Home » Jazz Articles » Interview » Joachim Mencel: An Eye on Brooklyn From Poland
Joachim Mencel: An Eye on Brooklyn From Poland
Courtesy Roman Budzowski
In each song, there is the spirit of the music, it doesn’t have to be written.
—Joachim Mencel
Joachim Mencel
pianob.1966
Rudy Royston
drums
Scott Colley
bassb.1963
Steve Cardenas
guitar
Dave Liebman
saxophoneb.1946
Eddie Henderson
trumpetb.1940
Poland can be seen as a musical bridge, located in the direct center of the European continent. For more than a millennium, music and dance traditions from the west have migrated, often through Poland, to arrive in the east. One does not have to be an ethnomusicologist to hear the echoes of this broad quilt work of influence in Mencel's playing. When playing in a jazz piano trio or quartet, any strong influence from Bill Evans or
Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945
From the perspective of being American, it is remarkable to see jazz, an art form created by Black Americans, proliferate in European cultures. In any language, the music is an exploration of freedom and artistry. In the decades prior to the return of democracy in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Poland remained somewhat blinded from American culture at large by the Iron Curtain and the Cold War that dominated post-World War geo-politics. For Mencel, born on the first day of 1966, this meant "coming of age" in the 1980s, when acoustic jazz was rising from the fusion experiments of the 1970s. Access to recordings was difficult and expensive, while live performances by American jazz masters in Poland were virtually non-existent. Mencel relied on personally recording radio broadcasts to gain access to the music.
""I had my own tape recorder connected to the radio, always. If I found something interesting, I recorded it immediately," recalls Mencel.
Records were rare and expensive, and the selection was scant. When someone would acquire a desired LP, it would be shared extensively with friends. With there not being much volume or variety, Polish jazz aficionados would listen to one recording time and time again, gaining a deeper understanding that became a tool towards the actual learning of the music for prospective jazz musicians.
"When we had something we liked, every day it was in the air. Every day we would listen to it, getting deeper and deeper into the music. That was the nice part, enjoying, and in the same way, learning jazz music," says Mencel.
When just fourteen years of age, Mencel read an article about
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
One of the first albums he purchased was
Chet Baker
trumpet and vocals1929 - 1988
David Friedman
vibraphoneb.1944
Billy Harper
saxophoneb.1943
"There were just two songs, one on side A, and one on side B. This music touched my heart so much," he remembers fondly.
Mencel's interest in American jazz pianists ranged from
Dave Brubeck
piano1920 - 2012
Barry Harris
piano1929 - 2021
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Red Garland
piano1923 - 1984
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021
Kenny Kirkland
piano1955 - 1998
Marcus Roberts
pianob.1963
The true origins of the hurdy gurdy are at best theorized, but are largely unknown. One could vaguely state that the instrument originated in Eastern Europe or the Middle East. The instrument was primarily used in monastic and church settings to accompany choral music. Some of the earliest depictions of the instrument are found at the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. There is a carving of two musicians playing an organistrum, a larger member of the hurdy gurdy family. It is a quiet instrument as well, further alienating it from the demands of modern music. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the hurdy gurdy appeared to have run its course, overtaken by louder instruments such as the accordion.
Mencel's attraction to the instrument in terms of his own music speaks to the diverse palette of influences that have occupied his personal creative space. His willingness to risk all for the sake of creating his own sound is not unlike his musical heroes in the jazz world. "My hurdy gurdy is also from that concept. I wanted to play it because I want to play music in my own way. I saw the place for the instrument in my music," he says.
Mencel proceeded to add four electric pick-ups to the instrument, and ran it through a mixer and typical electric guitar pedals. He added a volume pedal like on a Hammond organ, increasing dynamic range. Microphones were not an option, as the clicking sound made by the instrument keys became an annoyance. Mencel's adaptations allowed this relatively quiet acoustic instrument to enter the foray of electric guitar, bass and drums. Its newfound volume is what allowed this orchestral convergence to be possible. Both guitarists that Mencel has worked with on this music in Cardenas and
Pete McCann
guitarb.1966
With jazz spanning worldwide cultures in the twenty-first century, international players create within a zone between expressing their own cultural identity while still remaining connected to the Black American art form from which their individual musical identity arose. The musical mind of Mencel embraces a broad spectrum of music culturalism of which jazz is an integral part. His entrance into the 1989 Thelonious Monk Piano Competition, and subsequent studies with master jazz pianist Barry Harris speaks to the chief source of his fascinations as an impressionable twenty-three-year-old pianist.
"The time I spent with him (Harris) was amazing. He pushed me with the music in a serious way," recalls Mencel.
His habits as a composer began to parallel those of the great bebop masters, re-writing melodies over altered harmonies of standards from the Great American Songbook. The contrafact "Things" on Brooklyn Eye is taken from the bones of the jazz standard, "All the Things You Are," in the same way
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Spending time in the states as a musician in modern America broadened Mencel's understanding of American music, of American culture. He began to realize the linkage between Black music, bluegrass music, and other iterations of the blues. Dozens of live dates and extensive time in the studio with American clarinetist
Brad Terry
clarinetWhile his immersion into jazz put him directly in front of an art form born and proliferated in Black culture, an experience while vacationing in Maine exposed him to Native American culture, bringing with it the stark realization of the sad history between native peoples and European colonists, as well as the joy of gathering that dominated the event. The gathering is an opportunity for Native people to honor and preserve their culture. Mencel was fascinated with the dance and music being performed in a manner he had not yet witnessed.
