Pawel Kaczmarczyk
Audiofeeling

Label: Arms, (Poland, 2007)
Catalogue No: ARMS PKA
Format: CD

Tracks:

1. Files Edition
2. Audiofeeling
3. The Ring
4. Dusk
5. Vacuum Tube
6. Padee
7. I.E.Q.
8. Electrofeeling
9. Charlie Knows
10. Evelyn
 

Performed by:

Pawel Kaczmarczyk - piano
Michal Baranski - bass
Grzegorz Piotrkowski - saxophone
Tomasz Grzegorski - saxophone
Radek Nowicki - saxophone
Pawel Dobrowolski - drums

Recorded:

June 26-28, 2006 in PRO Studio Olsztyn, Poland

What the critics say:

"Pawel Kaczmarczyk - more than promise.
For three years now, Krakow pianist Pawel Kaczmarczyk has remained at the top of the "New Promise for Polish Jazz" category of Jazz Forum Magazine's Jazz Top readers' poll. His album "Audiofeeling" was one of the past year's most significant phonographic debuts of the genre, because Kaczmarczyk represents more than just new promise for Polish jazz. His music shows us that there are things happening on this country's improvised music scene - very good things.
References to Keith Jarret and Herbie Hancock are obvious here, but there's nothing particularly surprising about that. Musical mannerisms of that sort are pretty much unavoidable for virtually all young musicians who study this art, because Greats such as those are the ones who defined the direction in which it's going. Yet, despite still being a student at the Katowice Academy of Music's Jazz Institute, Kaczmarczyk has already managed to acquire a considerable amount of experience in the wider world of jazz, because for several years now, he's been working on a regular basis with various stars of the Polish jazz scene - like Krakow saxophonist Janusz Muniak, for example. He has also been seen and heard with luminaries such as Adam Pieronczyk, Monty Waters and Kazimierz Jonkisz, to name a few.
And despite his age, Kaczmarczyk is quite confident in what he has to offer. He is able to depart from traditional, well-trodden formulae; he experiments boldly, flying off into wild improvisational excursions. His piano playing is highly expressive, sometimes even explosive. Listening to "Audiofeeling", one can get the impression that at times the young artist is at times unable to restrain his emotions. In this case, though, this is actually more of a virtue than it is a shortcoming, because what we're given here is a healthy dose of truly spontaneously improvised - as opposed to meticulously calculated - playing. Kaczmarczyk also writes beautiful, mood-filled ballads ("Padee") - the likes of which many a major artist wouldn't be ashamed to sign his name to. And a moment later, he surprises us with a high-powered jazz frenzy.
He is joined on the CD by his trio's regular rhythm section: Pawel Dobrowolski, a drummer who captivates the listener with his outstanding drive and timbral range, and bassist Michal Baranski, who distinguishes himself with a strong, rich bass sound. There are also guest appearances by three saxophonists - Radoslaw Nowicki, Tomasz Grzegorski and Grzegorz Piotrowski - who give the overall group sound a truly intense edge on "Charlie Knows".
There are sometimes hints of club music, and even classical hues, in the modern jazz of Kaczmarczyk's trio (he did, after all, begin as a classically trained pianist). In a couple of the pieces we can also hear traces of Polish folk melodies. All of this, plus a discrete touch of electronics, makes his music sound exceptionally fresh and engaging.
Also important is the fact that the young artist doesn't present us with the usual musical boilerplate of standards and schematics, already heard a million times over. He is able to construct something that constitutes a well-rounded totality, has his own musical vision and the determination to realise it according to his own instincts. In this he is indeed superb." (Gazeta Wyborcza, December 2007, Tomasz Handzlik)

*****

"Pawel Kaczmarczyk represents the hope for a return of the times of the likes of Komeda and Trzaskowski, that it will once again be said - Poland is alive with jazz. (...) In quartet form, the music approaches the abstract realms of some of Wayne Shorter's work, but there are also moments where the tension builds to a level of ecstasy, Coltrane style. The rhythm section plays a very important role here - it's afforded a lot of independence, and makes use of it masterfully. (...)" ("Hi-Fi i Muzyka" October 2007, Marek Romanski)

*****

"Like a demon.
We've already written, several years ago in the pages of Newsweek, about the powerful weapon of Polish jazz tat is the piano. There's a veritable pack of hungry young lions following in the footsteps of Leszek Mozdzer.
Among them we have refined aesthetes such as Marcin Wasilewski (currently coming into his own under the egis of Tomasz Stanko); there are also untamed rebels like Slawek Jaskulke (serving his apprenticeship with Namyslowski). Pawel Kaczmarczyk is younger than they are, but no less menacing. He is also under the tutelage of a seasoned Master - Janusz Muniak. Most importantly, he has already managed to develop a language of his own - one that can be described as somewhere between those of Wasilewski and Jaskulke - which ranges from charming subtlety that lilts and swings, to ferocious attacks on the keyboard that can make the demons in hell grasp their heads, wondering what all the commotion upstairs is about. He places his chords beautifully, like a painter, and when ceding the spotlight to another instrumentalist (for instance Michal Baranski - excellent bass!), Kaczmarczyk is able to shift gears, becoming a truly subtle accompanist. I could take issue with the vocalizing during improvised melodic passages. (...) But other than that, may he continue in the direction he seems to be going - excellent" (Newsweek, December 2007, Filip Lobodzinski)

