Nextbop

The Next Generation of Jazz

  • Home
  • Blog
    • Newest Posts
    • Streams & Videos
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
  • New Releases
  • Best Of Lists
    • Best of 2019
    • Best of 2018
    • Best of 2017
    • Best of 2016
    • Best of 2015
    • Best of 2014
    • Best of 2013
    • Best of 2012
    • Best of 2011
    • Best of 2010
  • Advertising Rates
  • About
  • Contact Us
Home / Blog / Reviews / Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet – ‘Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition’ (Album Review)

Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet – ‘Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition’ (Album Review)

July 18, 2018 By Anthony Dean-Harris

ShareTweetSubscribe

Subscribe to our mailing list and receive our most read content directly to your inbox every month!*

* indicates required
*By subscribing, you agree to receive our monthly newsletter as well as sporadic promotional emails. Feel free to unsubscribe at any time!

Polish bassist/composer Wojtek Mazolewski has a great understanding of groove. There’s an easy sensibility to his music, just coasting along. Even in its heights, the music seems to have arrived there not through ostentatious backflips but by gentle rises. It all makes sense together, which could be why Mazolewski is presenting his work remastered for the rest of the world as Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition, out August 3rd on Whirlwind Recordings.

“Grochow” has a gentle roll to it, an apt early track for an album and a nice showcase of this band. Trumpeter Oskar Török and tenor saxophonist Marek Pospieszalski handle the horn section well, smoothly and confidently. Trading off duties and bringing a dynamic fullness to this sound. The title track is a fantastic showcase for pianist Joanna Duda and her clear phrasing. It’s hard to know why the song is called “Polka” when it’s in 5/4 time, but it’s a charmer nevertheless in its neat four minutes. “Berlin” has a slinky cool reminiscent of a film heist score for a ragtag group of screwups with hearts of gold. “Sunday” is a downright jam that practically boogies with drummers Qba Janicki and Michał Bryndal keeping excellent pace. Each song here finds a mood, explores it, but never overstays its welcome. As most of these songs are named after cities, Polka sounds like a rollicking vacation and Mazolewski & Co. are the perfect travelling companions.

By album’s end, one finds their take on the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s “Theme De Yoyo” a welcome treat, and with the notion that this was an altogether cool album from a group of cool people who know what they’re doing, because they made it all sound so simple. But knowing to play Art Ensemble of Chicago and actually pulling it off says something about good taste (as if their voices for the previous twelve songs didn’t say enough). Wojtek Mazolewski is a bandleader and bassist of taste and talent, and a sense of music that seems to sound too easy to listen to, and these are pretty great qualities that the rest of the world needs to hear. Wojtek Mazolewski is a bandleader and bassist of taste and take, and a sense of music that seems to sound too easy to listen to, and these are pretty great qualities that the rest of the world needs to hear.

Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition, the American-label debut album of the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet, is out August 3 on Whirlwind Recordings.

Oskar Török – trumpet
Marek Pospieszalski – tenor saxophone
Joanna Duda – piano
Wojtek Mazolewski – double bass
Qba Janicki – drums
Michał Bryndal – drums

All songs except London (Intro, Part 1, Part 2) recorded at Radio Gdansk, Poland
Engineer – Piotr Taraszkiewicz
Mixed by Piotr Taraszkiewicz &
Wojtek Mazolewski at Nu Wave, Gdansk, Poland London (Intro, Part 1, Part 2) and Theme de Yo Yo recorded at Rolling Tapes Studio, Poland Engineer – Marek Szwarc
Mixed by Marek Szwarc & Wojtek Mazolewski at Rolling Tapes Studio
Mastered by Piotr Taraszkiewicz
Produced by Wojlek Mazolewski
Executive Producer for Whirlwind Recordings
Michael Janisch
Executive Producer for Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet
Bartosz Stawiarz
Original Cover Design – Mateusz Holak

Anthony Dean-Harris

Nextbop Editor-in-Chief Anthony Dean-Harris hosts the modern jazz radio show, The Line-Up, Fridays at 9pm CST on 91.7 FM KRTU San Antonio and is also a contributing writer to DownBeat Magazine and the San Antonio Current.

Liked the post? Take a second to support Nextbop on Patreon!

Filed Under: Blog, Reviews Tagged With: Joanna Duda, Marek Pospieszalski, Michał Bryndal, Oskar Török, Polka - Worldwide Deluxe Edition, Qba Janicki, Whirlwind, Wojtek Mazolewski

Follow Us


6,871
followers

9,720
followers

1,182
followers

Monthly Newsletter

Get our 5 most-read posts and a list of brand new jazz albums sent directly to your inbox every month!


Support Nextbop on Patreon

Top Posts

  • Rob Shepherd Favorite Jazz Albums Decade Rob Shepherd’s Favorite Jazz Albums of the Decade
  • Best Jazz Albums 2019 Nextbop’s Best Jazz Albums of 2019
  • Nardis: A Critical Analysis of Covers
  • The Pitchfork of Jazz
  • Binker and Moses – ‘Alive in the East?’ (Album Review)

Tags

Aaron Parks A Critical Analysis of Covers BADBADNOTGOOD Ben Wendel Ben Williams Biophilia Blue Note Brad Mehldau Brainfeeder Braxton Cook Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Concord Corey Fonville Derrick Hodge ECM Edition Gerald Clayton Gilad Hekselman Greenleaf International Anthem Jason Lindner Joel Ross Justin Brown Kassa Overall Kendrick Scott Lawrence Fields Linda May Han Oh Makaya McCraven Mark Guiliana Matthew Stevens Motéma Nate Wood Nonesuch Phronesis Pi Robert Glasper Ropeadope Sarah Elizabeth Charles Stephan Crump Stretch Music Sunnyside Taylor Eigsti Thundercat Vijay Iyer Whirlwind
© 2021 Nextbop. All rights reserved.
Use of any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our Privacy Policy.