"It was so interesting, it was not a celebration, it was so deep. For them it was so important to meet with each other. The dance and music did not express joy or celebration, it was deeper," recalls Mencel.
His composition, "Last of the Mohicans," from Brooklyn Eye was drawn from that experience, a tune that combines melodic intricacy with raw power. The grinding groove that the tune falls into finds both Mencel and Cardenas soloing with unconstrained intensity. It is the freest portion of the album, yet the surrounding composition is quite complex.
"The song is quite complicated. Sometimes in 7/8, sometimes in 4/4. The tune is not like a ballad, it's more like saying something. This is my vision, to remember that meeting— and I wrote the melody. It's a little challenging for the musicians, but it's fun to play," states Mencel.
Mencel's projects as both a performer and composer reflect the relationship and direct correlation between his art and his life. His jazz quartet with electric guitar relates to his travels in the US, his quintet with violin finds him playing music based on Polish folk music and dances. Then there is his project with Polish jazz/pop singer Ewa Bem, writing all the tunes for her album Kakadu (MyPlace, 2007).
Currently, he is composing music for full orchestra accompanied by a jazz rhythm section and hurdy gurdy. "I wrote the compositions related to dances," he says.
Mencel's melodies are unforced, almost like the sounds of nature, or a tune one might imagine while whistling on a long walk. There is a true spirit of life contained within the melodies, each built with the many currents of his creative flow, diverging into one, powerful place. They are not so thick as to tether the individual expression of the soloist. Improvisation plays a role, even within the written parts.
"The start of the process can be something strange, like you hear a bird singing some interval, this can be a very good start. In each song, there is the spirit of the music, it doesn't have to be written," he explains. The start could be different, I could improvise a melody. or I start with the harmonic structure, then the melody could be in the end, as in my song, 'Arrowsic'—chords first then the melody. The chords are the essence of the composition."
When writing for jazz quartet, Mencel may write in fragments of recognizable melodies to grab the attention of the audience. "The audience hears it, they recognize it, and then we go further," he says smiling. While most musicians want their audience to be a part of a live performance, Menel takes that mindset into his work as a composer, always thinking outward with an audience and his musicians in mind. "When composing, I think about what the people are listening to, where they will go with it, what they are imagining. In my opinion, this is part of the composition, not just the melody and the harmony."
Mencel traveled to the United States in the fall of 2022 to perform the music from his new recording with American musicians. The tour was made possible by a grant co-financed by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund. Unfortunately, the tour ran into a major disruption courtesy of U.S Immigration at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle. He was denied entrance into the country for allegedly possessing the wrong visa. He was taken into custody. His one phone call was made to Origin Records principal,
John Bishop
drumsb.1959
"I was an ambassador of Polish culture coming to the States to bring my music and play it with Americans, to unite," he says, shaking his head.
Thanks to Tammy Duckworth, the U.S. Senator from Chicago, Illinois and Polish Authorities, Mencel was on a return flight to New York the following morning. The date in Seattle could not be salvaged, so the tour would begin in New York.
"The Senator from Chicago, Tammy Duckworth, she really helped me a lot. They sent me back on a flight to Poland, the next day and I had a new visa in like two hours," he says.
Mencel, McCann, Okegwo and drummer
Rogerio Boccato
percussionb.1967
Jeremy Cunningham
drumsb.1979
Brooklyn Eye has put the international jazz community on notice that Mencel is a creative force who has plenty to offer, and who will undoubtedly be heard from time and time again as the years progress. He serves as a perfect example of what can happen with music when the principles of jazz creation are channeled through different cultures around the globe, when Black American music serves as inspiration to freely express the human condition on a planetary basis. Mencel's writing may take the form of jazz, classical music, music for dance, or for that matter, children's music. Whatever form it takes, it will be beckoned from somewhere deep in the soul of his artistry, and will, like the jazz masters before him, be expressed with soul and creative integrity.
"I'm doing different things with music. I have written a lot of music in different styles. That is something deep. I hear music as different colors and styles. I have written some children's songs. The music is written as part of life, as part of the person. The music is very much connected to my life," he observes.
In any case, the music of Joachim Mencel will always be about the sharing of culture, the uniting of souls. There is intention to return to the States, perhaps to finally meet his friends in Seattle at last.
"I'd like to come to the States and make another CD. Brooklyn Eye 2? Maybe about some other story," he says.
Perhaps the most important thing one can learn from American jazz masters is that the music is a product of their humanity. That is the main instrument of expression—one's humanity. It is those realizations as a human that act as a pretext to great art, to great music in this case. When broached with this idea, Mencel nods, smiles and exclaims, "That's why they are such great musicians, they are great humans."
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Paul Rauch
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