Undivided - The Passion

Undivided (Waclaw Zimpel / Bobby Few / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kugel)
Passion

Label: Multikulti Project, 2010
Catalogue No: MPI011
Format: CD

UNDIVIDED: music about different levels of human being's consciousness. The way of organizing sounds and time in Zimpel's composition, deals with free jazz tradition, folk music of different cultures and classical music heritage.

Tracks:

1. Noc [The Night]
2. Getsemani [Getsemani]
3. Zdrada Judasza [Judas Treason]
4. Król wysmiany / Zaparcie sie Piotra [Ridiculed King / The denial of St. Peter]
5. Droga Krzyzowa / Ukrzyzowanie / Smierc [Way of The Cross / Crucifixion / Death]
6. Rozpacz [Despair]
7. Zmarwychwstanie [Resurrection]

Line-up:

Waclaw Zimpel - clarinet, bass clarinet, tarogato, percussion
Bobby Few - piano, percussion
Mark Tokar - bass, percussion
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussion

Recorded:

live at Dwor Artusa, Torun, Poland on April 8, 2009.
 

Liner notes:

"Passion" is the fourth CD output of Wacław Zimpel and at the same time the opening of his Undivided project. Undivided was founded as trio: Waclaw Zimpel - clarinets, Mark Tokar - bass and Klaus Kugel - but sometimes it will be extended to quartet, quintet or sextet, inviting other musicians for specific realizations. In this case it's Bobby Few, an American pianist, for years living in Paris. In early sixties Bobby Few performed and recorded with Albert Ayler, but worked with Steve Lacy, David Murray, Alan Silva, Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter and Frank Wright as well (last autumn he gave concerts with Undivided Quintet - a group extended by clarinetist Perry Robinson).

The Project was born during the Holy Week of 2009 as a concert program for audiences in Poznan, Torun and Gdynia. The CD contains a concert recording from Dwór Artusa in Torun.

"Passion" is Waclaw Zimpel's initiative and composer's work. Intrigued by passion performances and their musical style he decided to confront with their form and essence, existing from time immemorial in European high and peasant culture. Not all melodic themes were created by Zimpel (He admits in liner notes that some of the melodic themes were adopted or travestied from modern composers), but all arrangements and transcriptions are realized by him.

This music is not meant to express any religious experience. It rather express musician's reflection about existence, experience and meaning of agony in human existence, it is not their individual statement of belief. But if anyone inspired by this music decides to follow "via Crucis", it shall be construed as the highest possible acknowledgment of the artist's vision
 

(all text courtesy of Wawrzyniec Makinia)

About the Artists:

Waclav Zimpel is a young, highly talented clarinet player from Warszaw who has become part of the international jazz scene. His new project evolves into the Polish folklore and jazz tradition as well as into modern music.
With a changing atonal-free and tonal upto a sentimental-folkloristic concept the four musicians create an abundance of interaction patterns, textures and moods far beyond folklore and jazz.
Born in 1983. He studied classical clarinet with Prof. Zdzislaw Nowak at I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan (diploma with distinction in 2008). He studied also with Prof. Johannes Peitz at Hochschule für Music und Theather in Hannover.

On polish music scene Vaslav Zimpel debuted with jazz quintet Emergency, searching his own ways of musical expression, based on jazz tradition and contemporary classical music. His very personal musical language is mainly influenced by works of such artists as Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Peter Brötzmann, Witold Lutoslawski. Zimpel uses very unique ways of building harmonic and melodic structures combined with strong emotional expression. He cooperated with main avant jazz musicians from different countries such as Ken Vandermark, Mikolaj Trzaska, Theo Jörgensmann, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Mark Tokar, Johannes Bauer.

He has recorded his firs album "The Light" with Wojtek Traczyk on double bass and Robert Rasz on drums for the polish label MultiKulti. He won the Grand Prix on III Zachodniopomorski Festiwal Klarnetowy - national polish clarinet competition.

Waclav Zimpel is a young, highly talented clarinet player from Warszaw who has become part of the international jazz scene. His new project evolves into the Polish folklore and jazz tradition as well as into modern music. With a changing atonal-free and tonal upto a sentimental-folkloristic concept the four musicians create an abundance of interaction patterns, textures and moods far beyond folklore and jazz.


