Record Reviews

HATI & MAZZOLL ~ TERUAH REQUIEM 2017/151 ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2014 - 2016 Released: 2017 This is an album by Polish Improvised Music duo HATIFind albums by this artist, comprising of multi-instrumentalists Rafal IwanskiFind albums by this artist and Rafal KolackiFind albums by this artist, with Jazz clarinetist / composer Jerzy MazzollFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten tracks, all spontaneously improvised pieces recorded during two recording sessions separated by a gap of two years between them. The music is uncredited, as is usually the case in such circumstances. The duo members play a plethora of percussion and wind instruments between themselves and Mazzoll plays bass clarinet and clarinet. Together they manage to create magical soundscapes, which, although totally improvised, offer a melodic continuity of sorts and are able to tell a “story” time after time. Obviously, this kind of musical exploration is not accessible to listeners, who are not open-minded and educated / experienced as far as unconventional music is concerned, but Improvised Music enthusiasts should find this music fascinating and considering the virtuosity of Mazzoll’s performances, his enchanting sound and mesmerizing ability to hypnotize his listeners, like a snake charmer, makes this, as every other recording that involves his performances, a delightful adventure. Overall, although sadly mostly overlooked, this is a highly aesthetic piece of music, unique, fascinating and full of magical moments, which deserves a much wider recognition. Mazzoll is certainly one of Poland’s most enthralling musical Artists and everything he touches turns instantly into the proverbial Gold. Special thanks to Lukasz PawlakFind albums by this artist, the man behind RequiemFind albums on this label Records, for releasing this music and giving me a copy of this album when we met in Warsaw a while ago.

Updated: 15/06/2025Posted: 15/06/2025

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INNERCITY ENSEMBLE ~ II INSTANT CLASSIC 019 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the second album by the Polish Improvised Music group Innercity EnsembleFind albums by this artist, which comprises of trumpeter Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist, guitarists Artur MackowiakFind albums by this artist and Jakub ZiolekFind albums by this artist, drummer Tomasz PopowskiFind albums by this artist and percussionist Rafal IwanskiFind albums by this artist, Rafal KolackiFind albums by this artist and Radek DziubekFind albums by this artist, who is also in charge of electronics. A guest percussionist Witold BargielFind albums by this artist also participates. The double CD album documents the output created during three-day long meeting dedicated to spontaneous improvisations and the six tracks on CD one and five tracks on CD two are all improvisations not credited to any specific musicians and are therefore assumed to be co-composed by all the participants. The music is a wonderful amalgam of Ambient / Electronic / Industrial / Jazz / World Music and a plethora of other influences, all combined to create dreamy sound vistas and atmospheric soundtracks, which flow gently influencing a serene and relaxed feeling of Nirvana. The music is completely non-aggressive and accommodating, which is a rarity as far as Improvised Music is concerned. Jachna plays some remarkable trumpet parts all along the developing pieces and his contributions are of course the most distinctive, whereas the rest of the musicians are more subdued into the amalgamated multilayered background. As I have already stated in the past Innercity Ensemble is one of the most original and interesting Polish acts of this kind and all three of their albums so far are absolutely worth getting and should bring a lot of joy to open minded listeners.

Updated: 10/05/2017Posted: 10/05/2017

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INNERCITY ENSEMBLE ~ III ISTANT CLASSIC 047 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the third album by Polish Improvised Music group Innercity EnsembleFind albums by this artist, which consists of trumpeter Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist, guitarists Jakub ZiolekFind albums by this artist and Artur MackowiakFind albums by this artist, drummer Tomasz PopowskiFind albums by this artist, percussionists Rafal IwanskiFind albums by this artist and Rafal KolackiFind albums by this artist and Radek DziubekFind albums by this artist, who is in charge of electronics. In fact all the members play a plethora of different, mostly percussive, instruments on this album, which is characterized by this powerful percussive sound. Together they perform seven original compositions, which are not credited on the album´s packaging and therefore are assumed to be co-composed / improvised by all seven members of the band. For improvised music this album is remarkably well organized, with clear melodic themes and steady, although polyrhythmic intense percussive background. The music is beyond simple classification, as it mixes many diverse genres, like Jazz, Ethno, Jungle, Ambient and many other flavors, but the important thing is of course that the result sounds beautifully coherent and highly fascinating. The music creates a trance-like atmosphere, which absorbs the listener completely, taking him away from reality into an imaginary world of its own. Jachna plays most of the solo parts and his heartwrenching performances are the absolute centerpiece of this album. In the course of just a few years Jachna established his position as one of the most creative Polish trumpeters on a scene exploding with talent and fiercely competitive. Music connoisseurs with a developed imagination could envisage this music as "Miles DavisFind albums by this artist in a jungle". But of course the rest of the band also contributes beautiful sound vistas and percussive backgrounds, which are rich in textures and intricate details. Although there is a certain element of repetition, the mantra-like parts are never long enough to become boring and are always ornamented by a multitude if minimalistic musical gems. Overall this is a beautiful and fascinating piece music, which explores and probes uncharted territory, as music always should. This is definitely something ambitious music livers should enjoy immensely and as such is wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 11/11/2016Posted: 11/11/2016

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend