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MAREK ROMAŃSKI
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ IN POLAND
In the difficult reality after the social and political changes of 1989 which heavily affected the art circles, Polish jazz remained one of the most interesting and rapidly developing music genres. Not only did it avoid the stagnation which afflicted many other areas of art, but also extended its "offer", taking advantage of open borders and unrestricted possibilities of cultural exchange with Europe and United States.
the second wave of yass
The most important new phenomenon in Polish jazz at the beginning of the 90s was certainly the Tricity Yass music scene. The bassist, guitarist and vocalist Tymon Tymański together with the band Miłość made a certain breakthrough. Within the jazz establishment, comprised of perfectly educated and technically skilled jazzmen slightly frozen in their academic forms, there suddenly appeared a group of musicians who advocated the joy of playing, spontaneity and unrestricted expression rather than virtuosity and formal sophistication. Apart from Miłość there were others band, e.g. Maestro Trytony, Łoskot – directed by the altoist Mikołaj Trzaska and Arhytmic Perfection led by the clarinettist Mazzoll. They created an alternative circle which grew more and more popular among the youth. Young people, who abandoned jazz in the 60s first for rock and then for pop, found in this music the trance energy and a certain symbol of their generational identity.
In 1995, during the 1st Festival of New Improvised Music, organized by Mazzoll, the second wave of Yass made its debut, among others the band Inżynier Kaktus. Its leader was the late guitarist and bassist Tomasz "Święty" Hesse – representative of an older generation of Yass musicians. This formation penetrated the regions close to jazz-rock and fusion, creating its own sound on the basis of dynamic, rock-like rhythmical section. It was also the time when the band Paralaksa made its debut under the leadership of the Tricity bassist Wojciech Mazolewski, one of the z most interesting figures on the Polish jazz scene. Another incredibly creative band is Ścianka, led by the guitarist Maciej Cieślak. By using a rock-specific range of instruments and employing a "rough" sound, it penetrated the area of contemporary music. Just like the works by contemporary composers, the music of Ścianka balanced on the verge of composition and improvisation. Because of its sound and the manner with which it treated the classical tradition, Ścianka was often compared with the American band Sonic Youth.
Although the 1st Festival of New Improvised Music had the character of a generational performance, the two waves of Yass intermingled, as the musicians often met during jam sessions and created more or less ephemeral formations. Among such "mixed" bands was the quartet Arhytmic Memory directed by Mazzoll, whose members were Maciej Cieślak and Wojciech Mazolewski, as well as another musician from Paralaksa – Adam Kamiński. The new Łoskot, resurrected by Mikołaj Trzaska, already had as its new member Tomasz Hesse, who also played in the second band of Tymon Tymański – Trupy. In 1996, two important records were published: the solo Cześć, cześć, cześć by Mikołaj Trzaska, as well as the first and only album of Tymański and Trupy Songs For Genpo. Tymon’s album was a collection of intelligently written and unconventially arranged songs alluding to the psychedelic era, while the domain of Trzaska was free improvisation.
Gradually, the Yass bands began to extend the stylistic spectrum of their work – Mazzoll’s Arhythmic Perfection recorded Rozmowy Scatem together with a well known rock vocalist Kazik Staszewski. Another band of Tymon – Kury – gradually steered towards the direction of an acute satire and quasi-cabaret-like theatre of the absurd (P.O.L.O.V.I.R.U.S.). Mikołaj Trzaska initiated an interesting collaboration with the poet and vocalist of Świetliki – Marcin Świetlicki (Cierpienie i wypoczynek). On the other hand, Mazzoll himself turned bit by bit towards the expansion of the element of improvisation and in this way embarked on the territory often called the "new improvisation".
the new improvisation
Towards the end of 90s, Yass, as a fairly concise artistic movement (in generational and stylistic terms), almost ceased to exist. The pianist Leszek Możdżer and saxophonist Maciej Sikała left Miłość and in 2001 the percussionist Jacek Olter tragically died. As a result, one of the most important young jazz groups of the 90s disappeared from the musical scene. The opposition between the ludic element (or trance fun) and bold experimentation was blasting out the band even earlier on and finally led to the disappearance of the movement.
