Krzysztof Lenczowski Trio - Lost Journey (2021)

Krzysztof Lenczowski Trio

Krzysztof Lenczowski - cello, guitar
Kajetan Galas - Hammond organ
Bartek Staromiejski - drums

Lost Journey

REQUIEM/LYDIAN 2021/17

By Adam Baruch

This is the third album as a leader by Polish Jazz cellist/composer (and now also guitarist) Krzysztof Lenczowski, primarily known as a member of the superb Atom String Quartet, but with a rich and exciting recording legacy of dozens of albums by top Polish artists. This album finds him in an exciting organ trio format with the wonderful organist Kajetan Galas and drummer Bartek Staromiejski. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Lenczowski.

The music is absolutely delightful, like a ten-course meal in a tree-star Michelin restaurant. Each and every of those compositions is completely different and the diversity is simply astounding, including Classical Music, Rock, Prog, Fusion, World and other influences, skillfully exploited to create a dazzling kaleidoscope of sounds.

It is hard to believe that all this music is performed by just three instrumentalists, which emphasizes their individual skills and talents. Lenczowski is a brilliant cellist of course but here he demonstrates amazing scale of different sounds he is able to create on his cello. Galas, whom I have been following closely for a few years now, is a stunning talent, able to express a myriad of feelings using the keyboards. Staromiejski adds his robust drumming to drive the music steadily through the rapid turns and twists and frequent mood changes with sensitivity and skill.

It is very difficult to accurately define this music stylistically, and for luck of a better term, it would probably be best described as Jazz-Rock Fusion, although that might not do the music justice, as it is way more rich in textures than what usually passes as Fusion. The leagues of Prog fans should also feel perfectly comfortable with this music, as in fact should all lovers of ambitious melodic music, full of surprising vistas and virtuosic performances.

There are very few musicians today, who can match Lenczowski’s compositional ingenuity and chameleonic cross-genre and cross-idiom approach. A retrospective glance at his recorded legacy so far is already highly impressive, and one can never guess what he will come up with next - which of course is one of his many virtues. Overall this is an absolute gem of an album, which a great appeal to all Artistic souls out there, of all ages and all musical affiliations. I can’t imagine anybody not loving this music, and if they don’t I am really sorry for them.

Eduardo Bortolotti - Huapango Nights (2020)

Eduardo Bortolotti

Eduardo Bortolotti - violin, ocarinas
Mateusz Sobiechowski - piano
Edilson Sanchez - electric bass
Bartek Staromiejski - drums
Alberto Suazo - jarana, jawbone percussion, ocarinas

Huapango Nights

PRIVATE EDITION 2020

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Mexican (resident in Poland) Jazz violinist Eduardo Bortolotti recorded in a quartet setting with Columbian (also resident in Poland) bassist Edilson Sanchez and two Polish musicians: keyboardist Mateusz Sobiechowski and drummer Bartek Staromiejski. Percussionist Alberto Suazo guests on selected tracks. The album presents nine pieces, four of which are arrangements of Mexican Folk tunes and five are original compositions by Bortolotti.

The music is typical Jazz-World Fusion with strong Mexican/Latin tinge, skillfully performed by the participants. The sound of the violin is certainly quite unusual in this musical environment and takes a moment to get used to, but it certainly works out eventually. The closing track offers a much open and free attitude and perhaps hints as to Bortolotti's future development.

Bortolotti, who studied with leading Polish Jazz violinists: Marcin Hałat and Henryk Gembalski, is certainly well schooled and his technical proficiency is beyond reproach. His personal style still needs to be crystallized, which is sure to happen in time, combining the Polish influences and his Mexican roots and creating a unique voice.

The rest of the players are also skilled performers, with the two Polish musicians having already proven recording experience. They all support the leader amicably and the group sound is coherent and well balanced. Overall this is a promising debut album, which shows potential and talent, and is definitely worth checking out, especially since the violin in Jazz is relatively obscure and deserves wider recognition.

