Berjozkele:
Ola Bilińska - vocal, OP1 synth, electric guitar, vibes, Moogerfooger delay
Michał Moniuszko - double bass
Kacper Szroeder - trumpet, flugelhorn, bielarussian dulcimer
Mikołaj Trzaska - bass clarinet
Raphael Rogiński - electric guitar
The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute 2014
I have recently written shortly about Berjozkele's concert during the Jewish Culture Festival and I promised to write more about the group and their music, available on cd thanks to the support of Jewish Historical Institute. Bilinska's project is in fact of great etnographic, historical interest, in many ways a dive into the past. The album is a collection of yiddish songs of yonder times, before the tragic disappearance of jewish culture in Europe. Thankfully, it's not only a recollection of a lost culture but a modern interpretation of it, an example of its recent revitalization. The presence of Raphael Roginski and Mikołaj Trzaska on the record is somehow symbolic, given the two are greatly responsible for the phenomenon of polish new jewish music.
Berjozkele's music, however, is not only a journey into the past. All the songs are connected by the common theme of night and dream. It's a collection of lullabies, songs that dwell in-between the light of the day and the pitch dark of the night. On the border, following the fine line between real and surreal, tragic and comic, a dream and a nightmare.
Some ramblings about the music I love, about the concerts in Krakow or elsewhere I get to witness, about cds I manage to get my hands on and particularly like. Stay tuned. Jazz Alchemist
Showing posts with label mikolaj trzaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mikolaj trzaska. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Friday, February 21, 2014
Raphael Roginski and Polish New Jewish Music part 2 - Shofar [Kilogram Records] and Sisters [Multikulti]
Shofar - Ha-Huncvot
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Raphael Roginski - guitar
Macio Moretti - drums
Kilogram Records 2013
That's the band it all begun with. "Shofar" (Kilogram Records 2007) was a deep dive into heritage that seemed to be completely lost at the moment. A journey to the past in order to understand's one identity and roots. It turned out that that music, it's feeling lives deep inside the three musicians and many others that followed on trying to explore the tradition of hasidic music with the contemporary context. (the topic appears few times in the interview with Mikolaj Trzaska)
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Resonance at Alchemia days 2 and 3 - Krakow Autumn Jazz 20-21.11
The week continues with more powerfull music, more crazy fun dj sets (Tim, Christoff and Ken would control the setlist for the afterparties), more drinks (surprising few mad dogs being drunk this year). Here's a brief summary of the 2nd and 3rd day with Resonance:
Set I
Steve Swell – Waclaw Zimpel – Tim
Daisy
A dynamic interaction between the three, one that let you appreciate both melodic and hectic side of improvised music. The melodic - that would be for the most part the domain of Waclaw's clarinet, Steve countered those lines with trombone rambling, but there would be some parts where all three musicians would just kick it up a notch. The adventurous set closes with a primal ethno-passage with both Steve and Waclaw plaing wooden shepeherd flutes.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Resonance day 1 at Alchemia - Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival (19.11)
I've been offline last couple of days but I'll try to catch up quick- Resonance is back in Krakow. A group born 6 years ago on the festival transformed from a festival project into a regular group and a whole matrix of possible musical combinations.
The alchemia evenings are exaclty that - an (al)chemistry laboratory of improvisation in a way, trying out all the possible combinations of x elements taken from y-large group. Here's the brief round-up of the first night:
Day 1
Set I
Magnus Broo – Mark Tokar – Tim Daisy
Freewheeling session with strong pulse, heavy bass tone and panache flurry trumpet flights. As groovy as abstract (Mark would massage and tap the bass as if it was a drum instrument). You can hear the enthusiasm and joy of meeting but most of all the level of communication between the trio's members (includin a semi-conducted drums-trumpet „cuts” during the monstrous bass solo). Strong set to kick off the week.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Mikolaj Trzaska - Trzaska Gra Roze [Kilogram]
Mikolaj Trzaska - Bb, bass clarinets, alto saxophones
Waclaw Zimpel - alt, Bb, bass clarinets
Michal Gorczynski - Bb, bass clarinets
Mike Majkowski - double bass
Adam Zuchowski - double bass
Pawel Szpura - drums
Kilogram Records 2013
Waclaw Zimpel - alt, Bb, bass clarinets
Michal Gorczynski - Bb, bass clarinets
Mike Majkowski - double bass
Adam Zuchowski - double bass
Pawel Szpura - drums
Kilogram Records 2013
The music on the cd was recorded almost exactly one year ago - at OFF Festival 2012 in Katowice. Mikolaj has been making music for theatre and movie for quite a while now (only the soundtrack for "Dark House" was officially released on a cd) yet "Trzaska plays (the music from) <Rose>" marks a turning-point in this part of his artistic activity.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Riverloam Trio at Krakow Jewish Festival (02.07)
My appreciation to Mikolaj Trzaska's music is confirmed in many posts in the blog's archive so I'll try keep this one simple. Especially since you can see the concert via festival's web tv yourself.
