JÓZEF SKRZEK

Koncert Świętokrzyski

CD 2002 Wydawnictwo 21 21.010

W czasie rewolucji Solidarności moje zbliżenie muzyki umiejscawiałem w kościołach. Forma łączenia klasycznych brzmień organów piszczałkowych z syntezatorami to moje odkrycie tamtych czasów. Koncert Świętokrzyski to wielki hołd geniuszowi Fryderyka Chopina - tam jest jego serce - a jednocześnie spotkanie twórcze z innymi Artystami oraz ludźmi Sztuki, obecnymi tego wieczoru na koncercie.

Moje osobiste wykonanie takiego koncertu pozwoliło na rozpoczęcie muzycznej wędrówki po miejscach kultowych, niezwykłych, magicznych, sakralnych. Ten koncert przekonał mnie oraz publiczność o potrzebie muzykowania w tamtym czasie w takich miejscach, gdzie ludzie czuli się bezpiecznie. Przecież był początek 1983 roku - stan wojenny, straszący wszystkich psychozą degradacji osobowości człowieka. Ci ludzie, obecni w kościele Świętego Krzyża, dali mi siłę przetrwania w tak decydujących czasach.

Zostałem z polską publicznością przez ten bardzo dramatyczny okres w dziejach, mimo ofert na świecie. Nie żałuję... To piękne wyzwanie być człowiekiem dla Człowieka, być muzykiem słuchanym...

W tamtym czasie urodziła się nasza pierwsza córka Karina w szpitalu Wojskowym w Warszawie na Szaserów...

Prologue.
Jozef Skrzek was the leader of the well-known Polish progressive band SBB where he played keyboards and bass and, in addition, acted as a lead singer. This solo album by Jozef was recorded live at The Holy Cross Church in Warsaw in 1983 and is a tribute to the genius of the great Polish composer Frederick Chopin. About two months ago Poland's "Wydawnictwo 21" label released it on CD. I have no idea whether it was ever released on LP or not. According to the CD press kit, the music on this album: "is the combination of Progressive Rock, Organ Music, Electronic music, and Religious Hymns"...

The Album.
...Which, as it turned out to be, is correct only partly. There are neither elements of Progressive Rock nor those of Electronic music on "The Holy Cross Concerto" CD. Overall, the stylistics of music presented on this album is about a blend of Classical Academic Music and Christian Church Music with elements of Space music and religious hymns. The latter, sung by Jozef himself to the accompaniment of either passages of Great Pipe Organ or those of one of the Moogs, are usually present in the beginning of compositions - just after the intros to them - and cover, on average, no more than one fifth of each of them. By the way, two out of the six hymns, those on tracks 4 & 6, Jozef sings in English, and not in Polish. Before depicting the album, I'd like to mention that the music that is featured on it is of either a dramatic or dramatically lofty character. Which, of course, is more than justified for such albums. To describe the album properly, I should divide its contents into three parts. The arrangements that are present on Come Close To My Heart, Hang-Under, and People Are Not Worthy of God's Mercy (1, 4, & 5) develop constantly. They consist of wonderful and, sometimes, amazingly eclectic interplay between the magic, slow and majestic, passages of Grand Church Organ, virtuosi solos of various Moogs (see details above), and wonderful passages of a virtual string ensemble (which is most likely Sony-Six). In short, I regard the stylistics of each of the said three compositions as a sacred union (trinity?) of Classical Music, Church Music, and Christian Hymns. The second of them, Hand-Under, is especially rich in sound. Apart from the parts of all of the aforementioned instruments, it features synthetic, yet, quite realistically sounding passages of piano and solos of various woodwind and brass instruments. Structurally, the contents of Freedom (6) are in many ways close to those of the three compositions that I've just described. Apart from the passages of Grand Pipe Organ and solos of all three of the Moogs, used on this album, it features the passages of strings and piano as well. The only more or less noticeable difference between those three pieces and Freedom is the presence of a short spacey-like episode with 'flying', echoed, etc solos of one of the Moogs in the middle of it. In fact, though, there are too few episodes of a real Space music on this album. Almost all of the Space music-like arrangements that are parts of both of the remaining tracks, Solar Eclipse and The Wheel of History Will Never Stop (2 & 3), are, actually, of a spacey symphonic nature. There are no any sequenced solos and samples on this album in general and both of these pieces in particular. On Solar Eclipse, the arrangements that are typical for both of Classical and Church Music occupy the first half of it. While the second part of it consists of diverse interplay between the low-tone, slow and dark, passages of Poly-Moog, mid-tempo symphonic solos of Mini-Moog, and fluid, 'flying' and 'ghostly', passages of Micro-Moog. The atmosphere that dominates in the second part of Solar Eclipse is tense, mysterious, and very intriguing. The Wheel of History Will Never Stop begins with arrangements of a spacey symphonic mold, while all the further musical events are here quite eclectic, though, overall, they are in the vein of Freedom (6). The sound of the album is very clear. While listening to it I had the impression that I was hearing a real studio album. And the only applause that is heard is at the very end of the CD as if it confirms that "The Hole Cross Concerto" is, nevertheless, a live album.

