Zbigniew Namyslowski Modern Jazz Quartet - Lola (Remastered 2025) (2025) [Hi-Res]

Originally released in 1964, and now much sought after by collectors and connoisseurs, original vinyl copies of this landmark Jazz album now sell for around £500. As the original sleeve notes stated, "jazz is inevitably associated with the United States", and yet it has long been the case that other countries and cultures are able to bring a unique perspective to the music, as displayed on 'Lola', an album recorded in a pre-internet age by a hugely talented Polish quartet, at a time when the international exchange of ideas, let alone overseas travel, was extremely limited.

Made up of seven original compositions, and a new take on the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II standard 'Ol' Man River', 'Lola' draws on Polish folklore for inspiration, particularly highlander music. As quoted in the extensive new sleeve notes that accompany this release, Namysłowski "wanted it to sound different than the so-called pure jazz." Recorded at Decca Studio No. 3 in August 1964, the sessions for the ‘Lola’ album were overseen by Mike Vernon, who would go on to produce Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, and John Mayall among others, and establish the Blue Horizon label. The engineer was Vic Smith, who would go on to produce The Jam. The sessions gave us the first album recorded by a Polish group outside the 'Iron Curtain', and the results were enthusiastically received in the music press at the time.