Ad Astra by Wojciech Jachna Squad

After "Elements" (2020) and "Earth" (2022), it was time to fly to the stars. The third record by Wojciech Jachna Squad is the most open - both in terms of form and inspiration. "Ad Astra" is a unique album in many respects. For the first time, Squad was limited to a quartet, so there was much more space to be filled by each musician. This allowed more focus on the sound of the individual instruments, each sound here has a place and time to ring out, and each also has its own weight and significance.There is no bass player this time - but Jacek Cichocki, who plays the piano, the organ and the Moog synthesizer is mainly responsible for the lowest register. This makes the music sound light, at times even ethereal - as if it wanted to lift us above the stratosphere by its very sound. Fans of Jachna's work may be somewhat surprised by how acoustic this album is. Yes, electronics appear here, but used very sparingly and with taste - perhaps most present in the track "Bleak Sun" - but acoustic sounds dominate, at times only delicately, electronically processed. This is facilitated as always through the excellent music production of TONN Studio in Łódź by the perceptive sound engineer and musician Maciej Staniecki as well as the mastering by Marcin Bociński.

Another big change from previous albums is Rafał Gorzycki sitting behind the drums. He is a musician who has been associated with Wojciech Jachna since the early '00s, and together they played in Sing Sing Penelope, a pioneering group in the alternative jazz scene. In his projects he has always moved between improvised music and contemporary chamber music - he is able to listen, punctuate with percussion the parts of the other musicians, play with colors, create and fill space. He is also the author of two tracks on the new album ("Bleak Sun" and "Guardian of the Mountain"). The leader himself is responsible for the remaining tracks - with the exception of a free impression based on a composition by Karol Szymanowski.

The final element of the current incarnation of Wojciech Jachna Squad is a versatile guitarist Marek Malinowski, who also has a successful solo career. He is a musician who can play with equal mastery with colorful, single notes to create atmosphere - such as in the opening title track, as well as lead an ecstatic solo with distorted sound - such as in the album-ending epic "Guardian ofthe Mountain".

Finally, a few words about the leader - his trumpet leads the narrative throughout the album, shimmers with colors, is sometimes subtly transformed by electronics, but never overwhelms or dominates. He is a part of the sonic fabric, the primus inter pares on this remarkable band's most mature album to date.

Marek Romański