Can one be born a jazzman? It is not easy, though not impossible. But in Janusz Muniak's case, I am sure, it must have been even stranger: he was born holding a saxophone in his hands.
Janusz Muniak Quintet
Question Mark
Label: Polskie Nagrania - Muza , 2007
Catalogue No: PNCD 1054
Format: CD (digipack)
Tracks:
1. Drive on the roller
2. Peacock dance
3. Obertas
4. Question Mark
All music by Janusz Muniak
Line-up:
Janusz Muniak - tenor and soprano saxophones
Pawel Perlinski - piano, electric piano
Marek Blizinski - guitar
Andrzej Dechnik - bass
Jerzy Bezucha - drums, percussion
Recorded:
June 1978, Warsaw, Poland
About:
Can one be born a jazzman? It is not easy, though not impossible. But in Janusz Muniak's case, I am sure, it must have been even stranger: he was born holding a saxophone in his hands. And, what is more, there is every indication that he could play it at once. The fact that he devoted himself at first to the violin (when seven) and then to the clarinet does not seem to have been of much importance. Indeed, no other Polish musician is so "animal like" natural as Muniak is. Let me recall a statement Tomasz Stanko made in the period his quintet was taking the first steps: 'There is no need to explain anything to Johnny. A few words, a few sounds will do".
Naturalness, spontaneity, fluidity-these are the qualities we have always admired in Muniak. But now, after his single has been released, we can listen to his (music without any incidental commitments. It is on this record, I think, we find the jazz that has from the very beginning been singing in the soul of this tenor, soprano saxophonist and flutist, the jazz which began finding its concrete shape only two years ago, that is at the moment the Quintet was formed. What sort of music is it then? True, that it is not one Muniak we know but a number of them as it were. The one from the Andrzej Trzaskowski sextet, from the groups of Komeda, Stanko, Polish Radio Studio Orchestra, "Chalturnik" ensemble from his television appearances, as well as from various, sometimes quite unusual, members constellations. Occasionally Muniak used also to sing - but this was one of the enigmas of his so very cohesive personality. Because "Janusz Muniak" means not only music but also a whole demeanor. The two areas depend on each other and are indispensable to each other. Without his striking personality this jazzman would be as inconceivable as Polish jazz would be... without Muniak.
The record comprises the sum of 20 years of work, it reflects the experiences from hundreds of concerts, thousands of minutes of tape recordings, many festivals (in Altena, Nurnberg, Kongsberg, Pori, Stockholm, Arhus, West Berlin, Bled). Then his membership of the Quintet brought new appearances at the festivals in Prague, Bucharest, Nurnberg, Szeged and during the Jazz Jamboree 77.
But the record reflects also the leader's attitude towards the problems he has to face in relation to his colleagues, the public, critics, to the form and style of the pieces, their arrangement, improvisation, the choice of musicians, sources of inspiration, the approach to tradition. When you ask "Jasiu" (Johnny) about the musicians that are particularly close to him he at first looks at you askance and then gives the answer which seems to lead in many opposite directions: Coltrane, Rollins, Shorter, Getz, Golson, Kirk, Feliciano, Charles, Wonder, Barbieri. And yet on closer inspection these names seem to form a pattern in which the prevailing qualities are: simplicity, sincerity, directness, sound relation to the tradition of jazz and folk music. All these musicians go beyond music because they love direct contact with audiences.
"Obertas" and "Drive on a Planing Roller" are probably the most representative numbers of the Quintet, performed by musicians who, while being young, are mature in their playing. In "Question Mark" and "Obertas" (playback) we can hear the leader playing also the soprano saxophone. The melody imbued with modality, obsessional flourishes, a merry-go-round of changing motives make up a music that bears the mark of an outstanding artistic personality, one we have not' sufficiently known so far. Muniak's saxophone does not seem to play but rather to speak in obedience to the slightest in tentions of the improvisator.
"Question Mark" is a record that in the series "Polish Jazz' has not had many equals, so far a record everyone. I think, will wish to keep, because once he has got into the chalk circle of Muniak's music he will not get out of it soon.
Ludwik Wiewiorkowski (original linear notes)
Sign In
