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 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:

Day 2

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.

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.

Aram Shelton Quartet - Everything for Somebody [Singlespeed]

Aram Shelton - alto saxophone
Keef Jackson - tenor saxophone
Anton Hatwitch - bass
Tim Daisy - drums

Singlespeed Music 2012

I remember Aram Shelton's two concerts in Krakow, first one with a Dragon 1976 trio, it was a release tour for the band's cd on polish Multikulti label and they have played with the polish "The Light" group which was the adience's introduction to Waclaw Zimpel. I remember that afterwards one of my very firsts texts was published by the Diapazon portal. The second performance I've seen was the Ton Trio, an evening of beatifull music. Aram Shelton made a lasting impression with his playing but even more so with the melodic compositions he presented. And he's still got a knack for the good melody.

Tim Daisy / DOT Trio at Alchemia (Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012; 30.10)

Tim Daisy played in Alchemia on countless occasions with a rich variety of projects and I'll daresay (haven't really cross-checked it) that he played a part in each Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival so far, yet it was the first occasion to see him in a solo setting.

He opened with a piece dedicated to two polish musicians he performs with quite often - Mikolaj Trzaska and Waclaw Zimpel, both well known to Krakow audience (in fact, both present in this year festival's program). The piece employs a steady beat that serves as an axis for slight dynamic shifts and sudden meter changes. During the rest of the set Tim would honor Merce Cunningham, Kyle Bruckmann, the late John Tchicai as well as Marek Winiarski and Wawrzyn "Laurence" Makinia (respectively Not Two and Multikulti labels).

While on many occasions solo performances seem to be an excuse to exploit and exhibit technical prowess or indulge in experimental formalism, Daisy's improvisations tend to be quite melodic and very structured. There's a "theme" to each piece which might be based on a particular phrase, frame, meter or the timbral effect of the given pair of drumsticks (part of his "bag of tricks") - in fact each piece is a singular narration with its own pulse to give the structure while the emotional, personal dedication provides the substance.

For the second set Tim joins forces with Mark Tokar - a long time collaborator with the Resonance Band and Four (quartet with Dave Rempis and Waclaw Zimpel) and Paulina Owczarek who represents the Krakow improvising scene. The duo drums - bass duo hit it right away instantly with a deep and dense and heavy groove that filled the space and it was evident they know each other already pretty well. Unfortunately Paulina, whom I've seen playinggreat music on plenty of occasions, seemed a bit lost and too shy to fight for her own space in the music, she remained hidden, her "inside" approach to the instrument, carving patiently the space with barely audible sounds didn't match well the energetic, kinematic play of Tim and Mark and the baritone with which she should have kicked their asses remained "under". The trio was sort of an unfullfilled promise, but that's the risk you have to take in this kind of music you can't win it all. Just a simple fact of life.

1st set
Tim Daisy - drums

2nd set
Tim Daisy - drums
Paulina Owczarek - baritone saxophone
Mark Tokar - double bass

Alchemia. Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012. 30.10.2012

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.

Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival Program 2012 - October

 I've proudly announced couple of weeks back that this blog will be the official english-language site of the upcoming Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012 Festival. The festival starts in one month and there's plenty of music to wait for. Below you can find the first part of the program (October). The second half will be posted in a few days along with other materials that will show up here steadily. A slow start of the month will be more than mada up with the strong finish - a series of concerts in the last 4 days of the month. Hope to see you in Krakow soon! I honestly can't wait for these :

Wednesday 03.10.2012. ALCHEMIA

PETER BRÖTZMANN & DEFIBRILLATOR

Peter Brötzmann (Niemcy) reeds

Sebastian Smolyn (Szwajcaria) electronic trombone

Artur Smolyn (Szwajcaria) electronics

Oliver Steidle (Niemcy) drums

Tuesday 09.10.2012. ALCHEMIA
Mikolaj Trzaska solo

Mikola Trzaska (Poland) - alto sax

Thursday 18.10.2012. ALCHEMIA

ALL INCLUDED

Martin Küchen (Niemcy) saxes

Mats Áleklint (Norwegia) trombone

Thomas Johansson (Norwegia) trumpet

Jon Rune Strøm (Norwegia) bass

Tollef Østvang   (Norwegia) drums

Sunday 21.10.2012. Literki godz.20:00

TRC (Gadecki/Mazur/Murray)

Thursday 25.10.2012. Barka

TOTH/ THOMAS / MORETTI

Viktor Toth (Węgry) saxes

Clayton Thomas (Australia) bass

Macio Moretti (Polska) drums

Sunday 28.10.2012. ALCHEMIA

THE THING

Mats Gustafsson (Szwecja) saxes

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Norwegia) bass

Paal Nilssen-Love (Norwegia) drums

Sunday 28.10.2012. ALCHEMIA 

Opening of the Mark Wajda's Exhibition

Monday 29.10.2012. ALCHEMIA

ZLATKO KAUČIČ SOLO

Zlatko Kaučič (Słowenia) drums, percussion

MIKROKOLEKTYW +

Artur Majewski (Polska) trumpet, electronics

Kuba Suchar (Polska) drums, percussion, electronics

Małgorzana Hajduk (Polska) dance

Tuesday 30.10.2012. Barka

Contemporary Music Agenda 2012

International conference and discussion panel

led by: Laurence Donohue-Greene – All About Jazz NYC (USA)

Tuesday 30.10.2012. ALCHEMIA

TIM DAISY SOLO

Tim Daisy (USA) drums, percussion

DOT TRIO

Tim Daisy (USA) drums, percussion

Paulina Owczarek (PL) baritone sax

Mark Tokar (UA) bass

Wednesday 31.10.2012. MANGGHA

THE DAMAGE IS DONE

Peter Brötzmann (Niemcy) reeds

Joe McPhee (USA) alto sax, pocket trumpet

Kent Kessler (USA) bass

Michel Zerang (USA) drums, percussion

PETER BRÖTZMANN + KONSTRUKT

Peter Brötzmann (Niemcy) reeds

Korhan Futacı (Turcja) saxes

Umut Çağlar (Turcja) guitars, electronics

Özün Usta (Turcja) drums, percussion

Korhan Argüden (Turcja) drums

Inner Ear (Trzaska / Swell / Holmlander / Daisy) at Alchemia (21.03)

As Marek Winiarski introduced the band - Inner Ear is 40% of Resonance and that's already quite good result. Quartet was born 3 years ago, with the second meeting of the Resonance Ensemble. I've written recently about their fresh and first cd "Breathing Steam" as well as I talked about the band with Mikolaj and he spoke also about their first meeting: 

...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)

I can confirm this is THE band, 4 musicians filling the air with flow of ideas, immagination, adventorous spirit, reacting and co-creating. Music for inner ear that demands focus but rewards greatly the attention (and the audience gathered in Alchemia was holding their breath to hear even the most futile sounds hidden in the apparent silence). I invite you to get back to the cd's review and interview with Mikolaj for more. As for the concert it all summed up for me in the brief moment - expression of complete excitement andon Tim Daisy's face as the band was about to start the second improv of the concert. He had no idea what was about to happen. And he enjoyed it immensely. So did I and (to judge from the final applause) the rest of the audience.

(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