Vacation's over, back to work (on the blog) :)

Recent lack of activity on the blog was due to the vacation's time (turned out time you don't get too much free time on your free time) is over and posts will be again flowing on the blog since tomorrow. 

I had two great fridays during that period (not that other days weren't great, but, musically speaking).

On 24.08 (accidentally, my  birthday - thank you all for the b-day wishes received via chats, facebooks and else) I've seen a double-billed concert in Piec'ART with Opalinska & Whates duo (atmospheric piano & bass program) and for-something-completely-different Elifantree from Helsinki (I'm hooked, have listened to their cd all week long). I will write about both projects and their recent cds soon so let me just say that the concert was great. Cherry-on-the-top of the evening, after two great, totally different performances, is the finale where both bands unite for collective improvisation that flowed effortlessly between silence, abstract sounds, energetic crescendos and idyllic melodies. Brilliant.

Yesterday instead I had a pleasure to see Cracow Improvisers Orchestra playing three conducted improvisations and the performance was a prove strong enough that local scene is growing stronger and stronger. Filled with structure games, orchestra divided into counter-units, between pure abstract as much as steady rock beat, free jazz bass riff, funky drive (wah-wah guitar and fat stomp on the bass-drume pedal), modern, post-modern. Each piece is directed by a different member of the orchestra and each bears its individual stamp. The last one has the highly enjoyable loose late-night jazz jam feel, a foggy city sort of jazz .The concert took place in the old industrial building on Skladowa 22, where the band usually has its practises. Free entrance. Event will probably become cyclical so be sure to catch next time (best way not to miss it - follow the events on facebook). 

It's great to be back :) 

Jazzy Easter

A couple of concerts recently deserved some attention, Pawel Szpura with Pawel Postaremczak duo, as well as Rafal Mazur with Liudas Mockunas played at Bomba recently, both great musical performances. High Definition - a youn polish jazz quartet plays in an hour at Piec ART and I have written recently a litte bit about them - if you get chance come and see them, I should write soon about their self released cd.

Having said that I wish You all Happy Easter, reviews, and radio playlists will come next week.

a half of the High Definition quartet:

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?

The blog is officially 1 year old!!! :)

16.11.2010 - that's the date of the first post. The blog is now officially one year old and I'd like to express my eternal gratitude to all the readers supporting it and all the musicians and labels for the music they create/produce/release.

This is the 204th post on the blog. Among those previous 203 you can find

82 cd reviews (with a total of 84 cds presented)

68 after-concert posts

34 radio playliststs

plus some 'general' infos and 'best of 2010' lists

Mingus on Mingus - Kickstarter Campaign

If you are visiting this blog, you probably have heard Charles Mingus's music. One of the greatest bass players in the history of jazz, one of its premier composers and band leaders also, a true innovator. A legendary, charismatic figure on and off the stage.

Mingus on Mingus project on kickstarter's goal is to gather funds to make possible a production of a documentary - Charles's grandson's attempt to preserve Mingus's Legacy before those who can tell his story are gone. I invite you to see the video below and support the project as much as you can. (follow the link to the project's kickstarter page or go to Orange Then Blue homepage to get more informations about the film).

an here's Charles Mingus with possibly his most famous group:

Jazz Alchemist radio on Mixcloud and other small news.

While there are still a couple of weeks till the radio frycz gets back on its feet after the summer break (oh those lucky studying bastards) I want to test the mixcloud widget first and I hope it will  allow more listeners to get familiar with the music I write about in the new reviews.

1. So I uploaded a program that aired originally on 10th of Janurary current year in which I was trying to present a couple of most deserving cds released in 2010.
the details of that tracklist are to be found in the original post here.

The Widget-player linked the latest uploaded program will be also put somewhere in sidebar of the blog. (So, presumebly, every broadcast will stay there for a week, after which it will be substituted by the new one, it will be still to be found though in the original radio playlist post).

2. Also, as already signalized in the previous post, I will occasionally collaborate and contribute my polish texts to the portal jazzarium.pl, seeing that the function of Impropozycja blog has changed (I'd like to thank Marcin Kiciński for the opportunity to work together and I hope for many meetings and conversations in the future).

3. The last thing for now - you can subscribe to the e-mail feed (upper corner of the right sidebar) to not miss any new posts (which will come more frequently now since there's a lot happening to be written about).

Jazz Alchemist radio 10.01.2011 by Jazzowy Alchemik on Mixcloud

Krakowska Jesień Jazzowa (Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival) starts tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow starts the 6th edition of the festival that is crucial for the musical education of this blog's author (my humble self). 

