Jazz Archives

When in February 1993 Stanisław Sobóla of Polonia Records called me and offered cutting a record of Chopin music, I agreed to do so most readilly. But just as soon as I had hang up, panick took me over - Chopin a la jazz? Help me somebody!
Almost a year I hestitated before I got into the studio, since so much had taken to prepare myself mentally for the project. Mentally, which means not so much by way of practicing at the keyboard, as by thinking rather and careful listening to Chopin's music, as well as to some jazz pianists solo recordings. I felt that every concert I was playing during the period furthered me to the moment when I would sit at the piano and cut the record myself.
In the meantime Andrzej Jagodziński had recorded Chopin with his trio and I'd heard news about Benek Maseli fixing to do the same. It started getting crowded in the Chopin department anyway.
Finally the date was called for three days at the Warsaw's radio and TV studio at Woronicza Street. I invited the two greats - Stańko and Namysłowski - to join the session. It has all been a terrific experience and a fantastic lesson to me. I have discarded quite a few recorded pieces leaving only the most valuable in my opinion.
Generally speaking I wanted to stear clear of „remakes” of all sorts. Being an admirer of our great composer's genius myself, I knew that restyling Chopin „in a jazzy groove” would have been dealing trash and sacrilege. I tried to get out of his music things that I could use as a pretext for my own, personal playing. The Chopin's themes therefore often appear camouflaged, often marked rather than quoted. Whenever I was to quote Chopin - then I did it literally, after the original score.
The material includes two jazz standards: „My Secret Love”, where the left hand figure from Prelude in A flat major, adapted to the theme's harmony, has been employed in the accompaniment (the ending, however, is the original Chopin's prelude) and „Segments” by Charlie Parker, which - as far as harmony is concerned - strictly covers the opening of Etude in A minor Op. 25 Nr 4. You'll also discover quite a lot of easy playing, which is what I personally like the most, without holding on tight to an a priori settled harmony or from.Let me hope that you'll enjoy this record, those of you who know Chopin and love him as well as the jazzfans among you. I also hope that perhaps a few of the latter will find themselves motivated by it to get more familiar with his music.
Leszek Możdżer

:::Review From original liner-notes 1994:::


Leszek Możdżer - Chopin Impresje (2005)

1. Mazurek C op. 24 nr 2
2. Nokturn F op. 15 nr 1
3. Etiuda Ges op. 25 nr 9
4. Nokturn G op. 15 Nr 3
5. Mazurek A op. 17 Nr 4
6. Preludium As Nr 26 (My Secret Love)
7. Preludium A nr 7
8. Etiuda A op. 25 Nr 4 (Segments)
9. Mazurek F. op. 68 Nr 3
10. Nokturn F op. 15 Nr 1 (2nd ver)
11. Nokturn Fis op. 48
12. Mazurek G op. 24

Credits
Leszek Możdżer - piano
Zbigniew Namysłowski - alto saxophone (12)
Tomasz Stańko - trumpet (10)

I intended to cut a record with pop music played by jazz musicians. It was done easy, and it should be listened to easy as well; it may come through one ear and flow away through another. And if, incidentally, it brings the listener some pleasure - we may say that is mission is filled.

:::Review from Last.fm:::

Wojciech Karolak - Easy! (1974)

1. A Day In The City 5:28
2. (DACP 796) Endless Transit 4:17
3. Instant Groove 7:09
4. Strzez Sie Szczezui (Jan Wroblewski) 3:58
5. Easy 5:57
6. Why Not Samba 4:16
7. Seven Shades of Blue 4:04
8. Goodbye 6:27

