22 Dec 2024
Maciek Hrybowicz - Single Review: Mr Ponsonby
17 Aug 2020 // A review by malexa
As far as introductions go, Poland-born composer and guitarist Maciek Hrybowicz has left quite the impression with this calling card.
Mr Ponsonby is taken from his 2019 album AWA, a collection of pieces inspired by the beauty of his adopted home land New Zealand.
As the title suggests, it references an afternoon spent driving around the suburb of Ponsonby in Auckland and captures the somewhat sophisticated (of course, that would be a matter of perception!!!), laid-back, cafe dynamic of the area.
Hrybowicz, who has honed his craft in multiple genres but most notably with jazz singer Carol Grimes, has a technique and style that’s evocative but understated.
Mr Ponsonby shuffles along at a gently brisk pace with precise and fluid guitar lines, a delicate flourish of horns, a woozy solo that never overplays itself and smooth shifts in time signatures.
It’s the kind of track I would have expected to have heard on Rattle Records, where, as a reference point, he would not be out of place as an artist.
Rating:
( 4 / 5 )
About Maciek Hrybowicz
Maciek’s performance at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival led to this 2015 quote from Sam Edwards of Waikato Times: “…delivering a virtuoso and musically informed lesson in guitar”. More recently, in 2020, a review by Mike Alexander (www.muzic.net.nz) described Maciek as having “…a technique and style that’s evocative but understated” with his recent single , Mr Ponsonby having “precise and fluid guitar lines… and a woozy solo that never overplays itself and smooth shifts in time signatures.“
Maciek’s solo album AWA, inspired by the beauty of his adopted home Aotearoa New Zealand and indigenous M?ori culture, will awaken your senses and become your soundtrack for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Maciek Hrybowicz
Releases
Other Reviews By malexa
DateMonthYear - EP Review: The Exodus Suite
22 May 2021 // by malexa
The metamorphosis of the genesis of Exodus into The Exodus Suite while not quite of Biblical proportions is nevertheless on a grand scale. These five degrees of separation, with accompanying videos (the final installment – which is on its way) might share the same source material but, as always, DateMonthYear founder Trevor Faville twists and shape-shifts with an informed sense of musical invention.
Read More...
Album Review: Blood & Wires Volume One
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s still very much a brave new world when it comes to releasing music with its ever diminishing returns for physical product and the pecuniary stranglehold the major streaming services have on the industry. That’s why Tauranga-based boutique label Blood & Wires deserves a huge thumbs-up for its innovative and down-to-earth but wildly musically ambitious launch.
Read More...
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s still very much a brave new world when it comes to releasing music with its ever diminishing returns for physical product and the pecuniary stranglehold the major streaming services have on the industry. That’s why Tauranga-based boutique label Blood & Wires deserves a huge thumbs-up for its innovative and down-to-earth but wildly musically ambitious launch.
Read More...
Metanoia - Single Review: Sonder
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s always handy for a reviewer to have a bit of background information about an artist to get a creative context of where they have come from and where they might be heading. Metanoia is a bit of a mystery in this respect.
Read More...
Mark de Clive-Lowe - EP Review: Midnight Snacks Vol.1
16 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Mark de Clive-Lowe’s musical palette has always been so refreshing engaging and diverse that each new release is like receiving a care package – you don’t know what’s inside but you know you’ll find comfort in it. The Los Angeles-based Kiwi musician, DJ and night club and record label owner has been particularly busy in the last few years with albums and EPs ranging from the chillingly melodious jazz quartet outing Live At The Blue Whale, the steamingly funky club party Church Sessions with various cohorts and the conceptual Heritage I and II, which celebrated his bi-cultural heritage (he is half-Japanese).
Read More...
Serpent Dream - EP Review: Nova
11 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Serpent Dream's Nova is the debut release on Blood & Wires. The Tauranga-based boutique label was founded by Scott Brown last year with the express aim of raising the “profile of New Zealand based electronic and experimental artists.
Read More...
Mecuzine - Single Review: Blue Skies
15 Mar 2021 // by malexa
The slim-line edition of Mecuzine - brothers Joseph and Tony Johns – seems to have gained more than it might have seemingly lost. Blues Skies is the second single released since five became two and it’s another brooding, sonic masterpiece with an but almost tragically self-effacing punch line: “She wanted him to stay/Instead she got me/What an unlucky break”.
Read More...
Ant Tarrant - Single Review: Candle Lights
09 Mar 2021 // by malexa
Ant Tarrant has served his apprenticeship and it shows. Now back in New Zealand after following his muse to Central America and the US, where he was mentored in the art of song-writing and production, he’s settled in Kare Kare and opened up a music studio.
Read More...
Naircol - Single Review: Turbo Outrun
04 Feb 2021 // by malexa
In an interview with Naircol, following the release of his debut album Isolate late last year, he put collaborative ventures at the top of his wish list. It seems Santa Claus came calling in the form of Canadian producer Tokyo Rat, the result of which is the dynamic driving anthem Turbo Outrun.
Read More...
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
Custom Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