One of its derivatives was the so-called New Improvisation. It alluded stylistically to the scene represented by such artists as the guitarists Fred Frith and Derek Bailey, saxophonists Evan Parker and Peter Brotzmann, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and percussionist John Stevens. These musicians worked out a certain formula for total improvisation combined with the exploration of the instruments’ sonorous possibilities. This music no longer referred to the Afro-American jazz tradition and rather based in the experiences of European contemporary music. One of the first harbingers of the new movement in Poland were the records of Mazzoll’s band Perplex produced by the famous British percussionist Tony Oxley, in which the leader was accompanied by German musicians: Heinrich Doc Chastca and Stefan Holker. The title composition from the 1997 record Newborn is a study of scenic interaction between the artists and at the same time a presentation of music that is born "here and now" almost without any initial assumptions and defined scenarios. The same direction was also pursued by Sławomir Janicki (bass) and Jacek Majewski (percussion) – founders of the club "Mózg" in Bydgoszcz – a most important place for young, non-commercial jazz of the 90s, and home base of the band Piece of Brain. Their music is an example of unrestricted creativity and absurd (in musical terms) sense of humour.
Another important event from the end of the 90s was the publishing of the recordings by Diffusion Ensemble – a cooperative project of Mazzoll and the artist-performer Robert Knuth. The compositions from the 1999 album Azure Excess were performed by many young musicians, among others: Michał Gos (percussion), Andrzej Izdebski (baritone guitar) or Marek Rogulski (trombone, trumpet). They were to become, in the years to come, the driving force of New Improvisation, alongisde Mazzoll, Trzaska and Janicki. Apart from the above-mentioned artists, the NI generation included also the guitarist from Szczecin and animator of cultural life – Robert Piotrowicz, the saxophonist Anna Zaradny, who also operates live electronics, and the saxophonist and clarinettist Michał Górczyński. The most important achievements of this scene are the albums Energa One by Górczyński/Piernik, Afferico by Rogulus x Szwelas Project/Trzaska, or the approachable and more groove-oriented Curvatura Grande by the Boys Band Trio (Andrzej Izdebski, Michał Górczyński and Michał Gos).
Unfortunately, due to a small interest on the part of the recording companies, many projects on the Polish improvised music scene remained undocumented on records. One example could be the formations of Andrzej Izdebski: Laam Pass or Sonus Acrobata.
jazz boundaries
As I have mentioned earlier on, towards the end of the 90s, Leszek Możdżer – an exquisite, classically trained pianist – left Miłość. After the publishing of the album Talk To Jesus (1996) which was well received by the orthodox jazz circles, he began his collaboration with an ambitious saxophonist Adam Pierończyk (b. 1970). The music of this duo was a combination of the piano parts by Możdżer which sometimes alluded to the style of Keith Jarrett, and the improvisations by Pierończyk which grew out of free jazz, but perfectly blended with the melodic phrases of the pianist. The rich musical tissue prepared by these two original instrumentalists did not lack elements of ethnical music, underlined with sounds of prepared piano and the Arab instrument zoucra.
After the two albums Live In Sofia (1998) and 19-9-1999 (1999), the duo dissolved and Leszek Możdżer became one of the most popular and respected jazz musicians in Poland, a proof of which is the album Piano released in 2004. The exceptionally intelligent and melodic compositions appealed even to the less refined listeners. The virtuosity, humour, as well as a delicate and relaxing atmosphere ensured that the album became a great commercial success. The following albums: Piano Live (2005) and At The Carnegie Hall (2004, a record of a New York concert where Możdżer was accompanied by Adam Makowicz), as well The Time (2005) and Between Us And The Light (2006) – a recording made with Lars Danielsson and Zohar Fresco, only strengthened the success of Możdżer and confirmed his exceptional position on the Polish market.
