Imaginary Room Adam Baldych & The Baltic Gang

• 1 Village Underground 04:49
• 2 Mirrors 05:16
• 3 The Room of Imagination 07:05
• 4 Cubism 04:56
• 5 K8 06:34
• 6 Time Traveler 03:04
• 7 Rama hai 05:34
• 8 For Zbiggy 03:40
• 9 Nov 16 04:43
• 10 Zarathustra 03:11
• 11 Inspiration 04:00
• 12 Million Miles Away 02:10
• Total Runtime 55:02

Info for Imaginary Room

On 'Imaginary Room' one forgets every violin stereotype and gains an impression of why Baldych is nicknamed 'Evil' - because of his 'devilish' virtuosity, expressiveness and variability. His all-star Band dedicates itself to Baldych's latest compositions and provides amazingly inspirational energy for both, breath-taking solos as well as compelling melodies.

After a much celebrated appearance by Adam Baldych at the 2011 Berlin Jazzfest, critic Ulrich Olshausen raved in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper: 'He has, without doubt, the greatest technique of any jazz violinist alive today. We can expect everything of him'. High praise for a musician of just 26 years of age, and at the same time only fitting for a man who has been considered a prodigy in his native Poland for many years already. He discovered the violin at the age of 11, and jazz at 13; the music gave him the freedom of expression he was looking for, and at 16 he started his international career. After completing his jazz studies at the Katowice Academy with distinction, he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then, New York has served as his home base for his musical journey around the world. Baldych has toured with greats such as Grammy winner Jim Beard, and his schedule has been getting fuller and fuller over the last three years. With his exclusively Polish band 'Damage Control' he has been wowing the world's jazz clubs and has produced some remarkable albums, including a duet with vocalist Mika Urbaniak, a collaboration with the 'Groove Razors', and not least of all 'Magical Theatre', inspired by Hermann Hesse.

On 'Imaginary Room' Baldych is now taking on new challenges and has gathered a top-class studio band around him: the Baltic Gang, with the world-class Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson, the Danish drummer Morten Lund (who normally performs his magic with Paolo Fresu and Stefano Bollani), and the Swedish pianist Jacob Karlzon (best known for his collaboration with Viktoria Tolstoy), forming the musical backbone. Two of the biggest talents on the Scandinavian jazz scene - the Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and the Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset make up the brass section.

On 'Imaginary Room' this all-star ensemble dedicates itself to Baldych's latest compositions, which leave ample room for improvisation, breath-taking solos and the inspirations of his ingenious accompanists, despite all being based on a compelling melody. These run the gamut from an eastern European touch to elegiac Nordic, right through to the modern American sound of the big city. What doesn't change throughout is a violin the likes of which you will seldom have heard before. There is no lamenting or sobbing here; indeed, Baldych's technically stunning lines are more reminiscent of a wind instrument, and the polyphonic passages of a pianist's chords, with a throaty, bluesy undertone throughout.

On 'Imaginary Room' one forgets every violin stereotype and gains an impression of why Baldych is jokingly nicknamed 'Evil' - because of his 'devilish' virtuosity,

Adam Baldych, violin
Jacob Karlzon, piano
Lars Danielsson, bass & cello
Morten Lund, drums
Verneri Pohjola, trumpet
Marius Neset, saxophone
Nils Landgren, trombone (on track 05, 08)

Produced by Siggi Loch and Nils Landgren
Recorded by Arne Schumann, March 11-13, 2012 at Hansa Studio Berlin
Assistant engineer: Conrad Hensel
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

No biography found.

Booklet for Imaginary Room