Record Reviews

SKICKI-SKIUK ~ CHRARUMIMIA BITTT 006 (Barcode: 5907632690140) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2016 - 2017 Released: 2018 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz quartet called Skicki-SkiukFind albums by this artist, which consists of saxophonist Dariusz RubinowskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Jakub MizerackiFind albums by this artist, drummer Jakub MiarczynskiFind albums by this artist and bassist Roman ChraniukFind albums by this artist (now you can guess the inspiration for the quartet´s name). The album presents eight original compositions, credited to all four participating musicians. It seems that almost all the young Polish Jazz ensembles, which feature a guitar player, tend to play some kind of Fusion, with varying degrees of Jazz elements present in their music. It is sad that guitar can not be treated as a Jazz instrument per se, the way it used to be in the Jazz tradition, especially in view of the fact that Fusion sadly proved to become a very restricted genre, which hardly moved an inch in decades. The music on this album fails to present anything beyond standard Jazz-Rock Fusion attempts, which have been tried already in the late 1960s. The combination of guitar and sax front is also a much tried out attempt by many early Fusion / Prog groups in the 1960s and 1970s. The sound quality of the recording leaves much to be desired, with a muddy ambience and lack of clarity, but perhaps this was done purposely to achieve a retro effect? Having said all that, these young musicians certainly are talented and play their hearts out. There are inspired solos and good ensemble playing throughout the album. The compositions have merit and if performed more ambitiously might have sounded much more impressive. Perhaps this album was recorded a tad too early before they managed to achieve a more personal musical statement. Hopefully the next effort will be much more impressive.

Updated: 06/08/2018Posted: 06/08/2018

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ZK COLLABORATION ~ SLOW FOOD (POLISH JAZZ VOL.86) WARNER MUSIC POLAND 190296508127 (Barcode: 190296508127) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2021 Released: 2021 This is the second album by Polish Jazz outfit ZK CollaborationFind albums by this artist co-led by drummer Adam ZagorskiFind albums by this artist and saxophonist Maciej KadzielaFind albums by this artist, this time expanded to a quintet with original pianist Mateusz GawedaFind albums by this artist and new members: guitarist Jakub MizerackiFind albums by this artist and bassist Roman ChraniukFind albums by this artist (the last two are members of the Skicki-SkiukFind albums by this artist quartet). The album was recorded at the Warsaw Jasmine Jazz Club, but not live, and presents eight original compositions, seven of which were co-composed by the two leaders and one by Marek KadzielaFind albums by this artist, Maciej’s brother. The music is deeply soaked in Fusion and the guitar is the most dominant instrument in the proceedings, which remind the humorous “Heavy Metal Be-Bop” moniker almost perfectly. The compositions are all solid, but contrary to the statement in the liner notes, are completely mainstream oriented and bring nothing new to the table. The recording suffers from a murky / muddy sound, which makes listening to the album an effort and requires the volume knob to be turned down. The balance between the instruments is also heavily influenced, with the saxophone and piano often disappearing in the mix. Of course one can assume all this was done purposely and was the choice of the musicians. The members of the group are all experienced and talented musicians of course and there are many potentially enjoyable moments on this album, like the baritone saxophone parts and the more relaxed guitar soli, but this album sounds like something recorded in the 1970s, which might have worked well than, but sound rather outdated today. Overall, this is a rather mundane effort, which does not exploit the tremendous potential these musicians have to offer, and which suffers from some bad decisions involving the recording process. A pity but not a tragedy ;) Side Note The iconic "Polish Jazz" series of recordings, originally released between 1965 and 1989 by the Polish state owned record company Polskie NagraniaFind albums on this label, which used the MuzaFind albums on this label label as its moniker, consists of seventy six LP albums. It presents the history of Polish Jazz recordings during that period, which includes some of the most important Polish / European modern Jazz milestones and reflects the extraordinary development of Jazz music behind the Iron Curtain. It is one of the most important historic documents of Polish Music and of course Polish Culture in general. The series had an eminent logo designed by Roslaw Szaybo and the albums were numbered sequentially from Vol.1 to Vol.76 accordingly. The album's artwork was wonderfully stylish and modernist, featuring the brilliant photographs and characteristic design by the legendary Polish Artist Marek Karewicz. Stylistically the series presented all Jazz genres, from Traditional Jazz to Avant-Garde / Free Jazz, which was extraordinarily liberal considering the cultural censorship imposed by the Socialist Regime. It suffered from some inconsistency, as far as the musical quality and aesthetics were concerned, as well as the internal "politics" of the Polish Jazz scene at the time, but in retrospect it achieved a spectacular overall result, unparalleled as far as consistently documenting a national Jazz scene is concerned. After the Polskie Nagrania catalogue was bought by Warner Music PolandFind albums on this label, the new owner started a reissue process of the Polish Jazz series, carefully remastered, repackaged and including extensive liner notes, which keeps the artwork as close to the original design as possible. So far forty four volumes of the original series were reissued. In 2016 Warner Music Poland decided to continue the original series by releasing new contemporary Polish Jazz recordings under the same format and even to continue the sequential numbering starting with Vol.77 – a decision I personally consider almost sacrilegious. Some things are simply untouchable, and the "Polish Jazz" series is surely one of those things. If Warner Music Poland wants to produce Jazz albums, which is always more than welcome, they could have started a new series, under a new title, rather than exploiting the reputation of the historic series. As a result, some artist whose albums are released as part of the new series might be led to expect instant gratification, fame and stardom, just for being an artificial part of a prestigious past, which of course is as bogus as it is sad.

Updated: 06/01/2022Posted: 06/01/2022

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