Record Reviews

HORNTET ~ DIRECT MESSAGE FOR TUNE 0172 (Barcode: 5906395808892) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2025 Released: 2025 This is the 2nd studio album (3rd overall) by Polish Jazz quintet HorntetFind albums by this artist, led by pianist / composer Bartlomiej LesniakFind albums by this artist, with saxophonists Robert WypasekFind albums by this artist and Szymon ZiolkowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Mikolaj SikoraFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr PrzewozniakFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by the quintet members: three by Lesniak, two by Wypasek and one by Sikora, and finally one is a standard by Thelonious MonkFind albums by this artist (a bonus track). The music was recorded at the Polish Radio studio S3, offering an excellently balanced sound quality. The quintet obviously established its stylistic path, well within modern Mainstream Jazz, which sounds quite unusual on the Polish Jazz scene, leaving behind the Eastern European sentiments towards melody and lyricism and as a result sounding very much like most American Jazz bands, emphasizing energy, strength and aggression. The resulting music is fast, angry, and very loud, so loud in fact that I had to turn my amp’s volume knob a few notches counterclockwise while listening to the music. The music allows plenty of opportunity for each member of the band to express their individual abilities, and the piano is not as dominating as it was on the previous album, the sound dominance shifting this time towards the rhythm section. The tracks are long and often feature rapid tempo changes and extensive improvisations and complex arrangements, which result in most of the tracks being around ten minutes and beyond in duration. I enjoyed most the leader’s piano parts this time, which show an obvious affinity to Monk’s style, both as a pianist and a composer, and which might explain the fact that a Monk’s piece is added (again) as the only composition originating outside the band. But the entire ambience of the music strongly resembles the revolutionary period in American Jazz in the early 1960s, of which Monk was of course a key figure, when Jazz musicians discovered it’s ok to play around with time and chord changes, which would eventually lead to the development of Free Jazz and Improvised Music. I am not sure that this is the future path of Horntet, but they surely show some symptoms of that trend. Overall, this is a much stronger album than its predecessor, showing interesting development and new directions, hopefully to be continued. They simply need more time to get their stuff together, calm down and refine their intensions. It is definitely a step in the right direction, which in time might lead to even greater aesthetic and artistic success, which of course would be most welcome.

Updated: 11/11/2025Posted: 11/11/2025

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

HORNTET ~ HORNTET FOR TUNE 0163 (Barcode: 5906395808793) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023 This is the debut studio album by Polish Jazz quintet HorntetFind albums by this artist, led by pianist / composer Bartlomiej LesniakFind albums by this artist, with saxophonists Robert WypasekFind albums by this artist and Szymon ZiolkowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Mikolaj SikoraFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr PrzewozniakFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by the quintet members: four by Lesniak and one each by Ziolkowski and Przewozniak, and finally one standard by Thelonious MonkFind albums by this artist. The music is all modern Mainstream Jazz, with extensive improvisations and complex arrangements, which result in the tracks being all around ten minutes and beyond in duration. This allows for all the band members to express their individual abilities and experiment with tempi and often extend the basic melody lines far beyond the origins. As a result, there is a lot happening here, which often seems a bit over the board. These young musicians are bursting with talent and probably feel the need to prove themselves on the extremely crowded Polish Jazz scene, which might by the reason why the result seems so dense and ready to explode. The quintet is at their best playing slow, lyrical material, which is only a small part of the music herein. The album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist, which usually is a guarantee of sound quality, but this time the sound is a bit muffled / unusual, emphasizing the piano over the other instruments. But of course this is just a very personal inkling. Overall, this is an impressive album, considering the age and lack of experience of the musicians, which is just a first step in their career. They simply need time to get their stuff together in time. It obviously indicates the potential and talent of the young Polish Jazz scene, which has so much to offer.

Updated: 11/12/2023Posted: 11/12/2023

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

HORNTET ~ LIVE AT RADIO KATOWICE PRK 0144 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2022 Released: 2022 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz quintet called HorntetFind albums by this artist, which comprises of saxophonist Robert WypasekFind albums by this artist and Szymon ZiolkowskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Bartlomiej LesniakFind albums by this artist, bassist Mikolaj SikoraFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr PrzewozniakFind albums by this artist. The album presents three original compositions, two by Lesniak and one by Przewozniak, and one standard by Thelonious MonkFind albums by this artist. The music is all within modern Mainstream Jazz, well played by these talented young musicians, emphasizing the two saxophones frontline, who often play unisono or with slight variations between the two horns, which creates a nice effect but is not enough to keep the listen interested for long. The piano is a tad too busy, when soloing, but the rhythm section does a good job to keep the music together. The original compositions are a bit simplistic and not entirely coherent, but considering the fact that these young musicians are just starting their career, the result is impressive and promising. Overall, this is a first glimpse of a quintet of young Polish Jazz musicians, who show a lot of potential and, as usual, exemplify the incredible amount of talent on the Polish Jazz scene. A bit more experience and maturity and these musicians will be “burning” the stage. Hope to hear more in the not so distant future.

Updated: 06/10/2022Posted: 06/10/2022

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