Eduardo Bortolotti - Huapango Nights (2020)

Eduardo Bortolotti

Eduardo Bortolotti - violin, ocarinas
Mateusz Sobiechowski - piano

Edilson Sanchez - electric bass

Bartek Staromiejski - drums

Alberto Suazo - jarana, jawbone percussion, ocarinas

Huapango Nights

PRIVATE EDITION 2020

By Alek Jastrzębski

Debiutanckie albumy mają w sobie coś szczególnie pociągającego. Być może chodzi o tę specyficzną aurę tajemniczości, czasem wręcz niepewności, względem tego, co nas czeka? A może chodzi o ekscytację związaną z nieuchronnością spotkania z nieznanym? Czy trafimy na to, na co liczymy? A może czeka nas zawód? Na ile materiał będzie zgodny z naszymi oczekiwaniami? Trudno to przewidzieć i osobiście uważam to za najciekawsze w pierwszych płytach, które czasem są jednocześnie ostatnimi, czasem zaś początkiem obszernej dyskografii. Jakim debiutem okazało się "Huapango Nights"?

Z całą pewnością bardzo interesującym, już ze względu na sam zamysł twórczy Eduardo Bortolottiego - skrzypka jazzowego i lidera kwintetu. Zapragnął on bowiem ukazać swoje meksykańskie korzenie w nowoczesnej jazzowej odsłonie. Całość ma stanowić podsumowanie jego ośmioletniego pobytu w Polsce, dlatego obok aranżacji meksykańskiej muzyki ludowej, na płycie usłyszymy również autorskie kompozycje jazzowe. Warto przy tej okazji wspomnieć o instrumentarium - brzmienie skrzypiec i standardowej sekcji rytmicznej wzbogacają dźwięki instrumentów tradycyjnych, takich jak jarana, szczęka osła czy okaryny. Bez wątpienia jest to intrygujące zestawienie, wnoszące wiele świeżości do dobrze już znanej i osłuchanej klasycznej obsady kwintetu jazzowego i nadaje całości wyjątkowego posmaku.

To samo można powiedzieć o melodyce, nierzadko zakorzenionej w muzyce ludowej, osadzonej jednocześnie w jazzowej harmonii. Najbardziej zaskakuje lekkość i naturalność, z jaką muzykom udało się połączyć te dwa światy - zupełnie jakby było to zestawienie oczywiste. Szczególnie słychać to w "Cenzontle", gdzie w towarzystwie chwytliwego groove'u i elektrycznego piana mamy obok siebie solówki na okarynach i skrzypcach z efektem wah-wah. Instrumentalistom należą się ukłony za doskonałe wyważenie tak abstrakcyjnych połączeń, dzięki czemu utwory nie sprawiają wrażenia jedynie ciekawostki, a są oryginalnymi i przemyślanymi kompozycjami. 

To samo tyczy się dramaturgii całej płyty, która w moim odczuciu również nie została pozostawiona przypadkowi. I tak przepiękna, tęskna melodia spokojnego "Altered Times" jest fantastycznym następstwem wspomnianego wcześniej dynamicznego "Cenzontle", a zamykające płytę "Alla en el Rancho Grande" jest nieoczekiwaną, acz bardzo udaną wycieczką do świata free, stanowiącą jednocześnie otwarte zakończenie całości. 

"Huapango Nights" to ponad 40 minut owocnego spotkania meksykańskiej muzyki ludowej ze współczesnym jazzem i jednocześnie odważny i udany debiut fonograficzny Eduardo Bortolottiego. Tym samym skrzypek, wraz z towarzyszącymi mu muzykami, przypomina, że wciąż warto wyruszać w rzadziej eksplorowane rejony muzyki, bo kryje się w nich równie wiele piękna, co w tych częściej odwiedzanych. Mam nadzieję, że ten album to dopiero początek licznych eskapad kwintetu do miejsc, w których kreatywność i muzyczna otwartość grają pierwsze skrzypce.

Eduardo Bortolotti - Huapango Nights - premiera nowej płyty

Eduardo Bortolotti - skrzypce, okaryny
Mateusz Sobiechowski - fortepian, instrumenty klawiszowe
Edilson Sanchez - gitara basowa
Bartek Staromiejski - perkusja

Alberto Suazo - instrumenty ludowe

"Huapango Nights" to debiut fonograficzny Eduardo Bortolottiego, skrzypka jazzowego meksykańskiego pochodzenia. Album, w swojej nazwie nawiązujący do ludowego gatunku muzycznego, podsumowuje jego ośmioletni pobyt w Polsce i jest połączeniem zaplecza folklorystycznego z brzmieniem jazzowym. Płyta będzie miała swoją oficjalną premierę 11.12.2020 r.

