Atom Goes Funky

Does groove really need electric guitars, synthesisers, and an elaborate rhythm section? Or does it come from something much deeper – a shared pulse, imagination, and the freedom to improvise? The latest project by Atom String Quartet asks this question precisely. As the musicians themselves explain, you can take away funk's characteristic instrumentation, and if the rhythm, energy, and musical imagination remain, funk is still funk.

Paradoxically, although Poland remained behind the Iron Curtain throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was during this period that one of Europe's most vibrant jazz scenes flourished. The Jazz Jamboree Festival attracted the world's greatest jazz stars, while the legendary Polish Jazz record series documented the emergence of successive generations of outstanding artists. Yet Polish musicians did not simply imitate the West. Instead, they developed their own musical language, blending jazz with funk, rock, classical music, and distinctly Slavic lyricism.

It was during these years that composers and performers such as Michał Urbaniak, Zbigniew Seifert, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Władysław Sendecki, Andrzej Zaucha, and Krzesimir Dębski created works that demonstrated how music could preserve complete artistic freedom, even under political restrictions.

The idea for the album emerged quite unexpectedly. While preparing a concert dedicated to Zbigniew Seifert, the members of Atom String Quartet revisited his composition Nasty Gal. As Mateusz Smoczyński later recalled, that was the moment when the thought arose: Maybe this is the right direction – to explore funk music. From a single composition grew a project embracing an entire era of Polish music. Not every work included is strictly funk in the conventional sense. What unites them is a shared pulse, groove, energy, and the unmistakable spirit of those decades.

The project also carries symbolic significance. Atom Goes Funky was released by Warner Music as the 91st volume in the legendary Polish Jazz series, becoming the first album in the history of the collection to be recorded by a string quartet. It is a powerful symbol of continuity: the music that helped shape the future of Polish jazz half a century ago now inspires a new generation of artists.