Credits
Wojciech Karolak (Hammond Organ and Fender Piano)
Zbigniew Namysłowski (Alto Saxophone)
Janusz Muniak (Tenor Saxophone)
Tomasz Szukalski (Tenor Saxophone)
Włodzimierz Kurpinski (Baritone Saxophone)
Tomasz Stańko (Trumpet)
Józef Debek (Trumpet)
Tadeusz Sosztak (Trumpet)
Andrzej Piela (Trombone)
Stanisław Cieślak (Trombone)
Jan Jarczyk (Trombone)
Pawel Dabrowski (Fender Bass) - 7,8
Czesław Bartkowski (Drums)
Wojciech Kowalewski (Percussion)
Ewa Wanat (Vocals)
Waldemar Parzynski (Vocals)
Janusz Mych (Vocals)

When Tomasz Stanko first started working with a trio of Polish teenagers in 1994 -- Marcin Wasilewski, piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, bass; Michal Miskiewicz, drums -- on film projects and live gigs inside his native land, he might have glimpsed, but surely never fully conceived of, the sound that the quartet's relationship would offer a decade later. Suspended Night, on ECM, follows the hugely successful Soul of Things on the same label. It is only the second international offering from this group, but the flowering and maturation of this creative relationship are nothing if not utterly stunning. This ensemble has developed its own bravely compelling yet tonally accessible voice in articulating Stanko's unique compositional language; it is one that opens up the jazz tradition from the inside in startling and wonderful new directions. Suspended Night opens with "Song for Sarah," a ballad that stresses the harmonic language utilized so wonderfully on Soul of Things. Wasilewski's intensely lyrical, Bill Evans-influenced style is the perfect complement to the languid tempo and moving melody of Stanko's balladic utterance. Stanko's playing of the melody moves directly in concert with his pianist's chromatic subtleties, with unhurried, emotional nuance as the rhythm section punctuates his lines with shimmering, dancing colorations and whispers. The rest of the disc is made up of ten "Suspended Variations." They are compositions that offer enough skeletal direction and structure to allow a spacious inner freedom; improvisation feels effortless, innovative in terms of dynamic, tone, and harmonic invention as an exploration of tonal color is combined with space and melodic inquiry that is holistic and open-ended. The dynamic range here is also compelling as it seems to flow and extend rather than explode for the sake of releasing tensions. Where Soul of Things concentrated on intimate dialogue, Suspended Night uses that exchange and extends both subtleties and vagaries while keeping the major tenets of its subject in full view, always with grace and a poetic elegance. This a major new lyric statement that actually looks at jazz as a future music of unfolding investigation rather than as merely a historic tradition celebrating itself. Suspended Night is essential for any serious jazz fan and a wonderful introduction to Stanko's music as well.

Tomasz Stańko Quartet - Suspended Night (2004)

1.Song For Sarah 5:30
2. Suspended Variation I 8:52
3. Suspended Variation II 8:24
4. Suspended Variation III 7:13
5. Suspended Variation IV 7:04
6. Suspended Variation V 4:20
7. Suspended Variation VI 8:54
8. Suspended Variation VII 3:25
9. Suspended Variation VIII 4:21
10. Suspended Variation IX 5:52
11. Suspended Variation X 4:47

Credits
Double Bass - Sławomir Kurkiewicz
Drums - Michał Miśkiewicz
Piano - Marcin Wasilewski
Trumpet - Tomasz Stańko

Although not as well-known in the West as his countrymen Adam Makowicz, Tomasz Stanko, and Michal Urbaniak, Wróblewski has been one of the dominant figures in Polish jazz since the late '60s. Wróblewski played clarinet, tenor sax, and piano while studying agriculture at a Polish technical college; his first professional experience was with Krzysztof Komeda in 1956. Beginning in 1958, he studied at the Higher School of Music in Krakow. That year, he was chosen by George Wein and Marshall Brown to play in the International Youth Band, which performed at the Brussels World's Fair and the Newport Jazz Festival. In 1960, he played and recorded with Stan Getz and a group of Polish musicians; the resulting album was issued as Jazz Jamboree '60.
Wróblewski led many Polish jazz groups during the 1960s, including the Jazz Outsiders and the Polish Jazz Quartet. He played some free jazz, but -- while occasionally prone to experimentation -- he remained attached to more traditional forms. Wróblewski formed the Polish Radio Jazz Studio orchestra in 1968 and led the band until 1977; it included most of the country's top jazz players at one time or another. Around that time, Wróblewski was also vice president and later president -- of the Polish Jazz Society. He led several of his own ensembles during the '70s, including Mainstream (co-led with Wojciech Karolak), Chalturnik (an experimental aggregate), and his quartet.