Skrzypek, kompozytor i aranżer do współpracy w projekcie zaprasza młodych i zdolnych muzyków jazzowych i ludowych, a każdy z nich wnosi swój kluczowy element do jakości całego albumu. Kolumbijczyk Edilson Sanchez gra na basie łącząc rytmy jazzowe z latynoskimi, a nowoczesnego wyrazu jazzowego w harmonii nadaje Mateusz Sobiechowski, grający na fortepianie. Polsko-latynoskiej ekspresji daje wyraz perkusista Bartek Staromiejski, a niezwykle ważny element ludowy zapewnia Meksykanin Alberto Suazo, który gra na tradycyjnych instrumentach typu: jarana, szczęka osła czy przedkolumbijskie okaryny.

Tworząc "Huapango Nights" najważniejsze dla Eduardo Bortolottiego było ukazanie jego meksykańskich korzeni w nowoczesnej odsłonie jazzowej. Jest to bardzo osobista podróż muzyczna, która podsumowuje okres od początku jego kariery muzycznej, jeszcze w rodzinnej Puebli, do obecnych czasów, w których pandemia ograniczyła możliwości wyrazu artystycznego. Stąd też na albumie znajdują się utwory, które są aranżacjami meksykańskiej muzyki ludowej, a także autorskimi kompozycjami jazzowymi stworzonymi w Polsce na przestrzeni ostatnich lat.

Eduardo Bortolotti Lopez - meksykański skrzypek jazzowy, kompozytor oraz pedagog muzyczny. Ukończył kierunek skrzypiec jazzowych na Akademii Muzycznej im. Karola Szymanowskiego w Katowicach oraz uzyskał tytuł magistra pedagogiki muzycznej na Uniwersytecie Śląskim na Wydziale Instytutu Muzyki. Jako solista i lider zespołu występował na wielu festiwalach na całym świecie. Jako reprezentant swojego kraju - Meksyku - został zaproszony m.in. do: Indonezji, Chin, Azerbejdżanu, Turcji, Polski, Czech, Słowacji i na Cypr. Bortolotti, dzięki swojemu wykształceniu pedagoga muzycznego oraz wieloletniemu doświadczeniu jako skrzypek jazzowy, prowadził wiele warsztatów muzycznych dla różnych instytucji na świecie. Przykładem mogą być m.in. zajęcia prowadzone w 2017 roku w jego rodzimym kraju dla studentów Uniwersytetu Muzycznego w Puebli (BUAP), w 2019 roku w Chinach dla uczniów Beijing Contemporary Music Academy oraz ostatnie, we współpracy z Ambasadą Meksyku i Instytutem Sztuki w Dżakarcie, które miały miejsce w Indonezji.

HeFi Quartet - Parallax Error (2017)

HeFi Quartet

Leszek HeFi Wiśniowski - flute
Dominik Wania - piano
Tomasz Kupiec - double bass
Bartek Stromiejski - drums

Parallax Error

SJ 019



By Adam Baruch

This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz flautist/composer Leszek HeFi Wiśniowski and the second under the HeFi Quartet moniker. The quartet features this time the excellent pianist Dominik Wania and the familiar rhythm section which accompanies Wisniowski since several years: bassist Tomasz Kupiec and drummer Bartek Staromiejski. The album presents fourteen relatively short original compositions, all by Wiśniowski, two of which were co-composed by Kupiec and one by Wania.

From the very onset of this album it becomes clear that this is by far the most mature, coherent and balanced recording by Wiśniowski, which presents him as a gifted composer and excellent instrumentalist in a best possible setting. The music ideally combines melodic elements with modern Jazz approach, which allows the players plenty of space to express their individual statements and at the same time maintains the unity of the quartet as an organic ensemble.

Wisniowski treats his instrument with an utmost respect, flirting and even making love with it all along, always in perfect harmony and perfect balance between the emotional expressionism and the technical virtuosity. The pieces move between solos, duos and quartet performances, each of these settings emphasizing different aspects of the music, which is completely absorbing and magnetic in its depth of emotion.

The presence of Wania is a crucial element of the album's aura and its overall success to create to desired effect. Among the many Polish Jazz pianists, Wania is not only one of the very best, but also the most modest and most profound as a player, being able to find the ideal expression suitable to a diverse set of environments. He never "steals" the show and always fills the space with his stunning, delicate and perfect phrases. His performances on this album are definitely among his most beautiful and Wiśniowski made a very wise decision to select him as a partner, which resulted in a brilliant piece of recorded music, definitely one of the best so far this year on the Polish Jazz scene.

