Ecstasy Project "EUROPAE" is a special homage paid to the 20th century's European music. "Reminiscence Europae" consists of live material for the same project presented both on CD as well as on DVD.
Ecstasy Project was formed in 1998 by Rafal Gorzycki, its drummer. Gorzycki absorbs a range of influences which he transforms into illuming nuggets with his compositions. His interest is currently churned by contemperary European and chamber music. He brings the two together, washes them in jazz and comes up with music that will linger for a long time in mind and heart. The line-up of the band has changed over the course of their three albums. The quintet featured here fits the mood perfectly; they play classical music with feeling and then jump into jazz, to open up whole new vistas. "Maestoso non troppo" sifts European classical music, with Lukas Gorewicz (violin) and Pawel Urowski (double bass) casing the melody in an incendiary groove. Pawel Nowicki (vibes) cools the tempest but the atmosphere storms its way back when the strings return. Gorzycki changes the complexion with his drumming. He brings in constant change alternating a spaced out tap with the heavy pummel of the bass and snare drums. The tune smolders and cools by turns, filling it with a heady juxtaposition of sounds. "Allegro vivace animato" opens up a new pulse. As the title implies, the song is animated. This is established at the head with a brisk beat that propels the tune as it surges down its chosen road. Tomasz Pawlicki (flute) floats down his happy way, letting the melody sway breezily, while Gorzycki adds the color, with light daubs from Nowicki. The quintet locks in on the melody and then lets it explode in a resounding climax. Gorzycki is a remarkable drummer in the way he works time and space, accent and beat and gets the rhythm to pulse and fill progression. He can change the direction and impetus to give each tune a nuanced grain. His drumming on "Adlibitum-Allegreto rallentando" is a perfect example of his range and style. He opens with lithe tapping on the cymbals and then lights little sparks as he flits across and adds translucent colors to the arco playing of Urowski. Having cast a different light on chamber music, he holds back and lets the music bathe in its own bright gentility. The band is Polish; the song titles Latin, but the music, quite simply, is universal.
Jerry D'Souza, All About Jazz
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The jacket photography of Reminiscence Europae shows what looks like a bridge by architect Santiago Calatrava, which is appropriate. His global works divide opinion and are impossible to ignore. His architecture is largely devoid of local cultural reference; he is the architect without borders. In a way, these photos are a suitable metaphor for the music of Polish group Ecstasy Project—seemingly simple yet technically impressive and austere. According to taste, it is perhaps beautiful, and with few obvious points of departure.
The Italian song titles and chamber ensemble sobriety that dominate these live recordings allude to a classical approach, but the violin of Lukasz Gorewicz (the main voice of the group) comes from somewhere between the melancholia of eastern European folk and the animated style of violinists Jean Luc Ponty and Jerry Goodman. The vibe playing of Pawel Nowicki is utterly minimalist, atmospheric in a Zawinul-esque way, and evokes a Twilight Zone eeriness. Underpinning this esoteric face is the compelling drumming of nominal leader and main composer Rafal Gorzycki, which carries an energy and force in contrast to the edgy minimalism around him.
The pieces have a modern, avant-garde feel to them—soundtracks to European art-house cinema. The manipulation of space and silences, which lend such force to the infrequent eruptions of drums, violin and flute, are shaped by the minimal utterances of Pawel Nowicki's vibes, quietly rumbling drums, Pawel Urowski's alternately sparse and lively double-bass, and tense violin notes which are more percussive than melodic. But there is momentum to this music; the innate tension in the short staccato phrasing and the abstractness and dissonance, rises imperceptibly to crescendos that are surprising in their intensity.
On "Presto Cinque," violin and flute trace the initial lyrical melody before Gorewicz takes solo flight. Drums and bass propel the violinist into some inspired playing on a heady segment that evokes the Mahavishnu Orchestra. A brief, silent interlude follows, broken by a circular vibes motif, before Tomasz Pawlicki's flute takes center stage, the notes unfurling progressively and becoming bolder as crashing cymbals fill the air. Pawlicki's playing becomes gradually freer and breathier as the piece reaches a climax, and the guttural cry that escapes his throat reveals the influence of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, or perhaps Ian Anderson—comparisons that do not flatter him at all.
The combination of vibes and drums creates dense soundscapes on "Maestoso non troppo." "Adibitum" glides from bowed bass and violin in harmonious tandem to blistering drums to near silence impregnated by softly chattering vibes. This is music in a constant state of ebb and flow.
An accompanying DVD shows this lineup in concert, but the absence of its more animated tracks, featuring exhilarating violin and flute improvisations, provides only half the picture. The dark and edgy minimalist approach of Reminisence Europae holds a certain fascination precisely because of that juxtaposition of rationed and unrestrained improvisation. Nevertheless, admirers of modern, progressive music will not be indifferent to this challenging, original project.
Ian Patterson, All About Jazz
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About:
The band established in 1998 (Bydgoszcz/Poland) is one of the bands connected to Club "Mozg" (Brain; eng.) named by top european newspapers as "the most creative place of recent years". The group performs modern jazz inspired by european jazz legacy and modern chamber contemporary. The band..s first album was released in 2001 by famous jazz label - Not Two Records (Cracow/Poland). The second Ecstasy Project Trio album "Realium" is released by polish-american label "Polish Jazz Network" (USA). "I worked over one year on the conception of my second album. I meant to describe some kind of melancholy. I exposed visions appearing during my stay at the countryside. This is European jazz - my favorite." The second Ecstasy Project Trio album “Realium" was very well reviewed and recommended by the most important American jazz media. The world..s biggest jazz site "All About Jazz" has recommended Ecstasy Project as a one from couple of hundred premieres in "new releases albums" section on the starting page. That is why, "Gazeta Wyborcza" - the biggest polish newspaper, "Playboy" magazine and "Onet.pl" in theirs 2006 summary classified Rafal Gorzyckiego and his "Ecstasy Project" and "Sing Sing Penelope" to the most interesting and most important musical appearance of recent year. The Ecstasy Project third album titled "EUROPAE" was released in 10.2007. It is a special homage paid to the XX century's European music. "Reminiscence Europae" consists of live material for the same project presented both on CD as well as on DVD.