The stage of Alchemia (and occasionally Klub Re and Manghha Museum) was the space of creativity hosting countless musicians and groups,  some of the true legends of improvising music (Joe McPhee, Peter Brotzmann, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Evan Parker, Trevor Watts) other making their first steps in the genre (I remember some of the first concerts by Waclaw Zimpel and his trio The Light!). There were special projects created for the festival (Resonance, Barry Guy Week) and concerts that were the first chance for many musicians to introduce themselves to polish audience, appreciative, attentive and always hungry for new musical experiences. And the festival always presented us with new names that even in this pretty cosy and close circle of pretty unpopular music's fans, were underground.

My passion for this music was born and nurtured and refined, my knowledge constantly questioned during those concerts and after each edition have ended I would impatiently wait for the new one (with spring's concerts being just a starter for a real annual meal).

And it is no coincidence that this blog was born during this festival with the direct impulse being the last year's special project - the Barry Guy New Orchestra Week, the celebreation of its 10th year of activity (just check the very first posts of the blog).

Thus I'd like to take the chance to thank in advance Marek Winiarski from Not Two records - the festival's artistic director, the owners and the (both past and present) crew of Alchemia and everyone else whose dedication and work made the 6th edition, nonetheless all the obstacles, possible.

I'll write about the concerts on the blog, and I managed to prepare in advance some cd reviews to keep them arriving steady so I invite you to check the blog sistematically.

Tomorrow it will begin (and I'll write about it the day after)!!!

Hope to see you on the concerts and around!
Check the program:
on Alchemia's page
and visit the festival's blog page.

vacation time's over

It's time to get back on the saddle after a prolongued period of leisure. If anyone's into tv series I strongly recommend 'The Wire' which sucked me in for a whole week or so.  Anyway there's a pile of cds I've wanted to write about for a while now, another pile of cds I have yet to listen to so there's enough material to keep new posts arriving steadily, just in time to prepare myself/ourselves for the series of autumn jazz concerts  (I send you back to this post for more details).
First new review tomorrow morning! (CET time)

vacation time

I know I promised a review before going off the grid but I underestimated how time-consuming the preparations could prove. I'll be back in 10 days or so, in the meanwhile great news:
another concert added to the Autumn Jazz Festival schedule - Ab Baars trio with guests (Fay Victor and Vincent Chancey) will be a BLAST! :)

check the entire program:
http://photofreejazz.blogspot.com/2011/07/krakowska-jesien-jazzowa-2011-program.html

instead of a review I suggest this movie (for those who haven't seen it yet through my facebook)

enjoy!

days off

I'm sorry that there's been no new posts lately but as it  it results preparing for vacation time is pretty exhausting and time-consuming on its own. Meanwhile there's a lot of new releases I'd like to write about and I promise at least two new reviews this week, before I'm going off the grid for a week or two.
Stay tuned.

Tzadik Poznań Festival starts tomorrow :)

While some very interesting cds are in line for a review the next few posts will be dedicated to Vth Tzadik Poznań Festival - a very interesting lineup will be present so if you are nearby consider visiting Poznań for those couple of days - it will be great I'm sure of it :) .

http://www.tzadikpoznanfestival.pl/

Weekend off, Festivals coming!

I'm off for the weekend (all my best wishes to the about-to-be married couple! :) )  So the next review will appear probably early next week but in the meantime I just want to draw some attention to three big festivals that will take place soon and you might want to consider visiting Poland in those days - feel invited.

1. Poznań Tzadik Festival

22-24.07 (right next weekend) with Perry Robinson, Michael Zerang, Bobby Few, Waclaw Zimpel, Mikolaj Trzaska, Raphael Roginski and others exploring the possibilities of jazz and jewish heritage fusion.

More info to be found here: http://www.tzadikpoznanfestival.pl/.


2. Krakow Jazz Autumn

20.09   - 28.11
Overthrowing huge difficulties and with a thinner schedule than in the last years yet there will be 6th edition of the festival - one of the most important events of this kind in the Europe. Just 8 concerts planned (so far) but with some incredible intriguing groups in there.

More info to be found here : http://jesienjazzowa.blogspot.com/p/aktualnosci.html (we will be working also on  english version of the site)


3. Jazz Autumn in Bielsko-Biala

16.11-20.11
With the artistic direction by Tomasz Stanko and support by the ECM label this festival is able to invite the biggest names to play on stage, and this year's program is absolutely impressive - Cecil Taylor with Tony Oxley (!!!), Pharaoh Sanders, Craig Taborn, Tim Berne...

Details to be found here: http://www.jazzowajesien.pl/



Hope to see you on those occassions! Have a great weekend.

Happy Jazzy Easter

I want to wish every reader of this blog Happy and Peaceful Easter, may this time be spent well (family, friends, good food, better music).

1. This Monday instead of a regular live radio program a chosen program from the archive will be played, so I still hope you'll tune in to radiofrycz.pl at 8pm CET.

