Paul Zetter – A Good Place to Try Something New

Our Jazz reviewer checks in with the latest Hanoi Jazz offering, this time from the Poles.

In Poland jazz has a special place in people’s hearts. It was their underground protest music of the 1950s and 60s that somehow made its way past the iron curtain into the cellars and attics of Poland. Activists and intellectuals saw it as stimulating thought and free thinking, others as a more immediate release from the weight of oppression.  For Poles, jazz and their more recent independence are inextricably linked. This history, of course, echoes the origins of jazz in America, and like the States, Poland now has one of the best stables of jazz artists in the world – guitarist Jarek Smietana is one of Poland’s elder jazz statesmen. So to celebrate their 1918 independence day, the Polish Embassy arranged a return visit, almost to the day, for Smietana. Last year the Opera House was the venue but this year it was the more intimate stage of the Hanoi Music Conservatory.

Bringing a young band of piano, bass and drums, Smietana also brought an eclectic repertoire to Hanoi ranging from Chopin to Jimi Hendrix, from Sonny Rollins to classic Polish Film themes. Smietana is a virtuoso player who contains his skill within the boundaries of the song. At times this makes him exciting to listen to but at others, a tad predictable. Under his fingertips he can access any style from Django to Satriani passing Montgomery and Metheny on the way.

He can play a ballad with the tenderness of a fallen angel and then let rip into the devil’s own overdrive leaving virtual smoke trails on the fretboard.

The highlights for me were the quartet’s interpretation of Polish songs  – they had such beautiful underlying structures and melodies that informed the solo’s in such a way that made them coalesce into shimmering pools of sentimentality.

Just before embarking on a Chopin/Hendrix medley (yes, you read correctly) Smietana told us that for him Hanoi was a good place to try something new.

What a wonderful thing to say to all the music students packed into the upper balcony as they leant over the rail hungrily capturing as much of the music as possible.

The band were tight and focused, the hugely talented pianist Pawel Tomaszewski providing strong solos that equaled and sometimes even exceeded Smietana’s intensity. Bassist Marcin Lamch and fellow veteran Adam Czerwinski provided the foundation with flair and insight – both rock solid.

As a concert it was more a collection of beautiful moments than a cohesive whole with an underlying concept. From a blazing B.B. King style rendition of Hendrix’ Red House to a stunning George Benson style scatted Black Orpheus, from the heartstoppingly beautiful Do You Remember It Was Autumn? by Kaszycki to the urban funk of The Ghetto.

Yes, Hanoi is a great place to try new things and we all ended up loving Jarek Smietana for the new things he brought us. He believes in the power of music and the magic of creativity.

Words and Photographs by Paul Zetter

Read a thorough history of Polish Jazz, click here

Jarek Smietana’s CD The Story of Polish Jazz is available on Amazon.
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