An altogether different route was taken by Adam Pierończyk. The 2001 album Digivooco is an intriguing combination of electronica, ethnical music and jazz. It contains dynamic improvisations of the leader himself, as well as the outstanding American saxophonist of the M-Base current – Gary Thomas. The recording of electronic instruments’ parts was attended by the Polish veteran in this field – Tadeusz Sudnik. The 2003 album Amusos was a continuation of the stylistics from Digivooco. The wide and difficult to classify genre-wise range of sounds was enriched with the voice of the black vocalist of French origin – Mina Agossi. The originality of music by Pierończyk lies primarily in the unusual stylistic collage and the permeating of electronic and acoustic music.
A similar route was adopted by the percussionist (who also plays electronic instruments) – Jacek Kochan. Beginning from the 2002 album Double Life Of A Chair, he consequently develops an aesthetic of combining electronic music with bold improvisations, serial technique, as well as dynamic, club grooves. The Polish artist invites to his recording sessions musicians from all over the world. Among the artists who played with him are: Palle Mikkelborg and Franz Hautzinger; guitarists: Dave Tronzo and Uchihashi Kazuhisa; saxophonists: Briggan Krauss, Greg Osby and Adam Simmons, as well as the pianist Sławomir Jaskułka. The further chapters in Kochan’s innovative creativity were the albums: One Eyed Horse (2005) and Yearning (2006). Since a couple of years, the musician also runs a popular concert project AJEE (Acoustic Jazz in Electronic Environment) which combines electronica, jazz and club music. The work of this band alludes to the Norwegian nu jazz, represented by such musicians as Nils Petter Molvaer or Bugge Wesseltoft.
From the current of electronic and club-jazz, which won a significant popularity among the youth, one should definitely mention the Tricity band Pink Freud led by the bassist Wojtek Mazolewski. Their first album Zawijasy (2000) still grew out of the Yass stylistics, but the following Sorry Music Polska was a combination of dynamic jazz-rock with nu jazz electronic landscapes. The recording contains allusions to hip-hop, scratches and contemporary post-production. These elements are even more distinct on the next album Jazz fajny jest which contains remixes of compositions by Pink Freud made by the leading Polish artists from the areas of hip-hop and electronic music, among others Envee, Fisz, Emade, Michał "Bunio" Skrok, Niewinni Czarodzieje and Mika Urbaniak.
Wojtek Mazolewski is a very active figure on the young Polish musical scene. He co-creates various, often completely different projects. With Adam Kamiński (electronic instruments) he published an improvised, experimental album V. 2.0 as the new Paralaksa. With hip-hop musicians Fisz and Emade, as well Mikołaj Trzaska, Macio Moretti and Bunio he creates the stylistically heterogeneous band Bassisters Orchestra, with dj Bunio – the electronica-postrock-hip-hop band Ludzie, with guitarist Bartek Weber, saxophonist Tomasz Duda and percussionist Macio Moretti – an electronic and mocking band Baaba (Poope Musique).
Another very interestingly developing band is Robotobibok which combines nervous, complicated rhythms stemming from the American M-Base tradition with analogue synthesisers and jazz improvisations. The band has already made three records: Jogging (2000), Instytut Las (2003) and Nawyki Przyrody (2004). In 2005, during the Silent Cinema Festival, the band played live to the film Flesh and the Devil from 1926. The musicians also participated in the 12th edition of Warsaw Summer Jazz Days and played both in Europe and the United States.
The biggest international career was made by the Wrocław dj duo Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudło, who perform under the name Skalpel. They are the first and still only Polish band to sign a contract with the prestigious London label Ninja Tune. They made two albums which were both very well received around the world: Skalpel (2004) and Konfusion (2005). The duo samples old Polish jazz records, published on old Poljazz vinyl LPs, achieving unusual effects which in combination with their visualizations make their performances one of the biggest exciting concert attractions in Poland.
