3rd August 2018: Wojtek Mazolewski’s ‘Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition’ released today – ★★★★★ reviews from DownBeat Magazine and Kind of Jazz + Clash Music video premier feature for ‘Roma’

Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition – CD, 2x LP 180 gram gatefold, DL: here

“Mazolewski pulls diverse influences together to quite stunning effect, helped by his skilled, enthusiastic and infectious band… A quite wonderful musical journey.”
★★★★★ Kind of Jazz (full review)

“A musical travelogue of sorts – all but one of the 12 originals on the new collection bear the name of a place. Hearing these city-inspired compositions side by side, listeners can appreciate just how gifted Mazolewski is at capturing place through sound.”
★★★★★ DownBeat Magazine

“Poland has a rich jazz heritage… Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet are spearheading the latest wave, fusing the influence of electronic music with their organic, acoustic sound.”
Clash Music (full feature)

Whirlwind announces the new release from bassist and composer Wojtek Mazolewski and his quintet: Polka (Worldwide Deluxe Edition). Since the release of the full-length album Polka in 2014, the dynamic Polish bassist and his band have broken well beyond the jazz genre’s usual boundaries and have gained international recognition, effortlessly inspiring audiences at some of the world’s biggest rock and indie music festivals as well as appearing in jazz and dance clubs, with some 200 concerts across 21 countries in the last few years alone. Their music has been featured on mainstream Polish TV and climbed the Polish Radio charts while being featured by BBC Radio DJ Gilles Peterson (‘Theme de Yoyo’ – the bonus track here – appeared on Mazolewski’s album of the same name and was one of Peterson’s 50 best records of 2017). Polka went gold in six months and platinum in three years in Poland alone, and the follow-up single London was released in the UK in 2017. Now, for the first time, Polka, Theme de Yoyo and London are presented together in this significant collection.

Vigorously combining tradition and modernity, the analog sound of the quintet harks back to the jazz masters (also reflecting the vibrant Polish jazz scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s), yet is infused with electronica and other contemporary influences. Echoes of Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana and Aphex Twin are, therefore, all interwoven by the bassist and his dream team of pianist Joanna Duda, tenor saxophonist Marek Pospieszalski, trumpeter Oskar Török and drummers Qba Janicki and Michał Bryndal. It‘s like listening to history being sonically reworked, with a uniquely contemporary twist.

Mazolewski recalls the album’s beginnings during a visit to London: “I stumbled upon a beautiful invitation to a carnival ball. Inside… was a list of dances for the guests to request; and amongst the styles, I came across a lovely-sounding word – ‘polka’ – which immediately struck me as a great album title. So far from home, I felt many positive emotions and realized that this word can have a number of definitions, even though the polka is a Czech dance. That fascination later became prophetic, as the band features the trumpet of Oskar Torok – a Slovak living in Prague. Furthermore, a wonderful Polish woman, Joanna Duda, plays the piano alongside me. I’m very grateful to fate for allowing me to create music with such a brilliant band. Oskar, Marek, Qba, Michat and Joanna are remarkable musical partners and fantastic people”.

The gentle, awakening aubade of ‘Roma’ and easy-going groove of ‘Grochow’ belie the dizzy heights this band can attain. But then, heralded by ‘PUNK-t Gdansk’s boppish fervor and fast-swinging, jazz-piano-ornamented ‘Polka’, their undulating moods are revealed, complemented by the springlike openness of ‘Paris’ and ‘Berlin’s free-spirited, bass-thrummed improvisations. Ska-like ‘London’ and ‘Sunday’ both stomp assertively, underpinning attractive, punkish sax and trumpet; ‘Bangkok’ is portayed aromatically through waterdrop piano and soft horns amidst shimmering percussion; and ‘Krakow’ meanders to keyboard rivulets and searching tenor.

“I offer you an album full of enthusiasm and emotion”, affirms Wojtek Mazolewski. “This nostalgic, crazy and introspective musical tale is the reflection of my experiences. Music is an abstract message, packed with energy and power, which you can interpret as you wish. Take from it whatever works for you – that’s why it exists.”

See Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet live

2nd August – PolAndRock Festival, Poland

4th August – RCK Pro JAzz, Kolobrzeg, Poland

9th September – Festiwal Superbohaterów, Katowice

21st September – London Jazz Cafe, London

5th October – Theaterstübchen, Kassel, Germany

6/7/8th October – German Tour

9th October – Jena, Germany

11th – 14th October – Polish Tour

17th – 21st October – Polish Tour

9th November – Jazzforum, Bayreuth e.V., Germany

10th/11th November – German Tour

30th November – Weimar,  Germany

And to celebrate the release CLASH MUSIC premiered the video for ‘Roma’ shot at the Elijazzen Festival on the “jaw-dropping” Lofoten Archipelago in Hamnøy – 300km inside the Arctic circle.