Record Reviews

KROKE ~ FEELHARMONY EMI 5099901770827 (Barcode: 5099901770827) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 In autumn of 2011 I had the pleasure of being present at the opening concert of the Singer´s Warsaw Festival, which featured Poland´s most prominent World Music ensemble KrokeFind albums by this artist and their guest, superstar vocalist Anna Maria JopekFind albums by this artist. Jopek, who in recent years discovered World Music herself, as evident on her latest recordings, was nevertheless quite a surprising partner for Kroke, and considering she only landed in Warsaw a few hours before the concert and managed only a brief rehearsal with them, things were quite tense. But when the lights went out and the music started, it was obvious that magic was in the air that night and for the next two hours the audience was completely mesmerized. Obviously the very same magic prompted Kroke to include Jopek on this, their next studio album. Kroke, which consists of viola player Tomasz KukurbaFind albums by this artist, accordionist Jerzy BawolFind albums by this artist and bassist Tomasz LatoFind albums by this artist, started in the early 1990s as a Klezmer band, one of numerous such bands established in Poland as a result of the Renaissance of the Jewish Culture in the country. They started to perform at Krakow´s old Jewish district Kazimierz, which became a fashionable tourist attraction, and in time their reputation grew. They were lucky to gain international attention and soon became the resident ethnic stars. In time they left Klezmer music almost entirely and embraced World Music originating in many different cultural spheres and added noticeable Jazz influence to their music. For this album Kroke joined forces with, in addition to the a.m. Anna Maria Jopek, also the excellent drummer Slawomir BernyFind albums by this artist and pianist / composer / arranger Krzysztof HerdzinFind albums by this artist, who co-produced the album, composed and arranged some orchestral intros to the band´s music and conducted the Sinfonietta CracoviaFind albums by this artist, which performed the orchestral parts. The album presents twelve pieces, eleven of which are original compositions by the band´s members and one is by the pioneer of modern Klezmer music Harry KandelFind albums by this artist. As the title suggests, the band intended to "take a step" into a more "symphonic" sound for their music, utilizing the orchestra. Unfortunately, intentions aside, the album fails to achieve the same level of excitement and spontaneous inspiration, which characterized the live concert I witnessed. Although Jopek delivers some superb vocal parts, they constitute only a small contribution to the entire project. The orchestral arrangements sound quite out of place in this case, turning the free spirit of World Music into a housebroken animal, which is a pity. Some things simply don´t go well together. Overall there is plenty of great music here and even if the album sounds very commercial at times, it was created by excellent musicians, who meant well.

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JOANNA SLOWINSKA ~ ZIELNIK POLSKI ROZSTAJA 116 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2016 Released: 2016 This is an album which presents a live recording of a very grand musical undertaking, which brings together vocalist Joanna SlowinskaFind albums by this artist, a well known Polish World Music singer, with a Polish Classical orchestra Sinfonietta CracoviaFind albums by this artist and a Polish Jazz quartet led by young and upcoming violinist Stanislaw SlowinskiFind albums by this artist, which also includes pianist Katarzyna PietrzkoFind albums by this artist, bassist Justyn MalodobryFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian OlszewskiFind albums by this artist. Together they perform twelve pieces, two of which are instrumentals and ten are songs featuring lyrics by Jan SlowinskiFind albums by this artist. In case you are wondering, Joanna and Jan are Stanislaw´s parents. Stanislaw Slowinski composed the music to eleven of these pieces and the last piece on the album was composed by Joanna Slowinska and arranged by Stanislaw. The album´s title ("Polish Herbarium"), the titles of the individual pieces and their subject matter clearly suggest that this is a concept album and the pieces are in fact a song cycle. The overall atmosphere, soaked in typical Polish melancholy, religious martyrology and solemn reflection is heavy and overbearing, and creates a piece of music that is definitely not easy to absorb or even listen to. The sound is mostly massive and daunting, often overdramatic and even cataclysmic, something which could easily be used as a horror movie soundtrack, rather than something listeners would chose to listen to voluntarily. The only piece, which is performed by just the vocalist and the Jazz quartet, is definitely the most coherent piece on the album. The music, although dominated by Classical influences, manages to amalgamate strong folkloristic themes and subtle Jazz sensitivity and shows talent and dedication by the composer and all the musicians involved. It seems Stanislaw Slowinski is trying to conquer the musical world a bit too aggressively and a bit prematurely, even for such talented young men as he is. It is worth to remember that less is often more, both in music and life in general. Having said all that, this is still definitely an unusual and ambitious album that deserves to be heard and appreciated. A little less intensity and drama next time should make everything just perfect.

Updated: 25/02/2017Posted: 25/02/2017

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