By Matt Micucci
Polish Pysz and his trio are joined by pianist Daniele Di Bonaventura on A Journey, which was released on October 15 on Dot Time Records.
Maciek Pysz is a jazz guitarist and songwriter born in Poland in 1982. He is known for his clear lyrical phrasing, his virtuosity and his imaginative, cinematic compositions inspired by people, places and experiences.
His influences come from a huge array of musical styles – tango, flamenco, latin, jazz, Brazilian and Classical music. He is also inspired by a long list of artists, including Ralph Towner, Sylvain Luc and John McLaughlin, and has often been compared to such greats as Pat Metheny and Al Di Meola.
He moved to London in 2003, and there he quickly established himself as an up-and-coming artist. In 2008, he established his own project, the Maciek Pysz Trio, with whom he recorded his first EP entitled Discoveries on the same year.
In 2010, he then established his current trio, which includes Asaf Sirkis on drums and Yuri Goloubev on bass. With them, he recorded his full studio album, Insight, in 2013 on 33 Jazz Records, and later toured South of France and performed at the London Jazz Festival and the Ceuta Jazz Festival.
Sirkis and Goloubev are also featured in the second studio album by Pysz, which was released on Dot Time Records on October 15, 2015. It is entitled “A Journey”, a title that once again seems to openly refers to travelling as a main source of inspiration for the guitarist composer.
A Journey was recorded in December 2014 at the famous Artesuono studio in Italy, and was engineered by Stefano Amerio. Along with the trio, includes the celebrated Daniele Di Bonaventura on piano and bandoneon.
In a recent review, UK based jazz journalist, Stephen Graham stated that Maciek is “…a major new presence on the jazz guitar scene”. With the release of A Journey Maciek has once again proven this statement to be true.