Marek Napiórkowski “Hipokamp”

Wydawnictwo AGORA 2019
Premiere: September 27th, 2019

The title of the new album by Marek Napiórkowski refers to the mysterious and not fully explored area, which is the human brain. Similarly, set in the original sound context, the guitarist’s new music is a spectrum of mysterious and non-obvious colors.

HIPOKAMP is an album combining sophisticated jazz improvisations with the world of electronic sound structures, progressive rock, ethno, funk and intriguing dialogues of percussion instruments. The premiere Trio, based on the sounds of an electric guitar, various analog synthesizers (Jan Smoczyński) and stylishly sounding drums (Paweł Dobrowolski), Napiórkowski decided to enrich with the presence of multi-percussionists – Brazilian Luis Ribeiro. The special guest who will appear on the album is – Adam Pierończyk – a jazz saxophonist renowned in Europe and around the world.

„Hipokamp has qualities rarely encountered in fusion: taste, sophistication, melodic depth. (…) Marek Napiorkowski is so good, and so unheralded, that you wonder what other badasses lurk under the radar in places like Poland, where he lives.”
Thomas Conrad, Stereophile Magazine

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Marek Napiórkowski “Hipokamp” ft. Mino Cinelu
25.10.2019. Jazz Jamboree, Warszawa

Marek Napiórkowski is a leading Polish jazz guitarist and composer. Ever since the beginning of his career, his name has been featured in the top musician rankings. Since 2012, the readers of Jazz Forum magazine have consistently selected him as the Jazz Guitarist of the Year. Napiórkowski has been acclaimed by both the industry and critics becoming a eleven time nominee, and in 2019 awarded FRYDERYK Music Award in Jazz Musician of the Year and Jazz Album of the Year categories. His name has been credited on more than 150 albums with various artists. His name has been credited on more than 150 albums with various artists. On his solo albums appeared, among others, Chris Potter, Grégoire Maret, Mino Cinelu, Clarence Penn, Anna Maria Jopek, Leszek Możdżer and Adam Pierończyk. He also played and recorded with names such as Pat Metheny, Richard Bona, Marcus Miller, Angélique Kidjo, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Tomasz Stańko, Mike Stern, John Abercrombie, Hadrien Feraud and many others. He toured Japan, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, China, Russia and most countries of Europe.

Jan Smoczyński – pianist, composer, arranger, music producer. For many years, together with his younger violinist, he has been creating the formation Mateusz Smoczyński Quintet, with which he has recorded Inspirations and Expressions. He works permanently in the following bands: Bovska, Urszula Dudziak (music direction), Kayah Transoriental Orchestra (music direction), Michał Urbaniak and in the original project Smoke & The Smokes. In August 2013, he had the pleasure of playing with Bobby McFerrin and Gil Goldstein as part of Solidarity of Art. He is a co-founder of the June group, which in 2009 received a Fryderyk nomination in the category “New face of phonography”. He took part in film recordings in cooperation with Michał Lorenc and Marcin Pospieszalski. He is also a producer of records for the Kayax label.

Paweł Dobrowolski – Phonographic Academy Award winner – Fryderyk 2006 for best jazz album, for taking part in the recording “Assymetry” by Zbigniew Namysłowski. In previous works has recorded over 30 CDs as well as music for the movies and participation in the Polish television programs TVP1, TVP2, Polsat, TVN and foreign: RTL, ZDF, BBC, MEZZO.
He performed and collaborated with artists such as: Anna Maria Jopek, Nigel Kennedy, Terence Blanchard, Randy Brecker, Richard Bona, Dhafer Youssef, Mino Cinelu, Jeff Beck, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Gil Goldstein, Makoto Ozone, NDR Big Band, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Gordon Haskell, Brad Terry, SBB, Michał Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak, Zbigniew Namysłowski…

Luis Ribeiro, born in Brazil and living in Vienna for over twenty years, has been at the forefront of multi-drummers in Europe for years. Thanks to his above-average musical imagination, Ribeiro freely oscillates between many musical genres, and his collaboration to date includes names of the greatest stars of the world format: Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Miroslav Vitous, as well as Ricky Martin, Gloria Gaynor or opera bass-baritone guitarist Erwin Schrott. Luis has recorded with Bob Berg, Eric Marienthal, Dean Brown, Frank Gambale, Hiram Bullock, Bennie Maupin, John B. Williams and The Vienna Art Orchestra.

Adam Pierończyk is a Polish jazz saxophonist and composer. He started playing saxophone at age 18 and at that time, moved to Germany with his family. He studied at the Jazz Department of Folkwang University of the Arts (Essen, Germany), graduated in 1996 and moved back to Poland. He plays tenor, soprano and alto saxophone as well as Arabic zoucra. Pierończyk is a winner of multiple awards, both musical and cultural. Among them, double Polish industry music awards – Fryderyk (the Polish Grammy) [2] for Artist of the Year, Best Jazz CD of the Year, Jazz Melomani etc. and has been chosen Best Soprano Saxophonist of the Year for the 11th consecutive year by Jazz Forum, a Polish jazz magazine. Served as Artistic Director for the Jazz aux Oudayas festival and Jazz Au Chellah in Rabat, Morocco in 2004-2005, and as Artistic Director of the Sopot Jazz Festival[3] in Poland – 2011 -2015. He also composes music for theatre. He currently resides in Kraków, Poland. Adam Pierończyk has worked with musicians such as: Miroslav Vitous, Gary Thomas, Greg Osby, Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp, Bobby McFerrin, Tomasz Stańko, Ted Curson, Anthony Cox, Joey Calderazzo, and Leszek Możdżer.

Marek Napiórkowski – guitar
Jan Smoczyński – keyboards
Paweł Dobrowolski – drums
Luis Ribeiro- percussion
Adam Pierończyk – soprano sax (1,2)

Composed by Marek Napiórkowski
Except: Space Oddity and Absolute Beginners by David Bowie
Aqua e Vinho by Egberto Gismonti

Produced by Marek Napiórkowski
Arrangement Cooperation: Jan Smoczyński, Paweł Dobrowolski
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Leszek Kamiński
Edited by Jan Smoczyński, Robert Kubiszyn

Recorded on 12th and 13th of Mai 2019 at Studio S4 Polish Radio in Warsaw

Photos by Rafał Masłow
The creator of the sculptures used in the photographs is the Polish-Mexican artist and sculptor Xawery Wolski. Photo session was made in Xawery Wolski’s mansion in Dańków.

Photos from recording studio Kasia Stańczyk
Design by Mariusz Mrotek

Project & Creative Coordination
Marta Sołtys (MS Muse)