Resonance day 4 at Alchemia - Krakow Autumn Jazz 22.11

The last of the four days with Resonance at Alchemia, but not the last meeting with music during the week. Polish jazz scene will be presented Saturday evening (Pawel Szpura & Pawel Postaremczak duo; Piotr Damasiewicz Imprographic Quartet). The Resonance orchestra will return on Sunday for the final concert at Manggha to present the results of the rehearsals held during last few days.
A brief summary of friday events at Alchemia:

Day 4

Set I

Per-Ake Holmlander - Tim Daisy
Tuba and drums is definitely not your usual jazz duo, but such boundaries are not really of importance in improvised music. Per-Ake employs his repertoire of bubbling and gurgling sounds and Tim spices it up with some tricks from his own bag (literally, taking out a different set of mallets, pocket radio and else). The most entertaining and surprising part of the set is when Per-Ake treats his tuba as a drumset of his own - a percussive fiesta alltogether with Tim. 

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.

Robinson/ Zerang/ Roginski/ Zimpel - Yemen (music of the Yemenite Jews) [Multikulti]

Perry Robinson - clarinet, ocarina
Waclaw Zimpel - bass clarinet, clarinet
Raphael Roginski - guitar
Michael Zerang - drums, frame drum, darabuka

Multikulti 2012



The music on the cd was first presented as a special project, part of the Vth Tzadik Poznan Festival. As most of the material is taken directly from the live recording (with just one track from a session recorded the following day) I'll remind the review I wrote after that evening:

A special project of the festival ws presented on the final evening - a band created on the occasion of the festival , to present music of the Yemenite Jews. Reconstruction from archival notations of songs 5000 years old.

Peter Brotzmann with KonstruKt / The Damage is Done at Manggha (Krakow Autumn Jazz; 31.10)

Peter Brotzmann came back to Krakow for the second evening of the festival and he brought two bands with himself - a turkish collective KonstruKt (something new) and The Damage is Done (something old).

KonstruKt is probably a fairly obscure group but they caught mine attention with three recent collaborations - Marshall Allen, Evan Parker (a live cd from Akbank Festival which I wrote about here) and, last but not least, Peter Brotzmann. The line-up for the evening was alto saxophone, bass guitar, drums and old-school korg synth and some other retro keyboards.  

The sax gave a signal with a fiery, frenetic phrase and the band started brewing - dense and intense, with powerhouse drumming, sci-fi keys and some fastwalking basslines. An updated, free and wild view on the fusion easthetics where (finally) the general sound of the group is more important the solo pyrotechnics. Once the Peter joined and added his own tsunami stamp on the music the band really got it going on. There was the right kick (and the left punch) - boiling and turmoiling.

For the 2nd set showed up the quartet of Peter, Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang, which took the name of the Damage is Done. Which is the title of the double cd released on Not Two and recorded couple of years back in Alchemia. The concert which, I remember it vividly, got me so pumped up that I stayed up till 4 pm, writing one of my first reviews  ever (curious polish reades can find it Diapazon).

They had me then, and the still do. Four incredible musicians and minds playing music on the spot, putting to the test all the sensibility and emotional power they can muster. Brotzmann tornadoes on the saxophone, no prisoners allowed or utters cry of despair, McPhee balances the sound with the depth of blues and Kessler and Zerang create a myriad of textures and grooves to push the music forward, unstoppable. Energetic till the point you want to jump up high in the air or lyrical and tear-breaking. To watch this quartet is to follow a heroic battle scene, where there are no prisoners allowed.

1st set:

KonstruKt:

Korhan Futacı - alto sax, flute

Umut Çağlar - electric organ, synth
Özün Usta - electric bass, gongs, djembe
Korhan Argüden - drums

Peter Brotzmann - tenor saxophone, tarogato

2nd set:
The Damage Is Done:
Peter Brotzmann - tenor sax, tarogato, clarinet
Joe McPhee - tenor sax, pocket trumpet
Kent Kessler - double bass
Michael Zerang

Manggha. Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012. 31.10.2012

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

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.

Jim Baker / Kyle Bruckmann / Michael Zerang - Psychotic Redaction [Multikulti]

Jim Baker - electronics

Kyle Bruckmann - reeds, electronics

Michael Zerang - drums

Multikulti 2011

When I see two guys playing 'electronics' on one album I'm usually quite reserved. Take that into the account when I say:

From the very first seconds of a fuzzy electronic scratch, a wailing ancient horn and tribal rhythm this album is truly a blast! 

So without a further ado let me get right into saying that it's absolutely fascinating. A feast of ethnic grooves, fat, fuzzied bass, distorted and bent noises and (ocassionally) an ancient reed soaring over, but more often than not additionally transformed through electronic filters, looped or sampled and resampled.

Vth Tzadik Poznan Festival day 3 - Meadow Quartet / Waclaw Zimpel-Perry Robinson Quartet

1. Meadow Quartet

Meadow Quartet is young polish group from Gdansk, recently awarded in the acclaimed Polish Radio's Folk Festival - New Tradition. The group explores the worlds of jewish and chamber music.

