Pink Freud

The music of Pink Freud can’t be described with a single word or easily pigeonholed. What is certain, however, is that it is a quartet driven by its charismatic leader Wojtek Mazolewski, and that it is widely regarded as Poland's most energetic improvised music band.

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Pink Freud

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Pink Freud, photo: press materials

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Pink Freud was founded in 1998 in the Tricity (an area on the Baltic coast consisting of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot). Since that time, it has gone through numerous changes in personnel, hundreds of long tours and noticeable alterations in the direction in their music. What was in the beginning yet another post-yass formation that was expected to break up soon (as most yass bands did), became a strong and consistently developing voice on the independent music scene.

Yassy Beginnings

Their first album Zawijasy (2001) is deeply rooted in the aesthetics of yass – long trance pieces based on strong grooves from the rhythm section and long, free solos with scanty composition. Similar to many other bands of that time, there are a lot of straight-ahead jazz echoes in there, like walking on the double bass, Miles-esque trumpet parts or typical fusion drum grooves. Although Pink Freud toured quite a lot, they were rather a part of the strong post-yass movement than its leaders or distinctive members.

The Breakthrough – Sorry Music Polska

In 2003, Pink Freud came back with the album Sorry Music Polska, the title of which playfully criticised the dominance of major recording labels and the music they promoted at the time. Yet the music on the album did this even better. Sorry Music Polska is a result of cooperation between the new core of the band (Mazolewski, Ziętek, Staruszkiewicz) and one of the most creative pianists, Sławomir Jaskułke, the skilfull DJ Wojak and Paweł Nowicki (who was reassigned from drums to electronics). The surprising amalgam of sounds from the 60s and 70s, blending the freshest electronics with a solid portion of jungle / drum’n'bass, was a masterpiece that lifted Pink Freud to the position of the most promising electric-jazz band in Poland and gave them the opportunity to sign a contract with Universal Music Polska in 2007.

Punk Freud & Alchemia

With the significant popularity achieved by the good sales of Sorry Music Polska, Pink Freud started touring extensively and that made them fall in love with live performances, playing with a high level of energy and… very loudly! The band consisting of Wojtek Mazolewski, Tomasz Ziętek (trumpet) and Kuba Staruszkiewicz (drums) achieved artistry in giving thunderous concerts. Soon, their love for electronics drifted to admiration for rock, post-rock and jazz-rock. Their subsequent albums: Punk Freud and Alchemia (a live concert recording featuring outstanding pianist Marcin Masecki) established Pink Freud as top live performers and prolific collective improvisers. This period of the band’s activity is characterised by a rough sound, fast tempos, crazy solos and lots of space for freedom and experiments - great music for an adventurous listener.

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PINK FREUD @ 5. Oct-Loft Jazz Festival Shenzhen | JAZZ PO POLSKU Live in China 2015

Monster of Jazz

In 2010, Pink Freud returned to the idea of blending experimental jazz with electronics. What was, however, surprising is that the new album – Monster of Jazz – was heavily produced by Piotr Pawlak, an excellent producer. The boundless energy of the band was tamed and out came a wonderful album, full of musical landscapes and sophisticated echoes of world music, interwoven with subtle electronics. Two additional musicians who took part in the recording sessions (Jerzy Rogiewicz – drummer and Adam ‘Milwiw’ Baron – trumpeter) soon replaced Kuba Staruszkiewicz and Adam Ziętek and together with Tomasz Duda and Wojtek Mazolewski formed a band that was recognized by many listeners and journalists as the most formed a band that was recognized by many listeners and journalists as the most musically-aware line-up of Pink Freud ever, with a delicacy and subtlety of sound which is unparalleled in their works both before and since.

Horse and Power

If the Monster of Jazz line-up was the most conscious in Pink Freud’s history, then the Horse and Power line–up will be remembered as the most vigorous and explosive. For the purpose of this recording, Mazolewski was joined by renowned Polish drum’n’bass drummer Rafał ‘Jabba Drummer’ Klimczuk who replaced Jerzy Rogiewicz. The music itself, recorded with famous producers Roli Mosiman and Marcin Cichy (from Polish Ninja Tune stars – Skalpel) unleashed a brand new level of energy.

In January 2015, after several years of rehearsals and concerts (including Open'er Festival and RMBA Weekender Festival in Warsaw), Pink Freud recorded a live album consisting of their own versions of Autechre pieces. The album Pink Freud Plays Autechre was released at the end of 2015. The English group, fundamental to the intelligent dance music of the 90s, has long been an important inspiration for Mazolewski and his colleagues. Converting electronic songs into scores for a quartet with trumpet, baritone saxophone, guitar and drums was – as the musicians claim – a challenge and a beautiful experience.

Pink Freud performed in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. In Colombia, they took part in the Jazz al Parque and Mompox Jazz festivals, played many club concerts and participated in recording sessions with Colombian artists Andres Cabas and DivaGash. Pink Freud’s China tour was part of the ‘Jazz Po Polsku: On Tour!’ project and included a performance at the CT-Loft Festival in Shenzhen and concerts in Canton, Zhongshan and Hong Kong.

In 2016, the album Jazzombie was released. It was recorded by a ten-person band consisting of members of Pink Freud and Lao Che. The music was created during improvised sessions, while the lyrics were based on pre-war Polish love poems, picked by Hubert ‘Spięty’ Dobaczewski, the singer of Lao Che.

In 2017, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of the album Punk Freud, the band performed at Agnieszka Osiecka Studio for Polish Radio Three. The four musicians were accompanied by guests Tomasz Lipiński, Robert Brylewski, Robert Matera, Tomasz Budzyński and Alek Korecki. The concert was recorded and released as a concert album entitled Punk Freud Army.

For several years now, Pink Freud’s line-up has been as follows: Wojtek Mazolewski – bass guitar, Adam Milwiw-Baron – trumpet and electronics, Karol Gola – baritone saxophone, Rafał Klimczuk – drums. The supergroup Bassisters Orchestra used to be Mazolewski’s most important project apart from Pink Freud. Now its place has been taken by the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet, which has released four albums since 2011.

After taking a break from recording for a few years, the band announced the release of a new album entitled piano forte brutto netto. Long preparations resulted in material recorded and produced independently by Pink Freud members. The single Pink Sunrise, accompanied by a music video, promoted the premiere. The album was released in autumn 2020 by Mystic Production.

Discography

2001 – Zawijasy (Cpt. Sparky Records)
2003 – Sorry Music Polska (Zen Poseé)
2005 – Jazz fajny jest remix & live
2007 – Punk Freud (Universal Music Polska)
2010 – Monster of Jazz (Universal Music Polska)
2012 – Horse and Power (Universal Music Polska)
2015 – Pink Freud Plays Autechre
2020 – piano forte brutto netto

Live albums

2002 – Live in Jazzgot
2008 – Alchemia
2017 – Punkfreud Army

The band’s website:

www.facebook.com/pinkfreudmusic

Author: Wojciech Oleksiak, 8th of July 2014. Updated by MG, October 2020.

contemporary polish jazz

21st century polish jazz