The youthful energy which emanates from every note on the CD perfectly corresponds with the surprising musical maturity of the leader, both on a compositional level and in its narrative drama and its individual phrases. (Jazz Forum)
Rafal Sarnecki Songs from a new place
Label: ARMS (Poland, 2008) Catalogue No: RSSFNP Format: CD
Tracks:
1. Living Like Weasels 2. Song From A New Place 3. Auguries Of Innocence 4. If I Speak With The Tongues Of Men And Angels 5. Jazz Physics 6. On Green Dolphin Street 7. Rockalypso 8. Instructions From The Mathplanet 9. Squirrel (Forest Fire)
Performed by:
Rafal Sarnecki - guitar Pawel Kaczmarczyk - piano Wojciech Pulcyn - double bass Lukasz Zyta - Drums
Recorded:
January 6-8, 2008 at Nieporet, Poland
What the critics say:
"It's amazing that this young artist already has so much to say...when you hear him it takes your breath away." - Rzeczpospolita
"The youthful energy which emanates from every note on the CD perfectly corresponds with the surprising musical maturity of the leader, both on a compositional level and in its narrative drama and its individual phrases." - Jazz Forum
"Through perfect teamwork the band creates a concise, logical musical structure, from which periodically emerges a pianistic display (by the great Pawel Kaczmarczyk) or a guitar solo." - Onet.pl
About:
Rafal Sarnecki was born in 1982 in Warsaw, Poland. He started playing guitar at the age of 12, although he took some classical piano lessons before. Some of his first guitar idols were rock, blues and heavy-metal musicians such as: Jimmy Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman. In 1997 at the age of 15 he started his education in the Krzysztof Komeda School of Music in Warsaw. It was there that Rafal met his guitar teacher Jerzy Czekalla, who introduced him to jazz and showed him the basics of jazz harmony. Rafal started to listen to such guitar players as Wes Mongomery or Joe Pass and analyzed their solos .
Besides playing the guitar Rafal was always very passionate about physics. He was also succesful in that field since early high school. In 2000 he won the Ist prize in Poland at the XLIXth Physics Olympiad for high school students and he represented Poland at the XXXth International Physics Olympiad in Leicester, Great Britain. In the same year he began studying physics at Warsaw University. However, he did not quit music. More and more often he played at local jazz clubs in Warsaw, getting his first experience on stage.
In 2002 Rafal graduated with distinction from the Krzysztof Komeda School of Music and begun studying in the jazz program of the Fryderyk Chopin School of Music. His guitar teacher was Piotr Lemanski. At that time Rafal took part in numerous competitions for young jazz musicians and always won some kind of award:
1st Prize at the "International Jazz Guitar Competition - Guitar City 2002" in Warsaw Award for the best instrumentalist at the "Jazz Standard Festival 2004" in Siedlce Award for the outstanding individual performance and 2nd award with the band on the young jazz groups competition in Elblag in 2004 Award for the outstanding individual performance in the "Nadzieje Warszawy 2005" competition organized by the Jazz Club Tygmont in Warsaw
In 2005 Rafal graduated with distinction from Warsaw University and recived a MS degree in physics. In the same year he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin School of Music. In the mean time, Rafal received a scholarship at the prestigious Jazz and Contemporary Music Program in The New School University in New York. In September 2005 Rafal went to USA to study at The New School. In December 2008 he graduated from the New School with distinction and he decided to continue his education at the graduate jazz program in the Aaron Copland School of Music. In New York Rafal studied with some of the best jazz musicians in the world, such as: Paul Bollenback, Buster Williams, Peter Bernstein, Reggie Workman, John Hicks, Adam Holzman, Adam Nussbaum, Joanne Brackeen, Ari Hoenig, Jason Marsalis, Ben Street. Besides studying at The New School, Rafal performs on a regular basis in clubs around New York. He played in some of the most prestigious clubs including Dizzy's Club at Lincoln Center and Sweet Rhythm.
During the summer and winter breaks from school, Rafal continues his musical career in Poland and Europe. In the last few years, he performed at many prestigious jazz festivals in Poland and other European countries such as: "International Jazz Festival dedicated to Miles Davis" in Rijeka, Croatia "Muhu Future Music Festival" in Estonia International Music Festival "Rigas Ritmi" in Riga, Latvia "Summer Jazz Festival" in Cracow, Poland
In January 2007 Rafal created his own quartet with some top Polish jazz musicians: Pawel Kaczmarczyk on piano, Wojciech Pulcyn on bass, and Lukasz Zyta on drums. In January 2008 the group recorded their first CD, called Songs From a New Place. In addition to his improvisational abilities, the album showcases Rafal's original compositions. The CD was released by the Arms Records label in October 2008. It received many good reviews. In February 2009 it was nominated to the FRYDERYK 2009 award which is a Polish version of the American Grammy award.
Besides playing with his own quartet, Rafal has performed with some other well known Polish groups, such as: Janusz Muniak Quartet, Maciej Strzelczyk Trio, Oktawia Kawecka Group, Kuba Cichocki Quartet, Marita Alban Juarez Quartet, Piotr Rodowicz Trio, Ryszard Borowski Quartet, Marysia Sadowska. He also plays in a New York based experimental-jazz group called "Catapults and Parachutes", which has toured the West and East coast of US and many countries of Eastern Europe.
Review:
What is striking from the first sounds of "Songs From a New Place", is the amazing ability to reconcile musical opposites of Rafal Sarnecki, and that's what makes this album fresh and intriguing.
The youthful energy which emanates from every note on the CD perfectly corresponds with the surprising musical maturity of the leader, both on a compositional level and in its narrative drama and its individual phrases. Rafal's improvisations are breathtaking, which is the result of his unique ability to find appropriate sounds, and not of artificial studio engineering. Beautiful, slow phrases immediately engage the listener, they are a fascinating stories, developing and wandering into subsequent conversations with each other. And the music by no means is just a monologue! Each instrument is just as important, and all musician pay attention to each other. It is clear that the musicians understand each other very well, and when they play, they pay attention to the other members of the band, and expand what the hear from the others at the moment. Particular attention is drawn to the interactions between guitar and piano, and pianist Pawel Kaczmarczyk enchant the listeners with lightness and sensitivity on every track.
Rafal Sarnecki's second love, next to jazz, is physics. However, in his compositions, it is hard to find any mathematical formulas. On the contrary, what characterize both his tunes and the improvisations, is the freedom and melody.
All tracks, except on Green Dolphin Street (by B. Kaper), are Rafal's own compositions. However, the manner in which Kaper's standard was re-arranged by Rafal, makes you think of him as the author of this compositions. You may even be tempted to conclude that this is the kind of artistic credo Rafal Sarnecki's: a combination of modern thinking with the respect to the jazz classics, presented in your own language, but with of humility toward jazz history. And by the way - not only jazz history - one of the tunes on the album (Rockalypso), is a very interesting exploration of the language of experimental rock.
"Songs From A New Place" is not only a record of beauty in terms of substance, but also record which is beautifully made - it is a contribution of both sound engineer Jan Smoczynski from Studio Nieporet (Poland) who recorded the session, and Dave Darlington and Mark Wilder from New York's Battery Studios who worked on the mix and mastering.
Sign In
