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Our Recommendations
Krzysztof Komeda - Komeda without Komeda (Playlist)
Krzysztof Komeda’s music has been inspiring the generations of musicians for decades.
PolishJazz.com presents playlist of his compositions from the wide variety of bands and musicians who have never played with Polish Jazz master but share devotion to his art.
Features Fantomas, Simple Acoustic Trio, Leszek Możdżer, Raz Dwa Trzy, Oleś Brothers, Janusz Zduniak, Marianna Wróblewska, Ruby Rushton, Ares Chadzinikolau, Kent Sangster, Atom String Quartet…. and many more!
Komeda Quintet – Astigmatic (1966)
Not more than a handful of releases from European jazz history can claim such an exceptional status as »Astigmatic«. Recorded in 1965 and released in 1966, the album by Krzysztof Komeda’s consists of three pieces and marks the birth of a completely unique continental jazz language for many genre aficionados. Allegedly composed during a chaotic night session, the aleatorics of Tomasz Stanko (trumpet) and Zbigniew Namysłowski (alto saxophone) keep Rune Carlsson’s drumming energized in about 47 minutes, while Krzysztof Komeda virtuously rebounds and frays his ominous piano clusters. On this pioneering piece of ECM style, the structural poetry of Slavic folklore marries the coolness of modal jazz and the impetuous vitality of highly concentrated improvisation. Timeless. (Nils Schlechtriemen)
Zbigniew Namysłowski Quintet – Kujaviak Goes Funky (1973)
Format: CD
Born in 1939, trombonist and alto saxophonist Zbigniew Namyslowski introduced Polish jazz to the world in the late 1960s. Coming from the famous Krzysztof Komeda Quintet, he founded his own quartet at the age of 27 and recorded an album for the nationalized record label Polskie Nagrania Muza, which drew its influences from American hard bob records à la Wayne Shorter as well as from Polish folk music, which Namyslowski brings to his compositions to this day. From unconventional and free to orthodox and harmonious – an album that has lost nothing of its original vigour more than 53 years after its release. (Christoph Benkeser)
Laboratorium – Quasimodo (1979)
Format CD
Hard to believe what Polish jazz had to offer in the 1970s. When Weather Report in the USA intended to continue the fusion legacy of the »Bitches Brew« sessions, Laboratorium in Poland had very similar plans at the same time. Elements from the Canterbury sound, together with the ethereal keyboards so typical of the time, made »Quasimodo« a European fusion album of great independence. In addition to the epic title track, numbers like »Śniegowa Panienka« or the concluding »Ikona« from dynamically shimmering dialogues between bass, Fender Rhodes and drums give birth to brilliant saxophone melodies and arpeggios of longing guitars. Dynamism follows lean-back parts, funk follows jazz, space rock follows lounge and yet it all sounds like a groove-saturated cast. (Nils Schlechtriemen)