Jazz guitarist & composer.
During the rehearsal and during the Imagine Nation concert at the Jazz Jamboree festival we were accompanied by Krzysztof Machowina, a great photographer and a great pal. Krzysztof agreed to have some of his photos posted on my site – here they are, enjoy!
Continue reading “Imagine Nation – pics or it didn’t happen!”
OK, we did it. Imagine Nation just played at 60. edition of Jazz Jamboree Festival. I’m happy, that I could share this experience with great artists and wonderful people – Anna Gadt, Liberty Ellman, Ksawery Wójciński, Hubert Zemler – thank you! And we’re happy we could share stage with such a great artists as James Brandon Lewis, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Bad Plus and Idris Acamoor & The Pyramids.
And you know what? We’ll be back!
Maciej Lewenstein, an indefatigable researcher of the Polish jazz and avant-garde scene (and by the way an outstanding physicist – but that’s a completely different story) reviewed our album, recorded with Patryk Zakrocki and Agusti Fernandez. Spontaneous Chamber Music vol. 2 gained recognition in the eyes – or rather in the ears – of the reviewer. The entire text – yes, it’s in English – is posted below, and more reviews by Maciej can be found on his Facebook. It’s worth taking a look there, because it is a great guide to the contemporary jazz and avant garde music scene!
Continue reading “Spontaneous Chamber Music reviewed again!”
In May, during the Night Of The Museums (a very special night, when all museums in Poland are opened all night), Spontaneous Chamber Music – Patryk Zakrocki and me – played in the Upper Silesian Jews House of Remembrance in Gliwice. This is a wonderful, magical place, located in old Jewish funeral home. And that was when this short film was made. We talk about our impressions, about memory, about music. And we play with birds.
Look, listen.
In October, during the Jazz Jamboree festival, I’ll present my new project. I am so happy – I’ll play at the iconic festival and I will play with great musicians!
Imagine Nation is a completely new thing, with a completely new repertoire. We’ll play my compositions – but this time I allowed myself for a few experiments. I am playing a bit with the jazz idiom. Songs are quite precisely written down, but some parts are open. In a way I try to maintain control and loose it and the same time – these songs can be played in a strictly jazz way, but the performers can also go free. The scores are sometimes precise, but sometimes they become something like a slightly sketched scenario, just setting the order of the events.
To perform this experiment I invited great musicians, outstanding improvisers and wonderful people: Hubert Zemler on drums and objects and Ksawery Wójciński. I will play guitars (real and imagined ones), and at the premiere we will be joined by Liberty Ellman, an excellent guitarist known for solo projects or cooperation with Henry Threadgill.
Marcin Olak Imagine Nation feat. Liberty Ellman – 26.10 @ Jazz Jamboree, Stodola Club, Warsaw.
“Spontaneous Chamber Music vol. 2”, the album, which I recorded with Patryk Zakrocki and Agustí Fernández, is a week’s album on Jazzarium.pl. By the way they’ve reviewed our CD – in Polish, but you can always try Google translate, it’s so beautifully wrong.
And this is how Piotr Wojdat writes about our album: From the very beginning until the end of the second volume of “Spontaneous Chamber Music” we can hear that Zakrocki, Olak and Fernandez come into artistic interactions that result in the truly beautiful music.
The entire review can be found here.
Zakrocki and Olak seem to have a symbiotic relationship, which is reflected in their telepathic conversations as a duo. Their non-conformist approach to improvisation is fresh and inspiring. Overall this is a very interesting and rich album, full of exciting moments and relaxed interludes, keeping the listener on his toes for the entire duration. This music is unique and shows a completely different avant-garde concept, which allows for calmness and contemplation to replace anger and aggression, which often turns avant-garde music into and unlistenable cacophony.
That’s what Adam Baruch has written about our new album, Spontaneous Chamber Music vol. 2. We are even more happy, because it’s the first review!
You can read this text – and many more – on Polish-Jazz.blogspot.com. Yes, it’s in English. Enjoy!
You can buy our album on Listen! Foundation’s Bandcamp.
This Thursday – 14.06 – I will be Maciej Krawiec’s guest at RadioJAZZ. Maciej’s original show is an “Sztukmistrz ‘ – it means something like master of arts, mountebank, magician – it’s worth listening to, even without me. And on Thursday, we’ll talk about books and music. We’ll play some tunes from the latest Spontaneous Chamber Music release, and a few other albums, certainly interesting and not obvious ones.
RadioJAZZ is an internet platform, you can listen to us through their website: www.radiojazz.fm. Enjoy!
Edit: The interview is now available as podcast. Well… yes, it’s in Polish.But we also play some music, and that’s pretty international, isn’t it?
It’ll be a cool week. On Thursday I will play with Patryk Zakrocki in DZiK. We’ve invited phenomenal Anna Gadt to play together – in my opinion, she is one of the best and most creative vocalists in Europe. If someone has not heard her latest album yet, then please do not hesitate to reach the Misterium Lunae. On Thursday we improvise open and unexpected forms, I can not wait.
And on Sunday my trio will play in Cud Nad Wisłą. It’s a beautiful place, I’m so glad we can perform there! We’ll play some new things, some songs from previous albums. Maciek Szczyciński will play the bass, and Szymon Linette for the first time in this line-up on drums. Just come and listen!
Spontaneous Chamber Music & Anna Gadt – 24.05, 20:30
DZiK, Belwederska 44a, Warszawa, PL
Marcin Olak Trio – 27.05, 19:00
Cud Nad Wisłą, Bulwar Flotylli Wiślanej 1, Warszawa, PL
This Friday, 20/04, at 19:30, Spontaneous Chamber Music will perform at Iluzjon Cinema in Warsaw (PL). We will improvise music for a silent movie from 1932, “Spanish dancer.” This is one of the first films made with such a flourish – there is intricate intrigue, a lot of collective scenes, lots of details… Actually I’m curious to know how to play it.
20.04, 19:30: Kino Iluzjon, Warszawa.
Spontaneous Chamber Music vs. Spanish Dancer
15. Silent Movie Festival