

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend