Saturday, December 31, 2011

Jazzy New Year everybody!!! :)

I want to thank you for the past year and I want to wish you all the happiness in the next one - on every possible level, both personal and professional, the best music, the greatest excitements, the most complete joy and utter satisfaction.

                         Yours truly
                         Bartek Adamczak aka Jazz Alchemist

So, what are you doing New Year's Eve?

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Merry Christmas!!! :)

Well the last radio program went pretty great but it seems there was some misfunction and it wasn't recorded. Due to the pre-Christmas frenzy, and then the days off, I immagine the next post will appear somewhere during the next week.

So let me upload a christmas playlist from the year 2009 and let me add to that my best Christmas wishes for all of you - let this time be filled with joy and peace all over the world.

The playlist was originally played on 21.12.2009. (it was a long time ago and I have to apologize for the dispropotion between the music level a the commentary)

01. John Denver & Muppets - Christmas Is Coming
02. Frank Sinatra -We Wish You Merriest
03. Dianne Reeves - Christmas Walz
04. Maciej Sikała & LeszekDranicki - Anioł pasterzom mówił
05. Harry Connick Jr - Silent Night
06. Duke Ellington - Overture (from Nutcracker Suite)
07. Duke Ellington - Peanut Brittle Brigade (March) (from Nutcracker Suite)
08. EllaFitzgerald - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
09. Jeff Beck - Amazing Grace
10. Piotr Lemanski - Hej w dzień narodzenia
11. Maciej Sikała & Leszek Dranick - Gdy śliczna Panna
12. Bobby Timmons - Deck The Halls
13. Ramsay Lewis Trio - Here Comes Santa Claus
14. Jane Monheit - Santa Claus is coming to town
15. Louis Armstrong - 'Zat You, SantaClaus
16. Harry Connick Jr. - The Happy Elf
17. Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
18. Nat King Cole - Frosty the Snowman
19. Diana Krall - Sleigh Ride
20. Frank Sinatra - The Little Drummer Boy
21. Ella Fitzgerald - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
22. Paquito D'Rivera - God Rest Ye Merry,Gentlemen
23. Nat King Cole - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
24. Maciej Sikała & Leszek Dranick - Lulajże Jezuniu
25. Aretha Franklin - Joy to World
26. Joe Williams - Jingle Bells (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix)
27. Ella Fitzgerald - Christmas Song


Sunday, December 18, 2011

Jazz Alchemist radio Merry Christmas


I hope you will all tune in tomorrow (Monday) evening to www.radiofrycz.pl at 8 pm CET(use the mp3 or aac link, not the player on the side) for some pre-Christmas wishing, carrols, evergreen holiday songs and else. With Katarzyna Dziubinska as a co-host and Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and many others we will sing


We wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year :)

during the program join and write on the facebook chat (profile: jazzowy alchemik)

 
1. The Muppets - Christmas is coming
2. Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby - We Wish You The Merriest
3. Harry Connick Jr. - Frosty The Snowman
4. Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Ruolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Harry Connick Jr. - Happy Elf
6. Frank Sinatra - The First Noel
7. Dianne Reeves - Little Drummer Boy
8. Harry Connick Jr. - Mary's Little Boy Child
9. Paquito D-Rivera- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. Dexter Gordon - The Christmas Song
11. Chet Baker - Silent Night, pt.1
12. John Zorn Dreamers - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
13. Louis Armstrong - 'Zat You Santa Claus?
14. The Muppets (Floyd, Animal & Zoot) - The Man With The Bag
15. Eartha Kitt - Santa, Baby
16. The Dukes of Dixieland - Merry Christmas Baby
17. Ella Fitzgerald - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
18. Ahmad Jamal - Snowfall
19. Charlie Parker All Stars - White Christmas
20. Diana Krall - Winter Wonderland
21. Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton - Baby It's Cold Outside (Mulato Beat Remix)
22. Vince Guaraldi Trio - Skating
23. Brian Setzer Orchestra - Sleigh Ride
24. Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
25. Dean Martin - Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator Remix)
26. The Muppets - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
27. Ella Fitzgerald - The Christmas Song
28. Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas Time Is Here

Friday, December 16, 2011

Last 48 Hours of Kickstarter campaign for Mingus on Mingus

I have written already about this project and if you haven't seen the post I hope you've noticed the widget on the left top corner. I will let the author of the project speak for himself in the video, watch and, if you agree with me that it is a good idea, support it.


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Jazz Alchemist radio with the recent cds and Wadada Leo Smith

I invite you tomorrow evening at 8pm CET to tune in to www.radiofrycz.pl (use the mp3 or aac links as the site is under some rebuilding and the player doesn't work). We'll run through the most recently reviewed cds (Hera, Andrzej Przybielski, Ken Vandermark, Jacob Anderskov) and we'll also have some birthday appearances including a couple of pieces by Wadada Leo Smith.

I'll be waiting for you on the facebook chat.
The playlist, as usual, will appear below during or right after, and a couple of hours later will the mixcloud player.

And I want to invite you already for the next week for the special christmas playlist and a program I will co-host with a friend of mine Kasia Dziubinska.

1. Ken Vandermark - Dekooning (portrait of Coleman Hawkins) (from "Mark in the Water")
2. Juhani Aaltonen, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille - Serenity (Juhani Aaltone born on 12.12.1935)
3. Wadada Leo Smith & Ed Blackwell - Love (Wadada Leo Smith born on 18.12.1941)
4. Andrzej Przybielski - Freebob Towarzyski (from "Sesja Open")
5. Anderskov Accident - The Portrait of the Lullaby as an Upper (from the "Full Circle")
6. Hera - There Is No Day Or Night, No Moon Or Sun (from "Where My Complete Beloved Is")
7. Wadada Leo Smith / Lester Bowie / Kenny Wheeler - Tastalun
8. Andrzej Przybielski - Guru (from "Sesja Open")
9. Wadada Leo Smith & Jack DeJohnette - Red Trumpet
10. Ken Vandermark - Future Perfect (for Eric Dolphy) (from "Mark in the Water")
11. Andrzej Przybielski - Afro Blue (from "Sesja Open")
12. Wadada Leo Smith & Gunter Baby Sommer - Tarantella Rusticana
13. Ken Vandermark - Looking Back (for Joe McPhee) (from "Mark in the Water")
14. Anderskov Accident - Three Pieces of Wood (from the "Full Circle")


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mazolewski Bund Band and Jewish Surf at Cheder Cafe (02.12)

Just a quick post about a concert that took place last friday (I'm kind of busy with a new job but I hope to get back to more steady writing soon enough).  The concert took place in Cafe Cheder on Kazimierz, was a part of the MuLaKuŻ cycle (a musical laboratory of jewish culture), a double header for the special occasion which was a release of the cd compilation documenting the cycle.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Jazz Alchemist radio with the latest

McCoy Tyner
After trying to run trough the cds reviewed during the summer for last couple of weeks,  today we'll try to cover some of the most recent reviews on the blog. We'll also celebrate a couple of birthdays :)

Tune in to http://www.radiofrycz.pl/ (use the mp3 or aac links, the player on the site is not working) and log into facebook chat where I'll be waiting for you.

We start at 8pm CET.

EDIT: ok, due to (I say) the failure of the pendrive, or to mine carelessness (pendrive says) the playlist that was prepared for tonight remained safely at home. Thus I'm digging in the archive, cutting and mixing together fragments from the playlist of previous years from this time of year.  We have some reminders of old Autumn Jazz Festival in Krakow (Rova) and Made in Chicago Festival in Poznan (8 Bold Souls). Mikolaj Trzaska (Shofar) has just played in Krakow and Henry Threadgill performed in Poznan and Warsaw last week. Plus we say happy birthday to Tom Waits, Big Mama Thornton, Matthew Shipp, Steve Swell, McCoy Tyner and Nino Rota.

1. Diana Krall - Temptation (Tom Waits born 07.12)
2. Tom Waits - Way Down in the Hole
3. Shofar - Adon Olam
4. Rova - Juke-Box Detroit
5. 8 Bold Souls - The Light on the Path
6. John Coltrane Quartet - Nature Boy (McCoy Tyner born 11.12)
7. Giovanni Tommaso Quintet - Il Padrino (Nino Rota born on 03.12)
8. Southside Johnny and La Bamba Big Band - Down, Down, Down
9. Tom Waits - Big Black Mariah
10. Holly Cole - Little Boy Blue
11. Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog (Big Mama born on 11.12)
12. Big Mama Thornton - Baby Please Don't Go / I Got My Mojo Working
13. Joey Baron, Steve Swell, Ellery Eskelin - Hutch (Steve Swell born on 06.12)
14. Matthew Shipp - Pastoral Composure (Matthew Shipp born on 07.12)
15.  Holly Cole - Jersey Girl
16. Tom Waits - Telephone Call from Istanbul
17. Henry Threadgill Very Very Circus - Try Some Ammonia

You can enjoy the music here on the Micloud (sorry for some technical - volume level and mic problems):

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Interview with Waclaw Zimpel - part III

Waclaw Zimpel at Alchemia. 26.02.2008

Here's the last part of the interview with Waclaw Zimpe, the most casual part of our conversation. You can find Part I and Part II in the previous posts.  

8. The Light, Undivided, Hera - to Twoje najbardziej aktywne zespoły, jakie inne projekty jeszce prowadzisz i planujesz?

The Light zagra z pianistą Jimem Bakerem. To nowa sytuacja i bardzo się cieszę na to okazję. Z Klausem Kugelem myślimy o tym, żeby utworzyć jeszcze jeden zespół, nie mamy dokłagnego pomysłu na skład ale prawdopodobnie będzie to kwartet. Mamy też szerokie plany jeśli chodzi o Undivided, następna płyta będzie w jeszcze rozszerzonym składzie, ale na razie za wcześnie żeby o tym mówić więcej.
Te projekty, które istnieją, da mnie na dzisiaj wystarczające. W każdym mogę poświęcić się innemu aspektowi tego co mnie w muzyce interesuje. Undivided, Hera, The Light to zespoły, z którymi faktycznie i na bieżąco pracuje, w szczególności Hera, bo wszyscy mieszkamy w Warszawie i to jest taki prawdziwy working band. ale i Undivided i The Light to zespoły z którymi chcę cały czas pracować i poszukiwać nowych przestrzeni.
Gram też w orkiestrze Kena Anderman Resonance, w Reed Trio, w kwartecie klarnetowym Mikołaja Trzaski - IRCHA i to też niesamowicie inspirujące doświadczenia. Teraz coraz częściej gramy w duo z Michaelem Zerangiem. Trochę tych projektów jest.

The Light, Undivided, Herathose are your most active bands, what other projects are you currently a part of?

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Interview with Waclaw Zimpel - part II

Here's the second part of the interview with Waclaw Zimpel. The first part is to be found in the previous post. (polish in grey, english in black)

Undivided - The Passion
5. Pierwsza płyta Hery odwołuje się do wątków mitologicznych,PassionUndivided czerpie wprost z tekstu biblijnego, druga płyta formacjiMoves Between Cloudsinspirowana jest tekstami Zoharu (mistyczny komentarz do Tory - przyp.) Czy te inspiracje to poszukiwanie europejskiego kontekstu kultury, w jaki sposób twoja twórczość czerpie z tekstów?

To jest dosyć złożone . Odwołuję się do wielkich tekstów kultury europejskiej, ale nie tylko europejskiej - nowa płyta Hery odwołuje się do mistyki dalekowschodniej. Ale faktycznie jedna płyta Undivided to Pasja, temat obecny od dawna w sztuce europejskiej. Decyzja o napisaniu Pasji wynikała z tego, że chciałem muzycznie poruszyć temat cierpienia, a Pasja jest najlepszym sposobem by o tym mówić.
Jest tak, że te teksty mnie niesamowicie inspirują. Wydaje mi się, że istota czy Nowego czy Starego Testamentu, czy Zoharu, czy poezji Kabira, czy wielkich tekstów mistyki wschodniej - one wszystkie mówią o tym samym. I to coś powinno być, chciałbym żeby było istotą tego co robię w muzyce.
Dlatego powiedziałem, że emocje coraz mniej mnie interesują. Bo one zostają w pewnej przestrzeni. Kiedy nazywasz coś, że jest wesołe to momentalnie musi też być coś, co jest smutne. W momencie kiedy wykraczasz poza sferę świata przeciwieństw to po prostu coś JEST i nazywanie tego jest zupełnie niepotrzebne. Wydaje mi się to właśnie jest istotą tych tekstów którymi się inspiruję i w jakiś sposób esencję tego staram się przemienić na dźwięki.
Nie jest to bezpośrednie, dosłowne korzystanie z tekstów, np pisanie piosenki. To ma miejsce bardziej na płaszczyźnie doświadczenia - obcuję jakiś czas z tekstem, co owocuje powstawaniem muzyki o określonym charakterze.
Czasami tylko tekst stanowi bezpośredni punkt wyjścia, jeden fragment z nowej płyty UndividedMoves Between Cloudsjest oparty na fragmencie Zoharu który podyktował melodię. Naturalne interwały języka stworzyły melodię, którą można było zapisać i zagrać na klarnecie.
różne płaszczyzny na których te teksty mnie inspirują. Ale najważniejsza jest ta mistyczna czyli wejście w stan, który odzwierciedla się później w muzyce.

The first cd Hera was inspired by greek mythology, Undivided's “Passion” refers to the Bible, and the second cd by the group “Moves Between Clouds” to Zohar. Are those inspirations a way to establish a kind of european culture's roots? In what way your art is inspired by those texts?

This is a very complex matter. I referred through my music to many texts of european culture, moreover - the last cd by Hera is inspired by the Far East mysticism.
It’s true that one of the cds by Undivided is a Passion - a subject long present in european art. The decision to write Passion was motivated by my will to reflect through music on the subject of suffering, pain. And this is the most adapt way to speak about it.
All those texts are a great source of inspiration. I think that the essence of the Old Testament, New Testament, Zohar, Kabir’s poetry, great texts of eastern mysticism - they all say the same thing. And this thing should be, I wish it would be, the essence of what I’m doing in music.
That’s why I said emotions in music don’t interest me this much now. Because they stay in a specific, limited area. When you name something, you say something’s happy, there’s got to be also something else that’s sad. If you exit this sphere of contradictions than something just IS and naming it is completely unnecessary. It seems to me this is the essential meaning of the texts I’m inspired by and in some way I’m trying to translate it into sounds.
It’s not a literal use of the text, such as writing a song. It happens more on the level of experience - I dedicate myself to reading the text which results in a music of a certain character.
Only rarely the text serves as a direct point of reference, a fragment of new cd by UndividedMoves Between Cloudsis based on a passage from Zohar that dictated the melody. Natural intervals of the language created a melodic line that could have been written down and played on the clarinet.
There are many levels on which those texts inspire me, but the most important is the mystical one - entering a state that is then reflected in the music.