Summary.
This music is unique and absolutely one-of-a-kind (at least for 'these ears'). It differs from anything that I've heard before, including Classical Music, even though classical textures are dominant on "The Holy Cross Concerto". (True, "concerto" is a musical work of a specific form, and the music on this album is very specific.) Jozef Skrzek is by all means a masterful keyboard player. Otherwise this album would not have such a rich and, often, real polyphonic sound (there are no studio overdubs on it). Highly recommended, and especially those who're into Classical Music and anything innovative that appears from time to time within the framework of progressive music (in general). Great reissue! Finally, I'd like to mention that my rating scale is currently looking a bit differently: no more "satisfactory" albums! Here it is.

Jozef Skrzek formed the prog outfit SBB in 1971 (initially called the Silesian Blues Band, but later shortened to SBB to stand for 'Search, Breakup and Build') after coming to fame as bassist in the Polish blues band Breakout. Early SBB material can be described as experimental progressive jazz/rock and was pretty much cutting edge in the early 70’s. Although he has played bass, Jozef is a classically trained pianist so it comes as no surprise that Koncert Swietokrzyski (The Holy Cross Concert) features the maestro on keyboards (or to be exact, vocal, great pipe organ, polymoog, minimoog, micromoog, sony six).

This album was recorded live at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw in 1983. Jozef states (from the sleeve notes): "In 1983 I played an unusual concert after the holy mass for our country at The Holy Cross Church in Warsaw. During the Solidarity's revolution I was playing my music at churches. The combination of classical pipe organ sound with synthesisers was my discovery in those days. My personal performance of that concert allowed me to start the musical journey through cult, unusual, magic and sacral places."

He indicates that he felt it was necessary to 'play his music in places where people felt safe', reflecting yet another period in Poland’s recent (last 150 years) history when things were in a state of flux. The concert was also a tribute to composer and pianist, Chopin which perhaps all goes to explain the sombreness of album or at least the first track which takes on a Chopin quality. Unfortunately for the non-Polish speaking community, the lyrics are in Jozef's native tongue but this is understandable as the concert WAS for the people of Poland. From the classical style of the first piece, Jozef turns to his moog synths and track 2 has an air of Jean Michelle Jarre in sombre mood. The third track starts with a soft heartbeat effect which steadily increases in intensity when, at its peak, a sustained chord comes into play or I should say two interchangeable chords come into play. Halfway through the piece, heartbeat still in operation, Jozef enters an experimental improv phase albeit in a relaxing mesmerising way finishing with a flourish of church organ. The fourth track has a slow mid-era Genesis feel about it. The penultimate track, the shortest at under four minutes sounds to me like a hymn, but as I do not understand Polish (no, really, even with a name such as mine!) this is just conjecture on my part. What I do know is the final track is about Freedom. Helpfully titled Freedom, the lyrics for this one are also in English. Freedom has the element of hope about it and is a much brighter, relatively speaking, than the rest of the album yet equally as pensive.

The Holy Cross Concert is modern classical, which exudes peace and calm in a world of the unknown. There are no rousing riffs and no complex beats, just a good piece of music to listen to whilst exploring your inner thoughts.