Spirit to All Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet

• 1Spirit to All11:32
• 2Ghost Town02:37
• 3The Power of the People05:37
• 4Slavic Spirits06:51
• 5Harmony04:03
• 6The Year of Magical Thinking07:30
• 7My Heart05:39
• Total Runtime43:49

Info for Spirit to All

"Spirit To All" is the latest record by Polish bassist and composer Wojtek Mazolewski and his famed Quintet (WMQ). Mazolewski’s distinctive voice and vision are highly lauded and widely recognized for his contribution to the resurgence in Polish jazz and improv music on a global, crossover scale.

Leading his long-time quintet of Joanna Duda, Marek Pospieszalski, Oskar Török and Qba Janicki, Spirit To All is Mazolewski’s third Whirlwind Recordings release following Polka – Worldwide Deluxe Edition and When Angels Fall.

“Spirit To All was created as an answer to our spiritual needs,” explains Mazolewski, “during my preparations for recording I felt simultaneous connection between myself and everything around me. There was this urge within me to express my unity with the surroundings. The very same need was strongly felt by the band and the best way to express it was through the music.” From the start Mazolewski had clear intentions for the album: “Until 2020 we were touring the world and despite all the travel limitations that followed, we wanted to say: we are here, we are all in it together. This album is about spiritual needs, limitless and loving understanding, about compassionate development.”

The seven-piece record opens with title track ‘Spirit To All’. Inspired by spirituality, the melody contains both sad and joyous moments, mirroring the same juxtaposition of life. ‘Ghost Town’ is a sonic tale of a deserted place, focusing on the subtle consonance of the instruments. “It’s all about articulation, sonority and playing with sound,” explains Mazolewski.

‘The Power Of The People’ acts as a reminder of our strength and potential. This idea is manifested by cacophonous sections and robust melodies.

In contrast, ‘Slavic Spirits’ is a subtle atmospheric track. “‘Harmony’ is all we need to find best solutions for our future,” says Mazolewski and the track is a liberating realisation of that sentiment.

‘The Year Of Magical Thinking’ is a title borrowed from Joan Didion’s book about life’s suffering and how to use it to our gain. “This piece is about life’s journey - spiritual, internal and psychedelic at times,” reflects Mazolewski. ‘My Heart’ is gentle and “expresses our gratitude for life, closeness and love,” he says.

Speaking to the spirit in which the album was recorded, Mazolewski says: “I love the abstract arrhythmic sonic backgrounds of Sun Ra and Art Ensemble of Chicago, but there weren’t any other musicians available, so I decided that we would record all percussion instruments ourselves. In the recording room, some of us had instruments, some of us sang, but only a few of us were wearing headphones hearing the music. This meant the others had to intuitively find and feel the pulse. The experiment made the WMQ sound even richer and we had such great fun doing it.”

Having played together for over 10 years, WMQ share a deep and innate connection that’s palpable throughout their music. Spirit To All is a cathartic manifestation of Mazolewski’s inspiring intentions, “It made us come together again and reawaken the sense of adventure. We feel truly reborn as a band.”

Wojtek Mazolewski, double bass, percussion
Marek Pospieszalski, tenor saxophone, percussion
Oskar Török, trumpet, percussion
Joanna Duda, grand piano, percussion
Qba Janicki, drums, percussion

Wojtek Mazolewski
bassist and composer, born in 1976 in Gdańsk. He is the founder and leader of Pink Freud and Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet. According to many critics, his musical activity brought the commercial boom of Polish jazz at the beginning of 21st century, and his unconventional manner influenced the new localization of the genre in the consciousness of the young listener. Others claim that Mazolewski has 'tamed' jazz and introduced it to top lists, the TV and the popular media.

Mazolewski has acted as a musical partner to Pete Wareham, Dennis Gonzales, Tim Berne, Tomasz Stańko, John Zorn, Pete Kowald, Tymon Tymański, Jerzy Mazzoll, Olo Walicki, Andrzej Smolik, Mikołaj Trzaska, Marcin Masecki, Wojtek Waglewski, Lech Janerka, Fisz, Emade and many others. He writes music for the film and theatre as well as a series of audio books released by Audioteka. He runs his own broadcasts on Polish Radio Gdańsk and Chlli Zet, and since January 2019 on Polish Radio Three. He has also won prestigious music awards from Polish Radio and Jazz Forum magazine.

Mazolewski is the founder of the Bassisters Orchestra supergroup. Originally it was to be a one-off project aimed at creating music for a theatre performance. After some time, the group evolved, as new artists joined Mazolewski. With Michał ‘Bunio’ Skrok (sampler), Piotr ‘Emade’ Waglewski (sampler), Bartosz ‘Fisz’ Waglewski (vocals), Mikołaj Trzaska (saxophone), and Macio Moretti (drums) aboard, Bassisters Orchestra recorded two albums: "Live at Wrzeszcz" (2004) and "Numer Jeden" (Number One, trans. MG; 2006). The premiere of the latter was followed by a concert tour. The group performed at, among others, Open’er Festival in Gdynia in 2007. The project was eventually suspended.

His flagship band is Pink Freud, with which he records for Universal Music Polska. The music he creates within the framework of Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet is also highly appreciated. Their last album Polka, released worldwide by Whirlwind Recordings, was received with particular enthusiasm by, among others, reviewers from Downbeat and The Wire.

This album contains no booklet.