In Search of Sources

Unlike the Jarek Adamów album that follows this one, In Search of Sources features two Polish musicians interested in the tradition creating new music from the various sources they’ve heard. Jarek Adamów plays clarinet, hurdy-gurdy, pipes and bass drum, while Marcin Kozak, who played in the early days with Warsaw Village Band, plays pipes, jaw harp and frame drum. It sounds like there are some electronics too.

‘Klabejar’, featuring clarinet and percussion, is super lively and although I’m sure it’s not a traditional tune, the energy of folk music permeates it. But with just two players, the music is inevitably very stripped down and mostly there’s not really enough going on. ‘Lirdru’, with nearly ten minutes of hurdy-gurdy drone and jaw harp, is soporific, likewise ‘Lirkrot’. There’s something about these long minimalist tracks with mysterious titles that feels simply pretentious, although the closing ‘Niepar’, an ethereal duet of two breathy-sounding pipes, which refers back to the opening ‘Dwipar’, is indeed beautiful.