*****

"(...) Pawel Kaczmarczyk is still only 23 years old, but he's already garnered myriad awards and is winning Young Talent polls left and right. He is a very proficient pianist, a talented composer, fascinating improviser, and the arrangements of the pieces create the suspense required by the music. (...) I'm most impressed by the rhythm section, which accentuates, colors and nuances in all of the right places.(...)" ("Audio" magazine October 2007, Marek Dusza)

*****

"(...)The CD contains music that is extraordinary in a number of respects. All of the pieces have been worked out with amazing precision, and are characterized by their every note seeming as if it were meticulously thought over. In terms of form, this album comes across as a unified whole; however, this music also evinces the full range of the pianist's capabilities - elasticity, compositional and stylisti ("Jazz Press", April 2007, Piotr Orlowski)

*****

"The pieces - for the most part composed by the pianist - amaze with their precision. It's obvious that every note has been well-thought out.
The album is not something that is immediately accessible; it wasn't until the third listening that its content became completely clear to me. Perhaps this enhanced my enjoyment of it all the more. I recommend this music especially to fans of Keitha Jarrett and Herbie Hancock." (Dziennik Polski, January 2008, Grzegorz Tusiewicz)

*****

""Audiofeeling" is not just interesting compositions and refined harmonies, but splendid playing on the part of the musicians as well; worth noting are the highly developed pianistics of the leader, beautiful sound of the Grzegorski's and Nowicki's tenors, and the hard-driving groove of drummer Pawel Dobrowolski." (ygodnik Powszechny, November 2007 Bogdan Chmura)

*****

"A terrific album by Pawel Kaczmarczyk has just been released. The young pianist, without inhibitions or excessive fascination with that which has already been done, gives us close to 70 minutes of superb music!(...) The selection of musicians for the rhythm section that accompanies him is right on -- these guys work very well together (...)... What can one say? There's a lot of promise here for the future." (Dziennik Polski, January 2008, Grzegorz Tusiewicz)

*****

"(...) A "Jazz Chopin"? Perhaps that's over-sweetening and exagerrating things a bit. "The Tadeusz Nalepa of the keyboard"? Dear readers, enough of these oohs, aahs and comparisons; Kaczmarczyk is forging his own path. Is he destined for stardom? Only time will tell, and the doors of Europe - finally - stand open. Needless to say, this can also be synonymous with those of the wider world." (Angora, November 2007, Przemyslaw Bogusz)

*****

"It's hard to find any weak point on this album; the pieces are excellently written, and the musicians are playing in high gear, while avoiding potential bogs of cliché often found in music that touches on the straight-ahead tradition. This CD can, without a doubt, be treated as a wholly credible opening statement from this enticing group, and a good basis for a promising career."  (LIVE" Jazz Forum IX. 2005, Bogdan Chmura)
 

About the artist:

One of Poland's pre-eminent jazz pianists from the younger generation, a student of the Karol Szymanowki Academy of Music's Jazz Studies program in Katowice, composer, soloist and sideman. He performs with the Janusz Muniak Quartet, Monty Waters/Kazimierz Jonkisz "Energy", and the Rafal Sarnecki Quintet, as well as leading his own trio. Pawel Kaczmarczyk has received many awards at various festivals and competitions: a special distinction at the 2002 edition of the Polish National Review of Jazz and Blues Groups in Gdynia, where he returned to take top honors in 2003; the title of Best Instrumentalist at Poland's Jazz Juniors competition in 2002 an award for the best arrangement at the International Competition for Jazz Groups "JUNIOR JAZZ 2006", in Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic), as well as first place in the "New Hope" category of Jazz Forum Magazine's "Jazz Top" readers' poll from 2004 through 2006. The year 2006 also saw him being awarded a grant from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

In 2001 Pawel Kaczmarczyk established a trio with Michal Baranski on bass, and Pawel Dobrowolski on drums. The group draws its inspiration from the work of artists like Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans; the concepts of Brada Mehldau and Wayne Shorter form part of their musical vocabulary as well. It's music that is full of warmth and sensitivity, but with no lack of electrifying dynamics and avant-garde ideas. The trio won first place at the 26th "Jazz Juniors" International Competition for Young and Debuting Jazz Groups (2002), took the "Grand Prix" at the 40th "Jazz on the Oder" Jazz Festival in Wroclaw (2002), and was awarded the "Key to a Career" prize at the "Pomeranian Jazz Autumn" festival, as well as winning the 2nd Place "Golden Crocus" award at the Jelenia Góra Jazz Festival, several medals at the "Kultursalen Hörbiger" competition in Vienna (2004), and 1st Place at the "JUNIOR JAZZ 2006" International Competition for Jazz Groups in Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic).

Pawel Kaczmarczyk has performed at a large number jazz festivals, including Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, Jazz en Nord (France), Krakow's "Zaduszki Jazzowe" and "Piwnica pod Baranami" Summer Festival, the Palatia Jazz Festival (Germany), the Lamantin Jazz Festival (Hungary), the International Jazz Pianists' Festival in Kalisz, and many others... He also performs regularly in Poland's finest jazz clubs. In 2005, the KBD Trio recorded their debut album "Live!", which they are currently promoting through concerts in Poland and abroad. Pawel Kaczmarczyk has worked with a wide range of musicians, including Janusz Muniak, Adam Pieronczyk, Adam Kawonczyk, Jorgos Skolias, Monty Waters, Kazimierz Jonkisz, Artur Rojek (Myslovitz), Krzysztof Popek, Cezary Konrad, Tomasz Szukalski, Maciej Strzelczyk, Isham Rusty Jones, Grzegorz Piotrowski, and many others.