Krzysztof Herdzin Trio ‘Live in Tygmont’ CD

Description

  “I would like to present you with my latest album – yet another testament of my artistic endeavours. Years ago, at the beginning of what I wished to be a very long and fruitful career as a pianist, I have set a serious aim for myself. Every album that was to be signified by my own name was to spring out of a different style, was to draw from different jazz idioms and yet remain truly “mine” – determined by my sensitivity, imagination and, as Mr Robert Buczek has recently said, “..relayed in the language of Herdzin..”. 11 years have passed since I have released my first album and I believe I can truly congratulate myself on being loyal to that principle.

I have always been extremely lucky in securing the talent of excellent musicians while recording my albums. Their virtuosity and musicality have greatly influenced my playing and have inspired me immensely. I have based the pure hard bop sound of Chopin on the erudition of Maciek Sikała and Piotr Wojtasik, as well as the stylistic faithfulness of Jacek Niedziela and Marcin Jahr. My own compositions on the quintet based album Being Confused were brought to life by Zbyszek Namysłowski and Grzegorz Nagórski. On Seriale, Seriale I have managed to obtain a very lyrical, “Slavic” musical effect while attempting to render the sound of the Bill Evans Trio with strings. This was only possible through the lyrical and incredibly flexible imagination of Piotr Biskupski and Mariusz Bogdanowicz. Almost After was an attempt to recreate the ECM sound. The creative talents of Adam Cegielski and Czarek Konrad were essential here. Finally, while recording the electric fusion albumDancing Flowers I was overjoyed to be able to perform alongside such greats as Michał Kulenty, Michał Dąbrówka, Marek Napiórkowski, Filip Sojka and Marek Podkowa.

A while ago, to my great satisfaction and joy, I have finally managed to find my “dream team”. Zbigniew Wegehaupt and Cezary Konrad have proved to be the missing pieces of the trio I have always strived for. We have been playing together for three years now, providing each other with happiness and satisfaction, whilst allowing ourselves to “re-charge our batteries”, There is an unspoken understanding between us, an intuitive impulse that allows us to develop music in a direction that is surprising and pleasing to both the audience, and the three of us, without any prior rehearsals or agreements. The ability to listen to one another, virtuosity, humor, proficiency in many styles and techniques (which is partly derived from the classical training we have all undergone), as well as a slight touch of madness are just some characteristics of my colleagues. This in my opinion makes each of our concerts an unforgettable event.”

Krzysztof Herdzin
www.herdzin.com.pl

This album presents a live recording captured at the Warsaw’s Tygmont club by pianist / composer Krzysztof Herdzin and his trio, with bassist Zbigniew Wegehaupt and drummer Cezary Konrad. The trio performs six compositions, four of which are originals by the leader and two are standards. The recording has a beautiful realistically captured live sound and an overall superb sound quality.
People familiar with the Polish Jazz scene are surely aware of the fact that Herdzin is one of the busiest and most versatile musicians in the country, who left his mark on a large scale of different musical projects in Contemporary Classical music, Jazz and Popular music. His work as an arranger / orchestrator marks most of the great Pop albums recorded in the last two decades in Poland. Sometimes it seems as if there is hardly anything happening in Polish music, which does not involve Herdzin one way or another. Of course such omnipresence can be dangerous and lead to spreading the talents thin, but one must admit that everything Herdzin touches turns out well, which simply proves his incredible talent, versatility, stamina, perseverance and above all professionalism.
To be fair one must remember that this album presents just one aspect of Herdzin’s activity, i.e. his work as a leader of a classic Jazz piano trio. During his career Herdzin recorded several albums in this format, and I must admit this is the favorite one for me. There are several reasons why I feel that way; firstly the material included herein presents a wide emotional range, from up-tempo numbers presenting Herdzin as a virtuoso pianist performing neck-breaking solos and up to deeply contemplative ballads, where the listener can hear Herdzin the atmospheric painter. Secondly the trio work, which is absolutely stunning, is a superb example of creative cooperation in real time, which after all is what Jazz is all about. The dazzling displays of piano bravura are brilliantly supported at all times by the rhythm section, which at the time of the recording was probably the best in the country. My deeply lamented personal friend Zbigniew Wegehaupt, who left us at a ridiculous young age a year ago, was undoubtedly one of the greatest bassists to emerge on the local scene and drummer Cezary Konrad, with whom Herdzin works often, is probably to top drummer of the second Jazz generation in Poland.
This is a classic piano trio album in every respect, which should satisfy even the sternest and most capricious Jazz connoisseurs. Regardless if your champion is Chick Corea, Bill Evans or Herbie Hancock, you will find something here, which is of course first and foremost Herdzin’s statement, but sits firmly in the same state of mind that these great Masters bestowed upon us. A timeless jewel!

Adam Baruch