Considerable popularity on the Polish market was also won by the band Alchemik whose members are: saxophonist, producer and arranger Grzegorz Piotrowski, a talented young pianist Marcin Masecki, bassist Marcin Murawski and percussionist Robert Luty. The quartet’s music oscillates between folk-inspired European ethno-jazz and spacious musical landscapes reminding of the works by the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Under the name Alchemik the musicians issued three albums: Acoustic Jazz Sextet (1998), Sfera szeptów (2001) and Dracula In Bucharest (2004). In 2005, Piotrowski published his solo album Sin where he flirts with electronic sound, nu jazz and relaxing music.
young jazz
The main current of jazz is also quite rich in Poland. Among the musicians of the younger and middle generations, the duo of the brothers Marcin and Bartłomiej Oleś stand out (b. 1973). The former plays on double-bass and the latter on percussion. Together, they form one of the best rhythmical sections in Poland. From among the vast array of other musicians, they stand out because of their compositional innovative character, improvisation skills, creativity and the consistency with which they follow their own artistic path. In 1998, together with the saxophonist Krzysztof Kapel, they created the Custom Trio. Already a year later, they received the second prize at the Jazz Juniors festival. Soon after this success, they published their first album Mr. Nobody. The slightly naïve compositions, similar in spirit to the early works by Ornette Coleman, already heralded the great talent of the young musicians. The first mature work by the brothers is the 2000 album Free Bop recorded with a guest performance of the legendary free-jazz trumpet player Andrzej Przybielski. In accordance with the title, their music oscillated between dynamic bebop and the slightly bolder free-jazz improvisations alluding to Coleman or Charles Mingus. Their next album Back Point (2001) is one of the best Polish records in the style of jazz that is free in spirit, but at the same time based on a dynamic and disciplined rhythmical section.
After Back Point the trio dissolved and the Oleś brothers began their cooperation with Adam Pierończyk, which was documented with the album Gray Days (2001). The new trio presented music which surpassed the traditionally understood jazz idiom and was aimed at the loosening of formal rigors and bolder experiments in improvisation.
The brothers pursued this path further on, but with Mikołaj Trzaska – an alto and soprano saxophonist and bass clarinettist, on the records: Mikro Muzik (2002), Las Sketch Up (2003), and Danziger Strassenmusik (2004, as an original project of Trzaska).
The 2003 album Contemporary Quartet was exceptional in the world scale. The Oleś brothers were accompanied by European musicians: Rudi Mahall – bass clarinettist and Mircea Tiberian – pianist. The quartet interpreted, in a jazz manner, works by Polish contemporary composers: Krzysztof Penderecki, Stefan Kisielewski, Witold Lutosławski, Grażyna Bacewicz and Marzena Komsta. The resulting record is an unusually interesting and consistent combination of contemporary music and ravishing modern jazz. The activity of the brothers is impressive. Apart from the solo albums Ornette On Bass (2003) by Marcin and Free Drum Suite (2004) by Bartłomiej, the musicians cooperated with exquisite jazzmen such as Chris Speed, Simon Nabatov, Theo Jörgensmann, David Murray and Kenny Werner.
Also, the solo albums by Mikołaj Trzaska belong to the most interesting phenomena of Polish jazz. One example could be the outstanding album Orangeada (2005) recorded with Peter Friis Nilsen (bass) and Peeter Uuskyla (percussion). It distinctly alludes to the energy-packed European free jazz associated, for example, with Peter Brotzmann.
When mentioning the best elements of Polish contemporary jazz, one cannot forget about the outstanding young pianists. Apart from the above-mentioned Leszek Możdżer and Marcin Masecki, it is worth to mention Sławomir Jaskułka (Live In Gdynia Summer Jazz Days 2001, 2002; Sugarfree, 2004; Fill The Harmony Philharmonic, 2005), as well as Michał Tokaj – one of the most technically accomplished young pianists. His album Bird Alone (2003) is an example of jazz that is perfectly played by a trio (Darek Oleszkiewicz – bass and Łukasz Żyta – percussion) that reaches back to the experiences of Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock. Jazz fame probably also awaits other young masters of the piano – Jan Smoczyński and Paweł Kaczmarczyk.
This short essay surely does not contain all the names associated with Polish jazz of the last decade. It shows, however, that this genre is very much alive in Poland and one can, without any strained coquetry, look into the future with high hopes.