***

Bobby Few was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in a family of musicians: his father always listened to jazz, his mother played violin and his uncle the trumpet.
He came from a very religious family (his grand father was a Baptist minister) which, without a shadow of a doubt, nourished his musicspiritually.
Bobby Few was only 7 when he studied piano and later musical theory and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He had two private teachers of splendid reputation.

At 16, he started playing in jazz clubs in Cleveland, his hometown. One evening, he met Ella Fitzgerald who was so touched by his tender age that she encouraged him to pursue his path. Soon after, Bobby Few created his own trio and played throughout the USA.

In the early 60's, urged by Albert Ayler, Bobby Few went to New York. There, he made a first record with Booker Ervin "The In Between" (BLUE NOTE) then a second one with Albert Ayler entitled "Music Is The Healing Force of the Universe" (IMPULSE), both recently reedited. He also played with Brook Benton, a rhythm and blues singer, with whom he toured the world. Later, Bobby Few became Benton¹s musical director. Moreover, he played in the 60¹s at the Playboy club where they had a marvelous experience. Then, concert after concert, Bobby Few worked with many prestigious artists such as Archie Shepp, Kenny Clarke, Frank Wright, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Sunny Murray, Roland Kirk, Nat Adderley, Frank Foster, David Murray, Bill Dixon, Albert Ayler or Steve Lacy with whom he toured the world from 1980 until 1992.

During his rich and fruitful career, Bobby Few also took part in more than 70 recordings: the latest untitled "Kindred Spirits", produced by Box Holder Records (New York), will be released in April 2005.

Bobby Few has lived in Paris since 1969, a town where he found his artistic and intellectual equilibrium. Since 1993, he has directed his own trio and quintet. His musical influences are deeply rooted in jazz with musicians such as Errol Garner, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner or Cecil Taylor.  However classical music has also played an influential role. Few says: "Classical music is one of the avenues leading to jazz because it gives a direction in the harmonic progressions of jazz."

Thus, Bobby Few's music is therefore the fruit of his numerous musical experiences. He is motivated by eclecticism, new sounds and new musical colours. He has succeeded in making us understand that music is universal.
Thanks to his music, he sends us a message of peace, altruism and spirituality: he unites all peoples, whatever their colour, culture or origin.


***

Mark Tokar graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic University. Upon graduation he attended classical guitar classes at S.Lyudkevych Music College. At the same time he started to play double bass. During 2002-2004 he repeatedly participated in Krakow in the jazzworkshops directed by M. Parkinson (USA).

In 2006 he received the "Gaude Polonia" scholarship program and studied at the K. Szymanowski Jazz Academy under direction of Professor Jacek Niedzela. The program was granted by the Minister of Culture in Poland. During 2005-2006 Mark Tokar was artistic director of the Ukrainian-Polish festival "Jazz Bezz" and of the concert series "Metro Jazz Philharmonic" in Lviv.

He performed and recorded with Ken Vandermark, Steve Swell, Roberta Piket (USA), Klaus Kugel, Arkadij Shilkloper (Germany), Petras Visniauskas (Lithuania), Mircea Tiberian (Romania), Mazzol, Mikolaj Tszaska, Pszemyslaw Borowiecki (Poland), Yuriy Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Magnus Broo (Sweden), Fred Frith (USA) a.o. at numerous festivals all over Europe, Ukraine and Russia.

He recently released two CDs, with Ken Vandermark's project "Resonance" and with Petras Vysniauskas "Five Spot".


Klaus Kugel is one of the most inventive and adventurous German drummers. Since 1989 he has been playing intensively with the outstanding lithuanian soprano-saxophonist Petras Vysniauskas and attracted attention worldwide through projects with Karl Berger, Tomasz Stanko, Charlie Mariano, Kent Carter, Michel Pilz, Theo Jörgensmann, Kenny Wheeler, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Bobo Stenson, Glen Moore, Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Robert Dick, Peter Evans, Perry Robinson, Perry Robinson, Arkady Shilkloper, Sirone, Eric Vloeimans, Burton Greene, Hilliard Greene, Vijay Iyer, Charles Gayle, John Lindberg, Herb Robertson, Louie Belogenis, Bobby Few, a.o.

Over the past 20 years, he gave numerous concerts and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Canada, USA, Syria, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and China.