Quite a groovy little album -- big band work from Polish saxophonist Jan Ptasyn Wroblewski, done with the same hip flair and sense of soul as similar projects for MPS at the time! There's a sound here that's ambitious, but not overly academic -- a bold statement in music that's filled with strong colors, firm tones, and a confident direction -- played to perfection by a group that includes Wroblewski on tenor, Tomasz Stanko on trumpet, Michael Urbaniak on violin, Zbigniew Namyslowski on alto sax, and Adam Makowicsz on Fender Rhodes. Tracks are longish, but very well constructed -- so that they don't run on too much, and have a tightness that matches the spirit of the set. Titles include "Determinant One", "Quotation From Myself", "Magma", "Seaweed Sale", and "No Fade Out".

:::Review by Dusty Groove America, Inc.:::

Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski - Sprzedawcy Glonów (1973)

Credit
1. Seaweed Sale 6:18
2. No Fade Out 6:04
3. Quotation From Myself 9:09
4. Determinant One 9:50
5. Jan Szpargatol Mahawisnia 6:26
6. Magma 5:18

Credits
Studio Jazzowe P.R. - directed by Jan 'Ptaszyn' Wróblewski

Tomasz Szukalski - tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet (1, 3-6)
Michał Urbaniak - violin (1), soprano sax (2)
Zbigniew Namysłowski - alto sax, flute (1-6)
Tomasz Stańko - trumpet (2, 3, 4, 6)
Adam Makowicz - Fender electric piano (4)
Marek Bliziński - guitar (1, 4, 5)
Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski - tenor saxophone (1, 2, 4, 6), conductor
Wojciech Karolak - Hammond organ (1, 5)
Włodzimierz Nahorny - alto sax, flute (1-6)
Zbigniew Seifert - alto sax (2,3), violin (6)
Stanisław Mizeracki - trumpet (1,2,3,4,6);
Bogdan Dembek - trumpet (1,3,4,5,6)
Bogusław Skawina - trumpet (2)
Laco Deczi - trumpet (5)
Józef Grabarski - trumpet (1)
Stanisław Cieślak - trombone (1-6)
Andrzej Brzeski - trombone (1,2,3,4,6)
Andrzej Piela - trombone (2,3,5,6)
Jan Jarczyk - trombone (1,4,5)
Dariusz Filiochowski - French horn (1,3,5,6)
Dariusz Szewczyk - French horn (4)
Zdzisław Piernik - tuba (2,3,5,6)
Janusz Muniak - tenor sax, soprano sax, flute (2,3,5,6)
Waldemar Kurpiński - baritone sax, clarinet (1,3,4,5,6)
Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano ( 6)
Paweł Jarzębski - bass (1,2,4,5)
Bronisław Suchanek - bass (3,5,6)
Janusz Stefański - drums (2,3,5,6)
Czesław Bartkowski - drums (1,4), percussion (5)
Kazimierz Jonkisz - percussion (1,3,4,5,6)

Stanko's first recording for the ECM label; it would be twenty years until the next! "First Song" is characterized by a meter that constantly, subtly shifts.

Holland and Vesala blaze as the anchors, but this essentially themeless music is held together by an audible structure that allows Stanko and Szukalski infinite freedom yet never devolves into mere blowing. This track is a wonderful example of how Stanko makes sense by allusion yet sounds free. "Balladyna" starts out as what sounds like a folk melody and mutates in a freeform exploration of pure sound and rhythm. Marvelous!

