“The festival Saturday started with an earthquake, and then it was even hotter. According to the spontaneous rules of this event - ad hoc line-up consists of musicians who played together for the first time. On the stage the very special quartet - Paulina Owczarek on alto saxophone, Peter Orins on drums, Matthias Müller on trombone and Witold Oleszak on piano. These musicians know each other well, they played together in several duet arrangements, but never in such a quartet. The concert took the audience to heaven with its free, cosmically swinging improvisation. Most intriguingly, the particularly overlapping actions ran straight from the two musicians who had met on stage for the first time - from the drummer and the pianist."
Spontaneous Music Tribune
"On number ten, we find Paulina Owczarek on alto saxophone, Matthias Müller on trombone, Witold Oleszak on piano, and Peter Orins on drums and percussion. Here too, we have musicians who met for the first time on stage; it's the festival's premise. They all played in various duos, but this was the first time as a quartet, and they played two pieces, one lasting half an hour and the second seven minutes. It's quite a ride into texture land, less dense because of the instruments, but with the same intensity. This is chamber jazz with a lot of modern classical music thrown in. Growls in the wind instruments, plucking of piano strings in various octaves, the lowest ones near the end of the first piece.. The second piece sounds like a machine starting up and going into full steam ahead and derailing near the end. A solid set and maybe a bit more surprising than the previous one in this series because of the instrumentation. [...] All these releases have in common is, I'll use the term again, outstanding musicianship. Each musician brings their background into the fold by creating music of this level on the spot. Whether in a trio formation or a bigger ensemble with electronics. Whatever your pick, you're in for quite a surprise. At least I did."
Vital Weekly
"Matthias Müller is a frequent guest at Spontaneous Music Festivals, and apparently in 2021 he was kind of resident, and participated in two performances, included in the Spontaneous Live Series. The first was by a quartet with our local heroes: Witold Oleszak and Paulina Owczarek, and with another frequent guest of Dragon Social club and now long lasting duo partner of Paulina, Peter Orins. The quartet plays two tracks, combining free improvised parts with elements of free improvised minimal
music. The highlight is the opening "one", lasting 33 and a half minute. Matthias provides amazing trombone solos and conversation with Paulina, but also long repetitive tones, characteristic for free minimalism. Witold is
in a great lyrical form, and so is Paulina. Peter's input is discrete, but absolutely necessary for the integrity of the music. The second "two" is short, probably played as encore, but nevertheless extremely beautiful and touching."
Maciej Lewenstein
"First the essential set! A little lazy exploratory playing - brass noises, half-sings, bare strings of foam and murmuring objects on the snare drum - doesn't last very long here. The musicians feel the call, they know each other in subgroups, although they are just losing their virginity in the quartet. After just four minutes, the brass creatures start spinning modest post-jazz loops, while percussion and piano expand on the backbeat. Compatible and collective improvisation has its minor individual incidents here - once the trombone goes for the hills, another time the alto blows the sultry air of the concert hall, while the piano shines with dull strings and the percussion accessories resonate. Every minute here seems to smuggle in magical little details, moments of acoustic rapture. The whole thing acquires a certain meta dynamic after passing the tenth minute. The creation of drama here goes on the part of the pianos and percussion, while the brasses put up stamps of tenderness and emotional onomatopoeia. The narrative climbs the hill with a somewhat dancing step, which it reaches around the 17th minute. It then takes a deep breath thanks to the heavy work of the resonating cymbal. A new thread is initiated by the trombone, and it is supported in the work of creation by brushes of percussion and a handful of dull, mysterious phrases from the depths of the piano ocean. The game is now on micro phrases - barely muscled hammers, stroked jets, nano-percussions, noises and hollow sighs. A close encounter with silence is initiated by the pianist, while the rest tiptoe around, full of fear of making a sound. Improvisation begins to hatch from the darkness around the 25th minute. A subtle dynamic comes from the percussion side. Each instrument seems to have its own tempo here, but the four streams of phonation glue together perfectly. The trombone is the first to take flight here. The alto sings, the piano puts on the dynamics, and the drums put on the intensity. The gate of expressive free jazz has just been opened! Meanwhile, the improvisation surprisingly takes the form of a brass duet. After a while, the percussionist returns on the cymbals alone, while the pianist shakes with the depth of the resonance box. The story, however, no longer seeks emotion; it slowly settles down to sleep. It dies on the keyboard itself, cradled by the humming tuba of the alto and the trembling of the snare drum.
And now encore! Short-cuts dance, like Swan Lake after a few deep ones! Everything gets cold in a flash - the subtleties of micro preparations, the warmth of the keyboard, the handful of emotions on the snare and tubas. The artists hurriedly search for edge and feisty phrases, thickening as if on cue. They spin a final loop, oozing with fiery flames. Melodies, repetitions, rhythm and endless expanses of emotion. The free jazz boil of the ending is extinguished with a single glance."
Andrzej Nowak
A truly psychedelic jazz record, “Bloom Anubis” ventures out into uncharted territory, with ominous tones & sci-fi synths. Bandcamp New & Notable May 15, 2021
The avant-pop of Griffin Brown works elements of free jazz and experimental electronic music into its tapestry of sound. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 5, 2021
