P.G.R. – Projekt Grzegorza Rogali, is a jazz project expressing the idea of combining cultures and musical genres. The concept includes a dialogue between Polish, Jewish and classical music. We can find out about it by listening to 4 CDs.,

Recent two albums P.G.R. –„Polish Psalter” take us back to the times of the Renaissance. They show „Melodies for the Polish Psalter” by Jan Kochanowski to the music of Mikołaj Gomółki, which is a breakthrough in Polish literature and an example of interdisciplinary cooperation at the highest level. It became an inspiration and a challenge for the artists of the P.G.R. at the same time. The Renaissance four-voices became a canvas for classical-jazz „journeys”, in which music from more than four centuries sounds fresh and contemporary.

P.G.R. received a scholarship from the Berklee College of Music twice, his music has been hosted on the UK Jazz Radio and on many music stages in the USA, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, France, m.in.: Jazz in the Ruins, Głogów International Jazz Meetings. The White Stork Synagogue, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Flugery Lvova, the Stockholm Jazz Festival, St. Merry church in Paris

Excerpts from the review of the album P.G.R. „Polish Psalter vol 2”

PRESTO Magazine – (honorable mention: „Album of the Quarter”)

„How much can you do for music and with music? With this thought in mind, I listen to the sweet voice of Barbara Rogala. I immerse myself with interest in the bold arrangements of Grzegorz Rogala, who translated the music of the Renaissance into the language of modern instruments. Individual musicians add a jazz touch to it. Thanks to this, it sounds fresh and contemporary. However, this is not important. I have a feeling that this whole album is a pretext to tell its listeners about the essence of life…

Author: Kinga A. Wojciechowska

Blog: The soundtrack of my life

„[…] The album manages to create a fusion of the original Renaissance music with Jazz, which works splendidly, despite the obvious Centuries long time gap between them.

[…] all the instrumentalist play excellently in both domains. The soprano vocal parts are of course the anchor of the entire project, and are performed with confidence and clarity.[…]The excellent arrangements and obvious dedication demanded from all the participants pays off and the resulting music is deeply moving and highly aesthetic[…] Very well done indeed!”

Autor: Adam Baruch

Magazine: Jazzpress 07-08.2024

„In jazz, everything is possible, and every – even the most unobvious – combination has a chance to „play” with each other and delight. […]Polish Psalter vol. 2 delights me with its solemnity, and at the same time draws me in with a really clever arrangement, for which the author of the project, trombonist Grzegorz Rogala, is responsible. It turns out that an original idea, an unobvious combination of ingredients, which, to be honest, could not be so affordable for most customers individually, results in a coherent, interesting final product – in addition, premium class. Let us note that in passing, at the same time, we absorb the musical and poetic gems of the Renaissance, noble opera singing (Barbara Rogala, soprano), and we immerse ourselves in jazz. This is a valuable lesson, but the most valuable – in my opinion – concerns the aforementioned „capacity”, the flexibility of jazz music and the victory of creativity over the lack of invention and repetitiveness. What also delights me is the […]Outstanding project, that’s what!”

Author: Wojciech Sobczak-Wojeński

Artist:
Barbara Rogala – soprano
Szymon Bońkowski – saxophone
Piotr Andrzejewski – piano
Kamil Miszewski – drums
Jan Wierzbicki – double bass
Grzegorz Rogala – trombone