:::Review by Budd Kopman:::

Tomasz Stańko - Balladyna (1976)

1. First Song (7:38)
2. Tale (3:28)
3. Num (7:11)
4. Duet (2:55)
5. Balladyna (7:59)
6. Last Song (6:02)
7. Nenaliina (5:29)

Credits
Bass - Dave Holland
Drums - Edward Vesala
Producer - Manfred Eicher
Tenor And Soprano Saxophone - Tomasz Szukalski
Trumpet - Tomasz Stańko

Innovator with a complex of tradition, romanticist expressing himself in the contemporary idiom, poet of piano - this is Krzysztof Komeda, one of those musicians who have widened the essence of jazz.
He has proved that the world of emotions hitherto remaining within the scope of symphony music could manifest itself in jazz as well. He did it by introducing into it dramatic lyricism and pathos which in their ecstatic, even mystic intensity are in the late-romantic, Promethean, Skriabin-like modes of expression.
This new aesthetics in jazz required its new form. Instead of the static conventional sets of variations, preceding without direction, he has initiated a dramatic form which develops from the exposition towards culmination and final solution. This form, let us call it roughly "the bow form", has been used in two major pieces by Komeda recorded on this disc: Astigmatic and Svantetic (after Svante Forster, Swedish poet and writer, friend of the composer). The solo parts have ceased in it to be blowing choruses and have taken on instead a definite function, while the simple construction of the piece, concentration on a single idea (one movement, one theme), as well as much scope for improvisation and the psychic contact between the players contribute to the fullest realization of the composition.
The dramatic and constructional elements are not the only characteristics of Komeda's style. The particular "Slavonic" feeling of his pieces results from the fusion of all sorts of stuff: beside contemporary technique of composition (sound spots, clusters, aleatoric and poliagogic structures) there are structures getting out of fashion (modalism or the extinct harmonics of the last century) or the "fossilized", long forgotten forms of the musical prematter (as for instance the simple drum beating - the obsessive rhythm, how very fresh and revealing nowadays!, or the uncontrolled instrumental "cry").
The force that unifies these elements is the jazz rhythm and sound. It must be said, however, that the sonority and articulation have been here considerably widened.
Komeda's pieces are outlines to be performed by a group of chosen instrumentalists. No wonder that Komeda selects his partners carefully.
Among the musicians connected with him there is Rune Carlson, a distinguished Swedish percussionist, extraordinarily musical, with a rapid reflex and an unusual sensitivity to the quality of sound. Though in his style similar to Anthony Williams, in details completely different from him.
Then there is in Komeda's group Tomasz Stańko, a leading Polish trumpeter, a striking individuality. Since recently he has been playing on the flugelhorn, extracting from it a fine, voluminous sound.
As guest performers appear with Komeda: Günter Lenz, playing double-bass with the West-German Albert Mangelsdorff ensemble, a musician of rich technique and imagination; and Zbigniew Namysłowski from Warsaw, one of the leading alto axophonists of the younger generation (born in 1939), known in numerous countries in Europe and in USA.

Krzysztof Komeda (1931-1969), a pianist, a musician whose career has been very rich. He has been playing as jazz musician since 1959, appearing in many European countries and having a particularly great success in Scandinavia. He has written music to over thirty films both Polish and foreign. Among others to Two Men with a Wardrobe, Mammalia, Knife in Water, Cul-de-sac, all by Roman Polański, to Innocent Sorcerers by Andrzej Wajda, Hvad Medos and Kattorna (Cats) by Henig Carlssen. Just from the latter comes the second of the pieces recorded on this disc of the four individualists appeals strongly to our imagination. And that is what they are aiming at.

:::Review by Adam Stawinski
Original liner notes from the album's back cover:::

Krzysztof Komeda – Astigmatic (1965)

1. Astigmatic 22:50
2. Kattorna 7:20
3. Svantetic 15:50

Komeda Quintet
Tomasz Stańko - trumpet
Zbigniew Namysłowski- alto sax
Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Gunter Lenz - bass
Rune Carlson - drums