One of my favourite albums of the nineties is Moonshine by the Polish band Collage. I was above all impressed by lead guitarist Mirek Gil. After the decline of Collage, he made several albums with Believe and two as Mr. Gil: Alone (1998) and Skellig (2010), but unfortunately they were not as successful as the albums of Collage once were. With the help of his musical companions Konrad Wantrych (piano), Paulina Druch (cello) and Karol Wróblewski (vocals) he created Light And Sound in 2010. This album only lasts for 37 minutes and is almost completely acoustic. Only in the last song Kto Aniotem Byt?, Mirek Gill plays the electric guitar. If you listen carefully to Light And Sound, you will be surprised by the quality of the music and the lyrics. Sensitive piano chords, a humming cello sound and soft guitar playing, but the beautiful voice of Karol Wroblewski impressed me most in all the songs. Also the two rather folky instrumentals Best Regards and The Bright Island are special and fit very well in the atmosphere of this Polish musical highlight. Sometimes it sounds as if my favourite blues guitarist, the late Rory Gallagher, plays the mandolin again. In my opinion the best songs on the album are the title track, the electric version of Kto Aniotem Byt? and No More Of The Dark. Light And Sound is an excellent album for a quiet and romantic evening. For me Mr. Gil is one of the most talented and respected prog rock composers in Poland. I think he's highly underestimated in the current progressive music scene. **** Cor Smeets (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
