Mazurka op.24 nr.2
Wyzwania Metrologii
Mazurka op. 33 nr. 2
Biali
No Message
Mazurka op. 24 nr. 1
My Secret Love/Preludium 26
Maiden Voyage
Mazurka op.17 nr. 4
Like Bobby McFerrin’s solo
debut The Voice
there’s something about Leszek Możdżer’s
Solo in Ukraine which makes
me smile,
even laugh out loud when I play it. Możdżer’s
playing in his more recent albums has become
increasingly refined and poetic, but in the
exposed setting of a live solo concert on
September 8th in the National
Philharmonic Hall in Kiev he also shows more
of his incredible technique, and a witty side
which is so witty it could have out-witted
Groucho Marx, had Groucho Marx been a pianist.
There are of course things
in common with the older and the new. Experimentation
with damped strings and some ‘prepared’ piano;
using something metallic to change the timbre
of the notes, are common features. In the
live setting we get the occasional clunk or
twang in one or two numbers, when the implement
in question is being implemented or removed.
This is all part of
the spirited and daring nature of Możdżer’s
performance. Another family trait is the composed
nature of the music, which is true to the
extent you can even hear when he plays a wrong
note; 38 seconds into Mazurka op.24
nr.1. There is of course a certain amount
of improvisation going on, but once on stage
I rarely have the feeling that Możdżer
is going far beyond his already far-reaching
experiments. The spontaneous feel and sense
of grand joy comes from a deeply rooted preparedness.
Looking at the titles,
you might suspect some classical intermezzos
might be creeping in, but in fact Możdżer
uses a device which is always helpful when
creating improvisatory structures or patterns
– the use of a few well-chosen, often recognisable
quotes or passages from a great musical
forebear, in this case that of Chopin. Beyond
the few fragments which survive untransformed,
jazz fans need have no fear they will have
to sit through anything remotely ‘classical’,
nor should anyone fear jazzy arrangements
in the style of Jacques Loussier.
There
are one or two moments where Możdżer
momentarily enters the Keith Jarrett world
of calligraphic right hand over understated
spreads in the left, but his swiftness in
moving from one moment to the next means that
no one flavour is allowed to linger
self-indulgently. Many of the pieces expand
over a variety of deeply swinging and sometimes
heavy ostinati, but to my mind there is never
a dull moment, no lapses into soggy sentimentality
or time-wasting note-spinning.
With the entire album now
being a highlight of my jazz piano collection,
I won’t tire everyone with a blow-by-blow
account of each track, but merely point out
one or two hyper-highlights. I particularly
like the damped left-hand sound and bounce
in Wyzwania Metrologii, and the madly
infectious patterns in Mazurka op.33 nr.2.
A big favourite is No Message, which
mercilessly abuses Sting’s ‘Message in a Bottle’
bass riff and takes it through some insane
progressions. The all-time prize-winner is
My Secret Love/Preludium 26, which
should be bottled as an elixir for the cure
of gloom the world over. Like a poster by
Jan Lenica, it is completely mad, and endlessly
fascinating.
After Maiden Voyage,
the only track taken from a different concert
on 10th December in the Lwow Philharmonic
Hall and the only one whose 8 minutes are
arguably a fraction too long, the Mazurka
op.17 nr.4 concludes the programme with
relative tenderness, like the farewell gift
of an encore.
Anyone wanting to find further
information on the concerts or musician will
have a hard time gleaning same from the CD
booklet, which is entirely filled with gorgeous
photographic studies out of which grow pencil
sketches from the creative composer at work.
It only remains for me to moan briefly at
the short playing time, but add my gratitude
at such a magnificently anarchic set which
will always leave me wanting more.
Dominy Clements
CD Reviews
Gowi
Records CDG 59 [46:31]
