The American trumpeter meets a Polish quartet for a set of inchoate angularity that seems to revel in seeking its feet<\/p>\n
By Darren Arthurs<\/b> – 20 August 2024 <\/p>\n
This is the third album by Polish jazzers The Beat Freaks and, in the tradition of the genre, they\u2019ve invited American saxophonist Ralph Alessi along for the ride, and what a ride it is!<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been searching for the right term for this style of jazz and the word that was u<\/span>sed by a drummer friend of mine was \u201cangular\u201d, so I\u2019m sticking with that. If you don\u2019t <\/span>know what I mean by this (and, let\u2019s be honest, why would you?) I\u2019ll expla<\/span>in.<\/span><\/p>\n To the innocent bystander the music on offer here might sound disjointed or disconnected, the drums are sporadic and the whole exercise feels as if the<\/span> band are finding their individual feet, working out the overall shape of the music but still trying to influence and inspire the direction<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n To some this might be their idea of musical hell; some prefer their music mapped out beforehand with recognised melodies and<\/span> structure, but this takes away the excitement of the music and within the generous 14 tracks there is no sho<\/span>rtage of excitement.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ll admit that on first listen I didn\u2019t quite get it. I had to put<\/span> the music away for a week or so but with fresher ears the music is powerful, refreshing and explorative \u2013 which is n<\/span>o great surprise given that the album is influenced by nature and how things fit together.<\/span><\/p>\n The brass solos are aggressive and imp<\/span>atient (in a good way), the rhythms keep you on your toes and the guitar tones are reminiscent of Miles D<\/span>avis\u2019s Bitches Brew<\/i>. All in all, having a guest musician on board is a masterstroke, giving a clash of influences and producing an album that offers something new with each listen.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n To ju\u017c trzeci album polskich jazzman\u00f3w z The Beat Freaks i \u2013 zgodnie z tradycj\u0105 tego gatunku \u2013 zaprosili oni do wsp\u00f3lnej jazdy ameryka\u0144skiego saksofonist\u0119 Ralpha Alessiego. I trzeba przyzna\u0107, \u017ce to jazda bez trzymanki!<\/p>\n D\u0142ugo szuka\u0142em odpowiedniego okre\u015blenia dla tego stylu jazzu i s\u0142owem, kt\u00f3rego u\u017cy\u0142 m\u00f3j znajomy perkusista, by\u0142o \u201ekanciaste\u201d (angular<\/i>) \u2013 i tego b\u0119d\u0119 si\u0119 trzyma\u0107. Je\u015bli nie wiecie, co mam na my\u015bli (a b\u0105d\u017amy szczerzy, dlaczego mieliby\u015bcie wiedzie\u0107?), ju\u017c wyja\u015bniam.<\/p>\n Dla przypadkowego widza prezentowana tu muzyka mo\u017ce brzmie\u0107 niesp\u00f3jnie lub wr\u0119cz chaotycznie. Perkusja pojawia si\u0119 sporadycznie, a ca\u0142e to przedsi\u0119wzi\u0119cie sprawia wra\u017cenie, jakby zesp\u00f3\u0142 dopiero szuka\u0142 w\u0142asnego gruntu i wypracowywa\u0142 og\u00f3lny kszta\u0142t kompozycji, wci\u0105\u017c pr\u00f3buj\u0105c wp\u0142ywa\u0107 na jej kierunek i wzajemnie si\u0119 inspirowa\u0107.<\/p>\n Dla niekt\u00f3rych taka wizja mo\u017ce by\u0107 synonimem muzycznego piek\u0142a. Cz\u0119\u015b\u0107 s\u0142uchaczy woli, gdy muzyka jest zaplanowana od A do Z, z rozpoznawalnymi melodiami i struktur\u0105, ale to odbiera jej ca\u0142y dreszczyk emocji \u2013 a na tym hojnie wydanym kr\u0105\u017cku, licz\u0105cym a\u017c 14 utwor\u00f3w, ekscytacji na pewno nie brakuje.<\/p>\n Przyznam, \u017ce przy pierwszym ods\u0142uchu niewiele z tego zrozumia\u0142em. Musia\u0142em od\u0142o\u017cy\u0107 t\u0119 p\u0142yt\u0119 na jakie\u015b tydzie\u0144, ale ze \u201e\u015bwie\u017c\u0105 g\u0142ow\u0105\u201d ta muzyka brzmi pot\u0119\u017cnie, od\u015bwie\u017caj\u0105co i odkrywczo \u2013 co nie powinno dziwi\u0107, bior\u0105c pod uwag\u0119, \u017ce album jest inspirowany natur\u0105 i tym, jak poszczeg\u00f3lne elementy wsp\u00f3\u0142graj\u0105 ze sob\u0105.<\/p>\n Sol\u00f3wki sekcji d\u0119tej s\u0105 agresywne i niecierpliwe (w pozytywnym sensie), rytmy trzymaj\u0105 w nieustannym napi\u0119ciu, a brzmienie gitary przywodzi na my\u015bl Bitches Brew<\/i> Milesa Davisa. Podsumowuj\u0105c, zaproszenie go\u015bcinnego muzyka okaza\u0142o si\u0119 mistrzowskim posuni\u0119ciem, kt\u00f3re przynios\u0142o genialne zderzenie r\u00f3\u017cnych wp\u0142yw\u00f3w i zaowocowa\u0142o albumem oferuj\u0105cym co\u015b nowego przy ka\u017cdym kolejnym ods\u0142uchu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Beat Freaks and Ralph Alessi: Mechanics Of Nature The American trumpeter meets a Polish quartet for a set of inchoate angularity that seems to revel in seeking its feet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recenzja"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23-300x145.png",300,145,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"large":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"ect-jetpack-portfolio-featured":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"ect-featured-content":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"ect-service":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"music-artist-blog-thumbnail-img":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"jetpack-portfolio-admin-thumb":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23-50x50.png",50,50,true],"featured-content-admin-thumb":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23-50x50.png",50,50,true],"service-admin-thumb":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23-50x50.png",50,50,true],"portfolio_item-thumbnail":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail@2x":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-masonry":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-masonry@2x":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_cinema":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait@2x":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_square":["https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zrzut-ekranu-2026-07-17-o-23.56.23.png",498,240,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22294,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22292\/revisions\/22294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebeatfreaks.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}