It is very satisfying to see that Wiśniowski finally found his true realm on this album. After many years of searching, this album is simply a pinnacle of his achievements and a well deserved glorification of his talents, which will hopefully be followed by many more such fabulous musical vistas. Well done indeed!

Mulasta Trio - Live In Green Eye (2009)

Mulasta Trio

Tomasz Mucha - violin
Lasse Lindgren - bass
Bartek Staromiejski - drums

Live In Green Eye

BCD 23




By Adam Baruch

This is a live recording by the Mulasta Trio, which consists of Polish Jazz violinist Tomasz Mucha, Finnish bassist Lasse Lindgren and Polish drummer Bartek Staromiejski. They perform seven compositions, four of which are originals by Mucha, one is a Finnish tune, one is a standard and finally the last one is a folk tune arranged by Lindgren.

The music is performed almost completely acoustically, which is very different from most contemporary Jazz violin recordings, which sound mostly electric. This acoustic approach is reminiscent of early Jazz violin recordings before violin was almost completely drawn into Fusion. Although improvised and swinging, the overall result is not exactly within the mainstream Jazz boundaries and includes also World Music elements. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the musicians obviously have a great fun playing together.

The essence of the music is based on the intimate exchanges between the violin and the bass, with both instruments playing alongside constantly. This wonderful dialogue is the absolute highlight of this recording. Both Mucha and Lindgren perform with virtuosity and finesse, which definitely deserves to be discovered. Staromiejski respectfully accompanies the two soloists trying not to interfere with their performances and does a perfect job in that respect. Mucha's compositions are all rounded and wonderfully lyrical, fitting elegantly this setting.

Overall this is a beautiful, graceful and delicate album, which is sadly little known and surely deserves a wider exposure. Although the Polish Jazz violin already holds a proud position in that music's history, this acoustic variety surely deserves also to be a part of that heritage. I'd surely love to hear more of this kind of music in the future.

HeFi Quartet feat. Krzesimir Dębski - Live (2013)

Leszek Hefi Wiśniowski - flute, saxophone

Paweł Kaczmarczyk - keyboards

Tomasz Kupiec - bass

Bartek Staromiejski - drums

Krzesimir Dębski - violin

PRIVATE EDITION





By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by young Polish Jazz flautist / saxophonist / composer Leszek HeFi Wiśniowski, this one being released under the moniker of his current HeFi Quartet, which also includes the fabulous keyboardist Paweł Kaczmarczyk, bassist Tomasz Kupiec and drummer Bartek Staromiejski. The music includes one studio track (from 2013), three live radio tracks (from 2012) and six live concert tracks (from 2011), which also feature the veteran violinist Krzesimir Dębski. All the music was composed by Wisniowski except one track which is credited to the entire group and one which is a traditional folklore tune.

The music is exciting Modern mainstream with some World Music influences, a bit of Fusion and other ingredients, all well amalgamated compositionally and beautifully executed. The first part of the album (the radio/studio recordings) is mostly calm and relaxed, whereas the second part (the concert recordings) with Dębski is much more energetic, loud and expressive, with Dębski's input being quite dominant. Overall the music is truly excellent, but the album suffers a bit from being a somewhat hectic collection of music recorded under different circumstances rather than an integral statement.

Wiśniowski also makes a mistake of employing/inviting musicians, who are simply excellent, which sadly makes him the least impressive player of them all, even if he's the leader. Kaczmarczyk completely "steals" the show with his superb solos, which are all simply brilliant, both technically and emotionally. The rhythm section also performs beautifully, way beyond just supporting the soloist, but actually contributing actively to the process of creating the music. These young musicians have already quite a lot of experience performing and even recordings behind them, which is immediately noticeable. Dębski, as already mentioned, is a veteran with a very flamboyant style of playing. As a result the leader's solos really sound rather pale in comparison.

Nevertheless this is still a very strong album, which many Jazz listeners will enjoy immensely. Not too complex and yet interesting and versatile stylistically, this is definitely something worth listening to and at the same time accessible to a relatively wide range of connoisseurs.

Organ Spot - Organ Spot (2013)

Kajetan Galas - organ
Szymon Mika - guitar
Bartek Staromiejski - drums

SJ 006







By Adam Baruch

The Hammond B-3 Organ is one of my all time favorite musical instruments, with endless reminiscences overflowing my mind every time the unique sound starts buzzing in the air. Scores of superb albums were recorded using the B-3 over the years, not only in Jazz but also in Rock of course, and hundreds of keyboardists used the instrument over the years, which in time achieved a legendary status. In addition, the Hammond B-3/guitar cooperation (in duos and trios mostly) has a fascinating tradition in Jazz from way back in the 1950s, which is still very much alive and kicking today. Therefore listening to this album was quite an emotional journey for me.