Mournfull and mysterious moods. Spiced with spontaneity of balkan rhythms, elegancy of a parisian tango, raw passion of a gypsy music. Carefully narrated stories as their music has this cinematic feeling to it (can't help but to think of Yann Tiersenn). Following the steps of famed Cracow Klezmer Band that has several releases on Tzadik label. And that could be very well the most negative comment about this group - it's been done before them, probably better. On the other hand - it shouldn't really stop you from enjoying the music.

Some nice, passionate solos (my special appreciation for Piotr Skowronki on accordion) added even more to the sense of dramaturgy . Not exactly my cup of tea but still a very convincing statement about the folk tradition, if not particularly original.

I invite you to check the bands website http://meadowquartet.com where you can find some good-quality samples of their music.

Meadow Quartet:

Marcin Malinowski - clarinet

Michal Piwowarczyk - viola

Piotr Skowronski - accordion

Jaroslaw Stokowski - bass

Courtyard of the Museom of the Archeology. Poznan. 24.07.2011

2. Waclaw Zimpel - Perry Robinson Quartet

Perry Robinson. Photo by Pawel Owczarczyk 

A special project, a band created on the occasion of the festival and a special program - music of the Jews from Yemen. Reconstruction from archival notations of tunes 5000 years old.

Anyone who saw Zerang on stage, a man of a respectable stature, knows he can seem to float over the ground when he starts playing. Light and finesse, so natural, like a heart-beat, and so agile in all kinds of ethnic variety of hypnotic rhythms.

Raphael Roginski's style of guitar playing is unique, his chords providing a rich texture and rhythmic support but it's his sound, so much his own that impacts any group he plays in.

And finally Zimpel and Robinson on the front-line, exchanging passionate if gentle solos, spiralling lines back and forth. Zimpel's becoming a master on his own, Robinson, an elder wiseman among the young ones patiently speaking his words.

Yet the music is so much more than just a sum of descriptable ingredients. Sense of communication, sense of unity and finally sense of complete alienation from the temporal reality - which makes the music thousands years old feel completely universal, above the time reality, so much in-the-moment.

Music that was pure and simple, music that brought peace to the mind and soothed the soul.

For those who hadn't had the chance to be there (as I understand truly how insufficient the above attempt at description is) there's a word of consolation: the concert was registered for a planned release on Multikulti (a selection from the concert and a studio session - a good sign since a couple of missed cues on the theme execution were of no real importance during the concert and could prove much more damaging on the cd).

Waclaw Zimpel - clarinet, tarogato, alto clarinet, fujara
Perry Robinson - clarinet, whistle,
Raphael Roginski - guitar
Michael Zerang - drums, darabuka, frame drum

Courtyard of the Museom of the Archeology. Poznan. 24.07.2011

ps. Since most of the musicians taking part in the festival were present in Poznan for a couple of days before the festival started each night, at least since Wednesday, was an occasion for a jam-session with local musicians (Hera Quartet) joining forces with the visiting Klaus Kugel, Bobby Few, Perry Robinson, Michael Zerang and Raphael Roginski. Some very exciting music played on those long nights (as I was leaving Dragon klub at 3:00 am so I could catch the train back to Krakow I had a strong feeling that the night there was not over). On that note, Perry Robinson might be a 'elder wiseman' of the lot but he can still kick some ... in the jams!

Ken Vandermark Resonance - Kafka in Flight [Not Two]

 

Resonance :

Magnus Broo - trumpet
Michael Zerang - drums
Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar - double bass
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor saxophone
Steve Swell - trombone
Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba
Tim Daisy - drums
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & bass clarinet, tarogato

Not Two 2011

This one I've been long waiting for. I had the privilege to witness the process of coming together of the first edition of this project. In 2007 Marek Winiarski and Ken Vandermark invited musicians from all over the world to Krakow, they would practice for an entire week every morning, play improvised sets of music every evening and finally perform as an orchestra on the last evening of the week (all of this material has been released - saturday concert in Lviv on LP, evening concerts and final concert in Krakow in a fantastic 10-cds "Resonance" box).

Two years later Resonance happens again, with the same musicians (one exception - Waclaw Zimpel takes over the place of Yuriy Yaremchuk), the same time of the year (main project of the Autumn Jazz Festival), the same place ("Alchemia" club which hosts the festival). But with only two days to practice (with first one being almost entirely lost because of flight delays). Because of that Ken has to change to concepiton behind this band. It is still big ensemble, so it draws on his experience of playing in and writing for Chicago Tentet and Territory Band, but, what is a clear difference, this is a jazz band and it relies on scored material. Only the organization of this material has to be different.

Luc Houtkamp - Luc Houtkamp in Chicago [Entropy]

Luc Houtkamp - tenor saxophone
Kent Kessler - double bass
Michael Zerang

Entropy Stereo 1999

While free-jazz may seem to be all about surprise, even the most radical fans have a list of favourite musicians and it's easier to stick with the safe choices - players that You know can deliver what You want to hear. But then one uses the oldest method available to jazz fans if they want to hear more of their favourite thing - checking out some guys who are playing with guys who played with THE guy on Your list. Like in: I don' know this  band but there's a musician who did something together with this guy who played with Miles Davis. What sometimes can be a misleading marketing trick (happens also in jazz world) does quite often work as the most effective method of finding new names and great music that could otherwise go unnoticed.

What I really want to say is that I've never heard about Luc Houtkamp before, but when one plays with Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang, and You can find Ken Vandermark's liner notes inside*, it's good enough recommendation for me.