Jacek Mielcarek - Coraz (2023) Hi-Res

The BASMyT quartet is a new band founded by saxophonist and clarinetist, Jacek Mielcarek. The lineup with Marek Kądziela (guitar), Jakub Mielcarek (double bass) and Łukasz Storzewicz (drums) was formed in July 2022 while working on music inspired by the Gospel according to St. John. As the leader recalls: During that meeting, we were united by a special bond that is difficult to describe. I felt that this personnel arrangement could not be a one-time adventure and I quickly started thinking about the concept of another project that we could implement together. The most important thing for me was that it should not be a typical leader-team arrangement, but rather a collective in which everyone gives something of themselves.

Jacek Mielcarek admits that he is fascinated by many trends and artists (Coltrane, Stockhausen, Coleman, Solborg, Motian and Ferm, to name just a few), so presenting the artistic concept of the album was not easy. Marek and Kuba's compositions dispelled any doubts and turned out to be the final mobilization for me and an argument for the rightness of the chosen path. When I started arranging these blocks, it turned out that something new was being created, something I didn't expect, and I'm glad that the music led us in such a non-obvious direction. It was then that the name BASMyT, i.e. Uncompromising Association of Creative Thoughts, came to me - recalls the artist.

Increasingly, this is an album that managed to implement difficult assumptions, because although the material presented is extremely diverse - from recitations through standards to out-of-tune bagpipes - the whole sounds very coherent, but also reflects the individual character of each musician with full justice. The concept of the album combines purely musical categories with life-philosophical ones. The album has its own tension construct, we play harder and harder, we move more and more towards improvised music, created here and now, to reach the culmination of understanding in the last song. The out-of-tune bagpipes with which I end the last piece symbolize for me the fact that at this point we can do no more. For me, this album is a kind of summary of my artistic path and life credo, which I somehow try to convey to the listeners - sums up the musician