Twin brothers Marcin (double bass) and Bartłomiej (drums) have been exploring the periphery of jazz for 20 years, having a history of projects with Mikołaj Trzaska and Tomasz Stanko. From the 1980s it has been hard to imagine the Polish jazz scene without the characteristic, soft and slightly humming sound of Antoni "Ziuta" Gralak's trumpet (previously a member of the free jazz band Young Power).
"Primitivo" is a return to the roots of early music bearing the notion of primitive sounds – artistic works based on the representation of basic emotional states stretching from joy to despair. But as the musicians put it, it is not the instrumentarium implemented nor the differentiation between the listener and the musician that are important. Only the feelings expressed through music count. And if you focus on emotions, it is impossible to use false cliches. The return to original motives and desires while making music became the basis of the album.
In the compositions of Gralak and Oleś on the album, fragments of Seussian, Aztec and Tibetan songs can be found. These core elements were enriched on the album by influences from Chicago’s Roscoe Mitchell avant-garde jazz and Kenyan musician style.
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Mikołaj Rykowski PhD
Musicologist and clarinetist, doctorate, and associate at the Department Music Theory at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. Author of a book and numerous articles devoted to the phenomenon of Harmoniemusik – the 18th-century practice of brass bands. Co-author of the scripts "Speaking concerts" and author of the spoken introductions to philharmonic concerts in Szczecin, Poznań, Bydgoszcz and Łódź.
