Mark Lotz in ‘The Wroclaw Sessions’

MusicFrames by Mattie Poels

24 mei 2019

English version

Flutist Mark Alban Lotz recorded the trio CD ‘The Wroclaw Sessions’ with Polish bass player Grzegorz Piasecki and drummer Wojciech Bulinski. There is no chord instrument on this record, no piano, organ or guitar. It gives these musicians a lot of musical freedom but it also requires a little more from the average listener …..

In March 2018, after a master class and concerts in Poland, Mark Lotz was invited by contra-bass player Grzegorz Piasecki to make recordings in Wroclaw with drummer Wojciech Bulinski. A city in the south of Poland where the trio recorded the album ‘The Wroclaw Sessions’. The circumstances were not optimal. The studio was poorly equipped, there was little time and drummer Bulinski was ill and had a fever. But the result is no less. In fact, as the German say: ‘In der Beschränkung sich erst der Meister’ (‘In the limitation the master shows himself’). The pieces change beautifully in timbre and rhythm. In addition, the trio uses various sound colors. The composition ‘Franz’ (by Michael Moore), for example, is a kind of perpetuum mobile melody that seems to go on and therefore becomes enchanting. ‘Raaste Men’ (by Lotz and Chaurasia) is a modal oriental piece with a fantastic flute solo and a kind of organ point in the double bass: sustained bass notes. We hear a beautiful spherical performance of flute and bass in ‘Song for Delilah’. The African sound in ‘Pata Pata’ makes the music swing incredibly and ‘Slap, Kick & Stop’ consists of innovative flute percussion, followed by the funky ‘Little Shiva’. It is fantastic how these three innovative musicians play music with minimal resources. They understand the art of omitting and only play what really matters. Exciting, inspiring and innovative!

Mark Lotz Trio: ‘The Wroclaw Sessions’ (Audio Cave)

© Mattie Poels.