ENIGMATIC

My thoughts on this album are preceded with an apology up front that I’m sure they will not do justice to this album, which is clearly held in high regard by Niemen’s countrymen. I own it simply because I found it in a record store many years ago after picking up the 1974 record Mourner’s Rhapsody and being impressed by Niemen’s voice and his jazzy yet soulful compositions. I also have Ode to Venus, but find that one a bit more difficult to get into.

In some ways this album reminds me of Mourner's Rhapsody. On both albums there is a central, extended work that consumes half the record, filled with chamber choral arrangements and heavy celestial organs and stern strings. In the case of this album that song is “Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod”. In both cases the almost church-like music is broken up with Niemen’s emotional voice and more traditional jazz instruments – guitar, piano, saxophones, drums, plus flute in this case. In both cases my understanding is the works are based on traditional Polish poetry with some social significance. And in both cases the remainder of the album consists of a handful of shorter, lighter fusion numbers. On this album there are three additional tracks, “Jednego serca”, “Kwiaty ojczyste”, and “Mów do mnie jeszcze”. The latter two are well-done but fairly unremarkable jazzy tunes, while “Jednego serca” has some kick to it with strong vocals (complete with a female choral backing) and lively instrumentation, particularly in the multiple saxophones.

The vocals are what I assume to be Polish, so I do not have the advantage of having any idea what Niemen is singing about, but it really doesn’t matter. My interest in him is largely in his very intriguing voice, which I can’t help but compare to Joe Cocker in his prime, although Niemen has more range than did Cocker, and his voice is noticeably more melodic.

This is probably closer to folk rock in the strictest sense of the term, but the instrumental arrangements are very well-developed, and the musicians are all clearly among the best in the business at their various instruments. The saxophones (three of them at least) are especially strong, at times improvisational but rooted in clearly defined arrangements. I get the impression Niemen encourages contributions but has a specific outcome in mind with his compositions.

This artist is probably too far on the ethnic fringe for most music fans, but for those who have a healthy interest in world music, multi-textured jazz fusion from the late 60s, and very accessible soulful vocals, this album is definitely worth a few spins.

Here again our rating system is a bit restrictive, as I would say this is not strictly an essential progressive album, but it is much better than simply good. 3.5 stars would seem appropriate, but I’ll round up in favor of the quality keyboards, brass, and vocals and give this four stars.

peace