I remember this trio playing in Alchemia two years ago, they were named Ha Tichona trio back the, which means "inner ear" in hebrew. It is a recurrent term that appears as the name of another band (Inner Ear Quartet with Steve Swell, Tim Daisy and Per-Ake Holmlander) and in many conversations with Mikolaj:
I'm a saxophone player, I'm not a composer, but I'd call myself rather a „music maker”, I make music, I dabble in sewing pieces of music together. I don't compose, meaning I rarely sit down and write. I build the music up, it results from my work, my practice, from my inner hearing. I make music that I can hear is inside me. I try to capture it, I try to translate it and voice it out. I'm trying to do it so that this inner portrait of music I have, It would be presented in the most accurate way there is. I mean so there would be no cunningness, no artificial nicety in it, but the music I play would mirror perfectly my thoughts and my emotions.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Mikolaj Trzaska speaks about jewish music (part of the interview) - Krakow Jewish Culture Festival 2013 starts tonight!

In 90 minutes next edition of Krakow Jewish Festival starts, I'd like to remind on that occasion a part of an interview with Mikolaj Trzaska who, during the festival, will play with the Riverloam Trio (Olie Brice and Mark Sanders) as well as will conduct workshops (and hopefully participate in the midnight jam sessions? :)
obviously you can read the whole interview in the blog's archive.

To, wydaje mi się, wątek Twojej twórczości stosunkowo nowy, ale coraz ważniejszy, a zaczęło się od płyty Shofar z Raphaelem Rogińskim - jakie znaczenie ma dla Ciebie obecnie muzyka żydowska?
Historia jest bardzo podobna do tej, którą już opowiedziałem. Są rzeczy, przed którymi nie można się powstrzymać. Np. przed prowadzeniem samochodu należałoby siępowstrzymać od picia alkoholu, albo przy opiekowaniu się dziećmi racze nie powinno siępalić jointów. Ale akurat w sztuce, to jest miejsce, taka przestrzeń, gdzie ty, limitując się,bo oczywiście wszystko jest jakoś limitowane, ale możesz wędrować tam gdzie naprawdę pragniesz, to jest prawdziwa przestrzeń wolności.
Pomijając fakt, że muzyka żydowska ma dla mnie charakter tożsamościowy, pomijając toże to jest dla mnie od strony takiej osobistej, wewnętrznej, psychologicznej bardzoistotne. Myślę sobie, że my potrzebujemy, że ludzie potrzebują mieć coś takiego jakidentyfikacja z czymś dobrym, nie tylko w sobie, ale też w kulturze, w rodzinie. Jaksłuchasz muzyki, tej którą lubisz, to siłą rzeczy się z nią identyfikujesz, chcesz chodzić nakoncerty, chcesz być blisko tego, czujesz się przez to bogatszy, bo to w efekcie, czynicię bogatszym, tak na prawdę, rośniesz z tym. Słuchasz coraz więcej, jesteś corazwrażliwszy, coraz bardziej wymagający z drugiej strony. Ale to jest tak jak z książkami, żeciągle odwiedzasz światy, które dają ci rozwój.
It started with the cd „Shofar” with Rapahel Rogiński and It seems tome it's a relatively fresh aspect of your activity, yet it's becoming evermore important – what does the Jewish music tradition mean to you now?
Well the story is quite similar to the one I've just told you. There are certain things you cannot refrain yourself from. Forinstance one should not drink before driving, or when you babysit you shouldn't smoke joints. But in art, this is a place,a space where, limiting yourself cause everything is somehow limited, but you can go wherever you desire to go, this is truly a space of freedom.
Beside the fact that Jewish music is important to my identity, that it's something important to me on the most intimate,personal, psychological level. I think that people have a need to, we need to identify ourselves with something good, notonly within us but in culture, in family as well.
When you listen to the music you like, you start to identify yourself with it, you want to see the concerts, you want to beclose to it, it makes you feel enriched and in fact it does enrich you, you grow with it. You listen more, you're ever moresensitive to what you hear, you're also more demanding. It's like with the books – you constantly visit new worlds and it makes you grow.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Mikolaj Trzaska Ircha Clarinet Quartet - Watching Edvard / Zikaron Lefanai [Kilogram]
Ircha Clarinet Quartet:Mikolaj Trzaska - bass, Bb metal clarinets
Michal Gorczynski - Bb, bass clarinets,
Pawel Szamburski - Bb, bass clarinets,
Waclaw Zimpel - alt, Bb, bass clarinets and tarogato
Watching Edvard - Kilogram Records 2011
Zikaron Lefanai - Kilogram Records 2012
Ircha Clarinet Quartet is truly an unique band. I wholeheartedly reccomend their first cd "Larks Uprising" recorded with Joe McPhee, but it did not really represent the band's music as it really is. The Quartet share double musical interest, first of which is the ritual jewish music heritage, secondly each member of the group compose their own music for the quartet and those compositions, delicate, poetic, minimalistic share the qualities of modern music by the likes of Steve Reich or Philip Glass rather than jazz or klezmer.
