Flowing Circles by Kuba Cichocki

Available worldwide October 27, 2023 on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records
Recorded on January 18-19, 2021 (tracks 1-9) and June 13, 2023 (track 10) by Chris Benham at the Big Orange Sheep Studio in Brooklyn

Mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording in New York
Artwork by Michał Poniedzielski
Produced by Kuba Cichocki

While many musicians commit themselves to a single style or school of thought, pianist/composer Kuba Cichocki’s perspective as an artist comes from two opposing approaches, the traditional and the experimental. Cichocki’s approach seeks a balance between the melodic and emotional straightforwardness, à la the Pat Metheny Group, blended with the experimental approach in improvisation and composition by the likes of John Zorn, Ambrose Akinmusire and Jason Moran. Cichocki is also influenced by what he calls, "Slavic melodicism," Liturgical music, the music of Bach, Prokofiev, Chopin, and many others from the classical realm.

He elaborated, “I have the privilege, based on my experience performing straight-ahead jazz, Latin jazz, European classical music, and avant-garde music, to enjoy free music while also exploring the age-old concepts of melody, harmony and rhythm. Certainly, then, I appreciate the idea of a tradition in music, but by no means as a rigid and limiting concept. Rather, I see tradition as something fluid and connected to life: a direct line into the most basic and timeless ways of music-making.”

So the listener of the pianist’s new album, Flowing Circles, experiences Cichocki and his band searching and exploring for dimensions beyond, or between, those commonly explored. This includes music which cannot be easily classified as traditionalism or experimentalism, resulting in vibrations and experiences unique to the group of musicians Cichocki has assembled on the album.

Cichocki elaborated that, “in order to be successful in that search, I needed a group of exceptional musicians who come from varied artistic backgrounds. Particularly, my decision to invite Brandon Seabrook, with whom I've performed regularly for the last few years, and who is truly a one-of-a-kind voice on the guitar (in the experimental world and far beyond). My decision to place him in conversation with a group of amazing modern jazz musicians (Lucas Pino, Colin Stranahan, Edward Perez) proved to create exactly what I was looking for: an inspiring, provocative synthesis born of two conventionally opposite approaches. In addition, my choice to expand the sonic palette of the recording – by adding two exceptional vocalists (Bogna Kicińska, Rose Ellis), a string quartet, and percussionist Rogerio Boccato—gave the compositions a new color and a stronger emotional appeal.”

Besides the more obvious symbiosis between improvisation and composition, the notion that they complement and influence each other creates the kind of flexible dynamic that keeps the compositions fresh and the improvisation, even a free and uninhibited one, well-grounded in a (relatively) familiar context. “This sense of improvisatory freedom paired with melodic and rhythmic intensity is what constitutes the essence of the sound of the group on the album: the mixing and merging of energies of heart, mind and body. One can engage in the most abstract creation while remaining deeply connected with intimate emotional and instinctive physical spheres. The goal of Flowing Circles is to create moments when these connections happen, producing states of higher vibration, and coloring the soul,” said Cichocki

kubacichockimusic.com