70th birthday recording from the legend of European jazz vibes.

Jerzy Milian
Milianalia (Free Conversations With Myself)

Label: Polskie Nagrania - Muza , 2006
Catalogue No: PNCD 1088
Format: CD

CD release of limited edition vinyl from Milian - 70th birthday recording from the legend of European jazz vibes.

 

Tracks:

1. Sheik of Urology [02:04]
2. Go Down Felix [08:21]
3. Moon Hustler [03:23]
4. Salam-Talam [05:25]
5. Needful Sounds [02:36]
6. Kamikadze - Divine Wind [10:49]
7. Mother-In-Law Pranks [01:08]
8. Blues Holzbein Waltz [04:23]

Recorded:

September 2003, Rogalow, Wawolnica, Poland

Performed by:

Jerzy Milian - vibraphone Premiera, marimba, percussion, vocal, voice, harmonium
Choir of the Cathedral of Urology (track 1):
Marcin Duda
Andrzej Fedirko
Tomasz Frydrych
Piotr R. Janowsk
Slawomi Ksiezniak

About:

Born in October 1935 in Poznan, vibes player Jerzy Milian was very active on Polish Jazz filed since mid 1950s. He was one of the most important collaborators of Krzysztof Komeda, defining "modern" sound of Komeda's bands in 1950s. Milian's composition "Memory of Bach" written and performed in style of Modern Jazz Quartet, became the most popular modern jazz tune of that era in Poland. Audio Clip: Krzysztof Komeda / Jerzy Milian – Memory of Bach In liner notes for Milian's single album in Polish Jazz Series titled "Bazar" (Polish Jazz vol. 17), Jerzy Redlinski wrote about Milian: "Contemporaneousness is a special quality of Milian's whole road of artistic quest and achievements. While making use of the tradition formed by Hampton and Milt Jackson, he tried to exceed the boundaries mapped out by it. He looked at the instrument in a somewhat different way than his predecessors, as a soloist. His quest above all led him to take greater advantage of the colorist possibilities of the vibraphone; the tone seems to be the element which fascinates him most. In this respect his higher education in the plastic arts is an internal inspiration and a great help but also the sonorous ideas ever present in contemporary music as well as his cooperation with one of the leading representatives of the non-jazz musical avant-garde in Poland, Professor Boguslaw Schaffer, whose compositions he performs, have an influence on this predilection of his. As a vibraphone virtuoso he uses a wide range of tones and moods, as an improviser he demonstrates great invention and originality. He has performed at all the "Jazz Jamboree" international festivals in Warsaw since 1958, at the festivals in Prague (1965) and Ljubljana (1967), at the "Jazz Panorama" in Ghent (1965), in the jazz clubs of Brno and Brussels as well as in Grenoble, Cologne and Copenhagen, everywhere he was enthusiastically applauded. John Hammond described him as "one of the best vibraphonist who have appeared since the times of Red Norvo". The fact that he is fascinated by contemporaneousness is also expressed in his work as composer — beginning from the cool work based on Bach's invention and ending in the concerto for three freemen and a symphonic orchestra "In Memoriam Martin Luther King" (1969) which was written for the Poznan Philharmonics. These works, both the strictly jazz compositions as well as those that exceed the jazz convention, form an original and impressive world of sounds in which tradition is mixed with contemporary methods and the musical language of jazz with composing techniques and means of expression that are characteristic of the avant- garde of serious music. They have brought Milian great success both at home and abroad. This success began with "Instrumental Dialogues" which were performed by the Big Band of the Polish Radio at "Jazz Jamboree 64" and were then recorded in Belgium. Since 1965 Milian has cooperated with Gustav Brom's orchestra, and with the Brussels radio and television. The following concertos written for various jazz and symphonic instruments are a result of this latter cooperation: "Circulations", "Four Engravings for Big Band and Soloists" recorded with the participation of the composer, "Realities", "Nihil obstat" as well as "Pieces for a Friend" and "Polish Folk Suite". These excellent compositions found distinguished performers in Belgium. In 1967 his "Points, Lines and Figures" were awarded a prize in the composers' competition at the jazz festival in Prague. Milian's ballet "Tempus Jazz 67" staged by the Poznan Opera and with Conrad Drzewiecki as the choreographer was an artistic event in this country, it was also performed in Genoa, Trieste and Strassbourg where it was favorably received by the international audiences' and critics." But interestingly, and in contrary to very "modern" and "progressive" music of Komeda, Milian has always had a soft for dance and pop music. Countless singers recorded his songs, and his master pop music grooves, mixed with Jazz-Pops touches, enhanced by his tight arrangements, distinct dynamics and very modern articulation - best represented on his album "Orkiestra Rozrywkowa PR i TV w Katowicach" - gained him an opinion of an easily one of the hippest vibes players in Europe in the 60s" (Dusty Groove).