Record Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.21 POLSKIE RADIO 1873 (Barcode: 5907812248734) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1964 Released: 2015 This is the twenty-first installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The seventeen tracks collected here were recorded during the seventh Jazz Jamboree Festival, which took place between October 24 and 26 1964 in Warsaw. This is second part of the Jazz Jamboree 1964 recordings. The music was performed by four different ensembles, which are: the Polish Radio Jazz OrchestraFind albums by this artist conducted by Andrzej KurylewiczFind albums by this artist (four tracks), the Czechoslovak Gustav Brom OrchestraFind albums by this artist (five tracks), the Polish Traditional Jazz ensemble Warsaw StompersFind albums by this artist (three tracks) and finally the Dutch singer Rita ReysFind albums by this artist accompanied by a trio led by her husband pianist Pim JacobsFind albums by this artist with his brother Ruud JacobsFind albums by this artist on bass and guitarist Wim OvergaauwFind albums by this artist (five tracks). Most of the music consists of standards, but the Polish Radio Orchestra plays two, the Gustav Brom Orchestra four and the Warsaw Stompers one original composition. The music performed by the Gustav Brom Orchestra is by far the most interesting part of this album, and includes very advanced modern compositions, arrangements and individual performances. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

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WARSAW STOMPERS ~ WARSAW STOMPERS (POLISH JAZZ VOL.01) MUZA 1001 (Barcode: 5907783420016) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1959 - 1964 Released: 2008 This album presents a series of recordings made by the polish traditional Jazz ensemble Warsaw StompersFind albums by this artist (earlier called New Orleans StompersFind albums by this artist), which was one of the first and certainly the best of its kind. Led by the excellent trumpeter Henryk MajewskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Mieczyslaw WadeckiFind albums by this artist the ensemble changed the membership over the years and included in its ranks some of the best future Polish Jazz musicians like saxophonist Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist and keyboardist Wlodek GulgowskiFind albums by this artist. The traditionalists vs. modernist Jazz War raged in Poland in the 1950s similarly to what happened all over Europe at the time with the New Orleans revival emerging as a counterforce of the new Bebop and beyond. However, beyond the heated discussions running into the wee hours of the night between the opponents, Jazz as music coexisted peacefully, resulting in outstanding results in both fields. The Warsaw Stompers played an all original programme, which is quite remarkable for the time, again emphasizing the deep involvement of the Polish scene with the Jazz tradition, which started even before the WWII. The level of the compositions as well as the performance is truly stellar and anybody who loves traditional Jazz should be able to enjoy this music to the fullest. Highly recommended! Side Note: Although some Polish Jazz albums were recorded and released in Poland before this album, it marks the very beginning of the legendary Polish Jazz series, which over the years documented the development of the Polish scene and resulted in total 76 releases, which in retrospect include some of the best European Jazz recorded beyond the Iron Curtain. The Polish Jazz LPs and CDs are highly collectable and many fans all over the world try to complete the collection, which is not an easy task these days. The CD reissues (called Polish Jazz Deluxe) expanded the original series with some 20 additional titles, which somehow missed the original series at the time but belong to be a part of it in retrospect.

Updated: 08/07/2020Posted:

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