Organ Spot is a trio comprising of three young Polish Jazz musicians: organist Kajetan Galas, guitarist Szymon Mika and drummer Bartek Staromiejski. The album consists of seven tunes, five of which are Jazz standards and two are originals, composed one each by Mika and Galas. Not surprisingly the album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by the studio owner and himself a fellow Hammond "brother in arms" Jan Smoczynski. The wonderful sound quality and ambience is one of the key factors which makes this album such a sweet gem, as Studio Tokarnia has a wonderful ability to create a  truly "retro" sound, which resembles classic Jazz recordings for such legendary labels as Blue Note. Watch out for the worn-out LP gap between the tracks in one case, which gives a hint as to the "retro" intensions herein.

The performances by all three trio members are spotless and incredibly well balanced. There are no ego trips here and they all play together respectfully listening to each other and supporting each other. Although the organ is obviously the center of attention on this album, the listeners should definitely pay attention to the incredible guitar parts, which are truly invigorating. Some great guitar players must be smiling in Heaven hearing this stuff.

Musically this album is not looking for innovation or breaking new ground; it's all about keeping a wonderful tradition (sonically, stylistically and aesthetically) alive, and doing it in a fresh and interesting way. This album is every inch as good as any similar music produced anywhere else, which speaks for itself as far as the talents and abilities of these young musicians are concerned. Having respect for the tradition, studying and preserving it, are not self-understood these days and are definitely something to be praised and appreciated. Overall this is as close to a perfect mainstream Jazz album as it gets; it is honest, well played, sounds great and most Jazz connoisseurs can enjoy it in full. Definitely a most impressive debut!

Leszek HeFi Wiśniowski - Kinetyka (2010)

My yesterday's visit to music shop was very rewarding. The shelf that contains Polish Jazz was full of new and intriguing items of which I shall mention only few: Aga Zarayan's, Polish talented jazz singer and her new album for legendary Blue Note label titled Looking Walking Being; Piotr Wyleżoł, pianist playing in tradition of Bill Evans and Keith Jarret, and his album Children's Episodes for good Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent and avantgarde and indiejazz issue Goose Talk by Mikołaj Trzaska accompanied by Christian Bauer and Peter Brotzmann. Of all those excellent recordings of this week I nonetheless choose another one titled Kinetyka by Leszek HeFi Wiśniowski.

This is mainstream jazz played in creative and intriguing manner. The leader of the band is Leszek Wiśniowski, for whom this is second album after first titled Lechoechoplexita. He is second flutist I write about on this blog, after Krzysztof Popek, however second to no one in Poland. On this CD he was able to gather excellent band with such stars as violinist Krzesimir Dębski, pianist Paweł Kaczmarczyk (whose album Complexity In Simplicity for ACT label was probably the best polish jazz record last year), Tomasz Kupiec on bass, Bartek Staromiejski on drums, Dominik Bieńczycki on violin and Pramath Kiran on percussion.

The music itself on this album is really extraordinary, although it's mainstream but it is full of tension, anxiety, distress. Exactly like the title of the album suggests there are present in this music so many conflicting directions but yet the personality of the Wiśniowski, his flute and saxes, miraculously give the artistic unity to  this creative chaos. The strongest side of the album are numerous dialogues between Wiśniowski on flute, Kaczmarczyk on electric piano and Dębski on violin. I can not recollect anything similar to those in Polish jazz, it is simple astonishing to listen to them!

Last but not least all this music is so close to the best tradition of Polish jazz and such its masters as violinist Zbigniew Seifert or legendary Labolatorium group, one of the most imporant groups of Polish fusion jazz. This is probably going to be one of the best jazz recordings in Poland in 2010. 

The music from this fantastic album can be heard at the following link:
http://www.hefi.pl/mp3.htm
Thanks to Mr Leszef Hefi Wiśniowski kindness I received two clips containing fragments of concert with music from above described album. I want to turn your attention especially to Prestigitator, truly a gem! It is really a pleasure to update post with music of such high quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utPJSj-C6X8&feature=player_embedded
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm4WW00WvLE&feature=player_embedded