Oles Brothers - Waterfall: Music of Joe Zawinul (2020) Hi-Res

Over twenty years on stage, artistic uncompromisingness and original, instantly recognizable sound - the uniqueness of the Oleś brothers seems indisputable, and their extremely diverse output is one of the most important phenomena not only on the domestic scene. Marcin and Bartłomiej have been cooperating with the greatest tycoons over the years, so no one should be surprised that their next proposal was made with the participation of Piotr "Pianohooligan" Orzechowski. Their joint album entitled Waterfall is an attempt at an original look at the music of the Austrian pianist and composer Joe Zawinul.

Zawinul is a character associated primarily with the Weather Report, one of the most important and influential groups in the history of fusion. The Oleś brothers treat the Austrian's music in a completely unusual way. In his work, we were most interested in a unique, different and original approach to compositions, which we interpreted as thoroughly European. He wrote only a few such pieces, but it was they who inspired us to create this project - recalls Marcin Oleś.

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, Joe Zawinul created a series of compositions whose European character significantly differed from his previous work focused on American jazz. Zawinul's musical breakthrough marked the beginning of his career as a leader, but also contributed significantly to a stylistic change in both his music and jazz in general. Songs such as "Orange Lady", "Waterfall", "In a Silent Way", "Unknown Soldier" or "His Last Journey" are a completely different style compared to the jazz compositions of that time - continues the double bass player.

The next element of the puzzle is Piotr Orzechowski, who is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding and recognizable pianists of the young generation. We had already worked with Piotr on the Jazzformance project, actually it was then that the decision was made to bring a trio to life and create a new story together. However, we lacked an idea for music. This one appeared later as a result of searches. It can therefore be said that this time we were not looking for a musician, but for music - reveals Marcin Oleś.

Although Zawinul's output is commonly associated with the Weather Report band, the Oleś brothers heard post-romantic impressions straight from the European tradition. Both in the melodic and harmonic layers, this music goes far beyond the idiom of jazz. We were very intrigued by this trail. It is also important that from the very beginning we wanted to strip Zawinul's output from fusion and electric sound, which, in our opinion, camouflaged the European sources of this music. Piotr Orzechowski not only read this lineage with us very quickly, but he phenomenally picked up on our intention to transfer this music to the 21st century - sums up the musician.