|
DUSTY
GROOVE AMERICA
Brilliant
stuff -- 10 rare jazz tracks
from the Polish scene of the 60s, one of the unsung hotbeds of modern
jazz in the postwar years! For some odd reason, Poland was head and
shoulders above most of its Eastern European contemporaries when it
came to jazz -- and as you'll hear in this extremely well-compiled set,
the music of the country was easily on a par with the best jazz work
coming out of the US or other European nations at the time! The focus
of the package is on some of the more groove-oriented tunes of the time
-- ranging from hard-driving big band numbers through modal small group
sides, and even including a few vocal numbers with a slightly edgy
quality.
MARK
TURNER (DJ Rocky
Rococo @ Jazzadelica)
Following
up collections from Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Russia, the latest
stop on Cosmic Sounds' jazz tour of Eastern Europe is 1960's Poland.
And it's a rousing success. Among my favorites are the four tracks
featuring vibes player Jerzy Milian: three under his own name and a
fourth as featured soloist with Jan Wroblewski and the Polish Radio
Jazz Orchestra. Then there's a really swingin' track by the Novi
Singers, one of the all-time greatest jazz vocal groups...from any
country! Pianist and film composer Krzystof Komeda, perhaps the most
familiar name here, is oddly represented by two versions of the same
composition ("The Kitten"), both programmed on the same side of the
record. Aside from that minor quibble, BAZAAR really is a valuable and
entertaining document of a mostly ignored part of jazz history.
STRAIGHT
NO CHASER (Spring 2002, page 75, by CT)
More
Astonishing spiritual sounds from this wonderful underground label run
by the knowledgeable Zeljko Kerleta. This Polish edition is fifth in
line of 'Discoveries From The East' having so far covered Russia,
Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia - jazz has no boundaries these days. The
richness hits you immediately with the spell binding sticks of
vibraphonist Jerzy Milian opening track 'Ashkabad', only to further
devastated by his neoteric, jazz breakebat groove 'Rewelacyjny Luciano'
(translations welcome). 'Katorna' by Jan Wroblewski is likely to prove
a new favourite for dancers at the Jazz Cafe - intense, fast, ferocious
steam train of a track that suggests straight ahead jazz could work the
rock world of pyrotechnics. There's a funky vocal inclusion of the
blissfully harmonious Novi Singers and a heart Lifting bossa by
Zbigniew Namyslowski for too rare to mention, so I have. This
collection as those before it is remarkably hot and brilliant
introduction to the renound Polish scene. If you call yourself a music
lover don't miss this (DJs this is available on vinyl). My album of
this issue easy. (CT)
SEVEN
by ANDY THOMAS , Issue
149 Seven Update May 8, 2002
Profiling
the sounds of East European jazz new and old with his Cosmic Sounds
label, Zeljko Kerleta is a man committed to bringing this music to a
wider audience. This is the fifth in a series looking at the areas
vibrant jazz scene from the sixties and seventies (following on from
albums of Czech, Russian and Yugoslavian gems). Along the same lines as
the recent JCR compilation, this superb album focuses on the incredible
jazz music of sixties' Poland. While Kerleta states that this is
'straight ahead jazz' there is nothing remotely safe about the fierce
jazz of artists like Krystof Komeda and Jan Wroblewski. Elsewhere, the
easy vocal jazz of the Novi Singers is offset by the Pharoah Sanders
style jazz dance of Zbigniew Namyslowski, on an album that will
surprise and inspire in equal measure.
|
