Jazz Journal, October 2003

Zone K - Kopinski & Konikiewicz (SlamCD252)

Kopinski and Harris will be best known as members of Pinski Zoo, that extraordinary free-funk jazz outfit that blew out of Nottingham in 1980, Konikiewicz as a pianist, big band arranger and film/TV composer. Pinski Zoo has recently been on a well-earned sabbatical (although it is touring again this year), allowing its members time to develop such interesting individual projects as this live set. The trio’s sound is vast, dominated by Kopinski’s declamatory, occasionally banshee, saxophone and Harris’s cymbal-driven drumming punctuated by the sudden rimshots and bass bombs from the rest of his kit that provide the push and pull necessary for this urgent, driven music. Konikiewicz’s piano gets a little lost in the mix, while his electric keyboards are often too muddy to make much impact (and a tad predictable when they do), although his piano lines on Night To Dream and on the solo Impresja XV provide a thoughtful contrast to the tension elsewhere. A hi-energy set from a vibrant trio of innovatory musicians.

Simon Adams