2. The Easter break is quite short anyway so there will be new reviews soon. 

Also a couple of concerts next week:

On the 27th Jan Malecha Quartet is playing in Alchemia. 

On the 28th Keir Neuringer / Rafal Mazur are playing 3rd volume of Jazz in Bomba series, while Sing Sing Penelope are playing in Klub Re (too bad I can't go two places at the same time). 

Week off

I have to apologize for lack of new posts recently but I am abroad for a couple of days with scarce access to internet and no time really to write anything. The radio program for tomorrow is canceled for the very same reasons. Next post quite possibly will be ready by the end of this week and next monday the radio appointment is on ;) 
Before leaving Krakow for those couple of days I got fresh brand new cd from Not Two - Ken Vandermark Resonance - Kafka in Flight. Killing material which I will write about asap.

El Intruso Poll 2010 Final Results

While I'm trying to update the Jeremiah Cymerman interview I wanted to let You know that the final results of El Intruso 2010 Poll in which I participated are at last available (links to posts with my votes and commentary can be found on the top right spot)


Critics' Poll

Musicians' Poll


(sorry for less updates recently on the blog but I've been having a guest, the Jeremiah's interview is already edited and should be posted this evening I hope, at least one review is coming by the end of the week)

new URL

I'm glad You made it this far - You know already that the blog changed its URL address, please pass the word to any other parties interested :)
If You linked to the blog or any particular post (You have my eternal gratitude for that) please update the link.
Aside from the URL and the slight adjustment to the blog's title nothing else has changed.

Have Yourself a Merry Jazzy Christmas

Probably next posts will be coming only after the weekend.
I want to thank every visisitor for taking his time and checking this blog.
Want to wish You all a lot of warmth, happiness and peace in those next days of Christmas time, as well as in the new 2011 year (there will be time to say it again). And whole lot of new exciting sounds. (I've been good this year, I hope Santa is bringing me a cd or two, have You been good?)

This is also the time of the year when You can get back to so much good music :) . Ella, Frank, Louis, all the greatest are singing and swinging:
Although it's been said, many times, many ways, Merry Christmas
to You

Jazz Alchemist

Jazz it up :)

While new review should be coming soon (I'm thinking tomorrow morning maybe). I wanted to share 2 things with everyone

1. congratulations to Waclaw Zimpel, Bobby Few, Mark Tokar and Klaus Kugel - their "Passion" won the Best New Ears 2010 poll on Stef's FreeJazz blog :). You can read about it here.

2. I justo loooove this video, jazz needs more good promotion like this. Smile everyone :)

New posts on Impropozycja (polish)

For polish-speaking readers some new texts, originally written for alternative music portal magnetoffon.info
will now re-appear on polish collective blog impropozycja.blogspot.com

so far:
the short summary of the Barry Guy New Orchestra week

and reviews of
Vandermark 5 Special Edition
Rodrigo Amado Quartet

couple of other reviews (Oirtrio, Full Blast, Vijay Anderson) written previously (You can find them now on magnetoffon.info) coming soon.
Also any new material in polish will be published there.

Hi everyone! This is going to be a crazy week :)

Hi everyone!
So i decided to start a blog.
Not sure yet whether it will be done in english or in polish so i will start with english and see how it goes. Also not sure yet what kind of contents will it be composed of. It will be most probably some musical sketches that are too long to put them on facebook, yet written in those moments directly after the experience of new music on stage or cd when you feel you have to say something about it, even if it won't be well-thought-of and profound as it should be. Longer and proper reviews in polish will still go on magnetoffon . info website which is dedicated to general alternative scene.
(Edit 19.01.2011 - the blog stays english and the url address is changed from jazzowyalchemik to jazzalchemist; the focus is pretty much the same - concerts and cds)


This blog will be dedicated to jazz / free improvisation / avant'garde music. Or at least so i plan to do.

It will be more or less complementary to the short status updates on jazzowy alchemik facebook profile
And the jazzowy alchemik radio program which is hosted on Student's Radio Frycz every monday at 8.00 pm CET (www.radiofrycz.pl music playlist with commentary in polish).
(Edit 19.01.2010 I shoud say now that the facebook profile is complementary to this blog :) )

Last but not least the main impulse to start this blog is the beginning of an amazing week in Krakow - the main project of 5th edition of Autumn Jazz Festival in Krakow - Barry Guy New Orchestra with 4 days of concerts in small groups at Alchemia club, and a final concert with the whole crew on Saturday. And i have a strong feeling that this week should be blogged about. There won't be any time to write some decent article on day-to-day basis, and still facebook status update will definitely not be enough.

So without further ado, the Barry Guy New Orchestra week, started unofficially yesterday with ....
Satoko Fujii Kaze Quartet and the concert entitled Chopin Noise, more on which in the next post :)