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Szymon Łukowski Quintet is a new project of a saxophonist, composer and arranger associated with the Tri-City and Bydgoszcz musicians. Until now Łukowski could be heard as a sideman in such groups as Piotr Lemańczyk Quartet North or Jan Konop Big Band.
In December 2014, however, he set up his own band which consists of a vibraphonist and marimbafonist Dominik Bukowski, adouble bassist Paweł Urowski, a drummer Sławek Koryzno and Szymon Łukowski as a leader on tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, extending the instrumentation with the bass clarinet in several pieces. The uniqueness of the quintet is manifested, among other things, in the fact that the role of a harmonic instrument is entrusted here alternately to the vibraphone and the guitar, which – in combination with saxophones – refreshes the formula of a classical quintet and opens up new sound spaces impossible to obtain in a line-up with the piano as a harmonic instrument. The band's stylistics oscillates around modern jazz, drawing equally from the achievements of contemporary performers such as Gary Burton, Dave Holland and David Binney, as well as genre masters like John Coltrane and Woody Shaw. On the band's latest album as a special guest appeared an Austrian guitarist Johannes Riepler who has been in London for 10 years and has been an active participant in the British jazz scene. The characteristic colour of the cooperating vibraphone and the guitar, modernist melodies and unconventional arrangements, spontaneous solos, extended tonality and sections of collective improvisation inspired by the chamber music of the twentieth century, implemented by the band members extend the musical concept with elements which have been so far rarely encountered in jazz. All these ingredients form a unique musical conglomerate in which tradition mingles with modernity, improvisation with precise arrangement and lyricality with dynamism. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS / REVIEWS
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"Supported by a formidable team of highly talented musicians, Lukowski delivers a wonderful collection of excellent tunes, all beautifully played by him and his cohorts. The elegant arrangements, which feature the superb talents of Bukowski on vibes and marimba and great guitar playing by Riepler, all contribute to the elegant flow of melody lines, amicably supported by the rhythm section. Although the music is still very "conventional" and well within the Jazz mainstream idiom, it is able to shed off the trivial references to years of Jazz tradition, which have been abused and misused for decades. This music flows smoothly and elegantly, keeping the listener attentive. (...) "The music was wonderfully recorded at the Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan Smoczynski, with the usual spectacular sonic result. The clarity of the sound and the superb separation of the instruments make listening to this album an audiophiles´ orgy. Overall this is a great mainstream Jazz album, which offers excellent music and first class performances, which should satisfy all connoisseurs and still deliver something previously unheard. Wholeheartedly recommended!" //// Adam Baruch
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"The opening theme, with its extensive creations of the vibraphone and double bass, invaluable in supporting the parts, reveals an enormous potential of the composition and a unique democracy of the quintet. Each musician seems to be equally responsible for the process of creating the final shape of recordings. Sławek Koryzno’s parts are also delightful, full of fire, and add invaluable power and creativity to the sound. Paweł Urowski plays with creativity as well, giving longer solos from time to time (e.g. in "And the Winner Is" and "Mantra"). Since his debut album, Szymon Łukowski has come a long way as a leader, being in a completely different place today as an improvising musician, a band leader, but also a very mature and emanating composer. It all contibutes to the fact that it is hard to walk on by his new album" //// Robert Ratajczak
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"Hourglass"
is another very good native record. These tunes successfully restore recently
neglected mainstream jazz. (...) And step by step, one song after another, you
can explore and compliment the whole album. "Hourglass" is made of
excellent, melodic compositions, none of which is weaker than the others. I
like a perfect balance of the presence of individual instruments on the album, an
interesting way of confronting them in individual songs and the fact that the
leader did not musically overweigh his colleagues with his presence on this
album. These are the undoubted advantages of this record, which you can listen
to with great pleasure. " //// Krzysztof Komorek
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"Listening to a new musical proposal of a saxophonist and clarinettist from Tricity, Szymon Łukowski, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that all the musicians involved in this project managed to create a specific clarity and communicativeness which, when combined with the leader's extended instruments (tenor sax, alto soprano, plus bass clarinet), unconventional and very precise arrangements, the use of melodies and improvisations as a pretext for further developing the form of the songs, may constitute a perfect example of artistic expression within the widely understood jazz idiom. One can feel a penetrating feature of creative jazz mainstream representatives such as David Binney, Alex Sipiagin or David Kikoski, with their characteristic openness and elegance.
Łukowski additionally makes use of a warm and balanced colour of the vibraphone and guitars, and his concept seems to reach much deeper, neatly connecting the threads of contemporary chamber music with tradition started by legends like Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw or Kenny Wheeler. As a result, we get a refreshed formula of a classic jazz quintet, without the participation of the piano as a harmonic instrument, which definitely added colour to the whole and expanded the context of artistic expression. Different theories very often reflect only some part of the truth, however we focus only on the first impression, not wanting to get into details. These details are the history of jazz tradition filtered by the musical sensitivity of Szymon Łukowski who, with every album, seems to strive for greater openness, subtly affirmating the depth of his art." //// Tomasz Łuczak, Polish-Jazz.Blogspot.com |
