In the deluge of Chopin-inspired jazz album we have been drowning in ever since Andrzej Jagodziński’s first success, this one is sure to please jazz aficionados, while those for whom Chopin is a sacred icon which shoud not fall prey to any modifications, will finally have another opportunity to protest loudly. In none of the diverse Chopin-inspired jazz has the Master been treated so unceremoniously. And there have been many approaches and ways of rediscovering the music, each of them different in its own way. We have been so enthusiastic about this jazzed-up Chopin that already some calls for heard. Alas, crowds adore concerts like this and record [at last some of tchem] are selling like hotcakes.
So those of you who like this sort of thing have another reason to be pleased. Even those who are a bit fe dip with this Chopin stuff Should be pleasant. This record will sooner be mistaken for another album by The Messengers, end not one of their minor ones at that, than for an attempt to define our national identity.
The Chopin inspiration is marginal. The composer is simply an excuse to develop a purely jazz action. It is hard to even recognize some of the themes, and the improvised parts do not relate to Chopin’s texture and mood in any way at all. One might wonder whether Chopin’s name had not been used purely to facilitate Krzysztof Herdzin’s debiut as frontman. Even if this is true, this measure has a very positive aspect of its own.
All sorts of jazz „adaptations” have had a bad reputation for many years, and not only in Poland. I am not speaking of Chopin, but of classical music in general. The adaptations nearly always constitute an attempt to gain some preferential treatment for average, if not mediocre, works. This however, is not the case with Herdzin’s album. No, this is genuine jazz at its best. It is artfully arranged that the very word „adaptation” seems inappropriate.
Krzysztof Herdzin has been present on our jazz scenes for years, usually not in the spot-light, mostly in a subordinate role for other frontmen. Sometimes appreciated, sometimes unappreciated, really noticed. I don’t think anyone will be able to disregard him now. His piano-playing abilities demonstrated on this album certainly assure him an equal place in the jazz community. As frontman he has a clear vision of any work he tackles, not forgetting about the most basic factor: well selected partners. Piotr Wojtasik and Maciej Sikała are currently favorites with jazz audience. I don’t want to be accused of national chauvinism, but I am ready to state that these two rank amongst the world’s best. It seems worthless to tray and put this phenomenon into words. You simply have to listen to Piotr and Maciek’s music. If you don’t dig this sounds, we won’t find a common language anyway. Jacek Niedziela’s skills are not worse that those of his colleagues. The Jazz community has grown to depend on this reliable and expert musician. And finally Marcin Jahr, whose music has its whims. On this album he is great. I must admit that when i first listened these recordings, I couldn’t guess for a long time who exactly is playing this beautiful music.
And about Chopin himself ? Our foremost author of the most beautiful jazz standards will not let himself be pushed into the background, even when treated most marginally and subjected ta a merciless arrangement which intervenes in every detail. Anyway, this is nothing that could hurt Chopin, not even massacre. And I happen to know that Herdzin never entertained the idea of massacring Chopin’s music because he has the same high regard and adoration for the master as all of us. He has simply translated Chopin into another language and the result is simply special.
When Andrzej Jagodziński and Leszek Możdżer made their first attempts to join together Chopin and jazz, some of the results were, perhaps unexpected. Many of classical music lover started to look at jazz more kindly after listening to this music. Herdzin’s work has a similar, if opposite, effect. Many of youth for whom the classical masters are outdated bores will notice that the oldies in fact used much the same material as their idols do today? Maybe even, out of curiosity they’ll visit the philharmonic. And even if they won’t a bit of respect for any
great, creative achievement is worth any effort it takes… [ ]

part of text J. Ptaszyn Wróblewski
Translated by Kaia Łęcka