The Quartet second and third release present together an honest picture of the group's musical vision as the first cd "Watching Edvard" showing their "modern composition" side and the latter one "Zikaron Lefanai" focusing on their interpretation of the jewish heritage. What remains intact through the two albums is the band's wonderfully unique collective sound and sense of unity.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Shofar - The North Ameriacan Tour
Mikolaj Trzaska is one of the main heroes of this blog. The Shofar trio with Trzaska, Roginski and Moretti goes on tour to USA. Check the press info and schedule to see if you can catch them. Don't miss out!
The North American Tour
Thursday, February 21, 2013 - Sunday, March 3, 2013
February 21, 2013, 7:30 pm
New York City
February 23, 2013, 9 pm
Chicago, IL
February 24, 2013, 10 pm
Chicago, IL
February 25, 2013, 7:30 pm
Vancouver, Canada
February 26, 2013, 7:30pm
Seattle, WA
February 27, 2013, 9 pm
bluewhale
Los Angeles, CA
March 2, 2013, 8 pm
Berkeley, CA
7 pm Pre-concert talk
with Ruth Ellen Gruber
March 3, 2013, 8 pm - 2 sets
Blue Monk
Portland, OR
The trio's repertoire includes nigunim, or religious songs meant to induce a state of religious ecstasy, freylakhs of a more dancelike nature, as well as pieces derived from Jewish liturgy. Unchanged in form, this material unlocks the whole broad spectrum of Hasidic music and culture. As composers and performers, Raphael Roginski has focussed on jazz-influenced improvisation and folk music; Mikolaj Trzaska explores new wave, free jazz, modern rock and poetry; and Macio Moretti covers grind/punk, twisted country and western, improv, psychedelic and pseudojazz.
Shofar concerts are presented by David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Chutzpah! Festival, Jewish Music Festival in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York. Concerts in Berkeley co-presented with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and co-sponsored by the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture, in association with the Israel Center in San Francisco, the Consulate of Israel, and the Consulate of Poland in Los Angeles. Additional Shofar concerts are presented by Protest Series at Heaven Gallery, Hungry Brain, the Royal Room, Earshot Jazz, bluewhale and the Blue Monk in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York. Concert in Los Angeles is presented in collaboration with the KulturePlus Productions.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Ken Vandermark Resonance Ensemble - What Country Is This? [Not Two]
Resonance:
Ken Vandermark - baritone sax & Bb clarinet
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor sax
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto sax & bass clarinet
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & bass clarinet
Steve Swell - trombone
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Per-Ake Holmlander - truba
Devin Hoff - double bass
Michael Zerang - drums
Tim Daisy - drums
Not Two 2012
Ken Vandermark - baritone sax & Bb clarinet
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor sax
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto sax & bass clarinet
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & bass clarinet
Steve Swell - trombone
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Per-Ake Holmlander - truba
Devin Hoff - double bass
Michael Zerang - drums
Tim Daisy - drums
Not Two 2012
I've written very briefly about this band's performance in the beginning of the year and you can check the old post for a bit of background history. "What Country Is This?" is basically is a result of the third meeting of the band, recorded in Chicago studio session after busy small-groups concerts and rehearsal schedule. If you know the previous recordings (especially the last year's "Kafka in Flight") you know more or less what are you going to get, which means you shouldn't hesitate to take another round.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Mikolaj Trzaska at Alchemia on 09.10 (Krakow Jazz Autumn) preview
| Mikolaj Trzaska, photo by K. Penarski |
Mikolaj Trzaska appears often on this blog, I've already praised his solo concerts on the occasion of Poznan Tzadik Festival 2011, the Midrasz Lab at Cheder Cafe as well as summed up briefly the evening that ended the last year's edition of the festival.
I don't want to repeat too often how much I appreciate Trzaska's music, so there won't be any post-factum review, instead I'd like to invite you wholeheartedly to come this tuesday to Alchemia and listen.
As a preview I invite you to check the interview I did with Mikolaj on the occasion of the last year's concert at Alchemia:
the interview will be also re-pubslihed for polish readers on jazzarium.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Inner Ear (Trzaska / Swell / Holmlander / Daisy) at Alchemia (21.03)
...You're on stage and you see it, you hear this is THE band.We play so many improvisational meetings, that's what this music is about. And sometimes you hear from the very firsttime this is THE group. You look, go one place and somebody's following you, or you can follow someone, or you canmake a turn and he will continue. It's all beyond any explanation...
(in the section "Interviews" you can find links to the entire interview)
(photos taken by Krzysztof Penarski a week before during the Resonance performance)
Mikolaj Trzaska - baritone sax, bass clarinet, clarinet, objects
Steve Swell - trombone, objects
Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba
Tim Daisy - drums, percussion
Alchemia. Krakow. 21.03.2012
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