snobb Jacek Kochan is possibly one of the most technical Polish jazz drummers. All of his solo releases are complex multilayered pre-composed music, usually seriously influenced by modern avant-garde jazz and NY down-town eclectic fusion.

"New Expensive Head" is a true Kochan's album by it's complexity (and melodic component), but it represents the composer/drummer's interest in nu jazz as well. Jacek usually uses electronic devices, but here you can hear really a lot of them! Another huge nu jazz element is Molvaer's guitarist Eivind Aarset's liquid guitar filling all the space around. If on his solo releases Aarset usually goes deeper into ambient guitar sound experimentation (and often misses rhythmical structure of his music at all), here on Kochan's album his guitar is at all times framed by the complex rhythms of Kochan's drums and electronics.

Another great musician who collaborated on this album is South Korea-born US-based trumpeter Cuong Vu (one of the most interesting modern US trumpeters, mixing electric period Miles legacy with NY downtown atmosphere on his solo albums). He adds excellent free jazz trumpet solos over Kochan and Aarset's liquid pulsations. The fourth quartet member is Polish sax player Skerik, adding Coltrane sensitivity to the musical mix.

All of the album's compositions are complex and require repeat listening, but at the same time, they can also sound quite catchy the first time around. Excellent musical brew on the border between nu jazz and NY downtown tradition.

snobb Polish drummer Jacek Kochan began his career in the 70s, in the early 80s he moved to New York where he played with many local RnB, funk and jazz musicians and studied music. In the mid 80s he relocated to Canada, where played as an orchestra musician and recorded with John Abercrombie and others. After a return to Europe in 1995 he continued to collaborate with leading jazz musicians (Dave Liebman, Greg Osby, Palle Mikkelborg, Lars Danielsson, Dave Fiuczynski and others) and released solo albums as well.

'Man Of No Words' is a surprisingly strong album - surprisingly because at the time of release it passed almost unnoticed. Possibly one of the reasons is it was released on domestic Polish label without wide distribution around the world, who knows...

Music on this album is complex multi-layered avant-garde jazz, pre-composed, perfectly played and with lot of space for (controlled) improvs. All the musicians who collaborated are competent, but the main frontmen, besides of Kochan, are sax player Gary Thomas and pianist Dominik Wania. The compositions are rooted in avant-garde jazz golden age sound, but with lots of modern elements: beside drums, Jacek uses lots of electronics and gets partial help from accordion, strings and reeds. Even more - in some moments you can even hear some nu jazz arrangements! But most importantly, all of these elements sound absolutely organic!

This album sounds quite accessible from the surface but requires repeated listening and every new listen shows different nuances of the music presented. Great work of modern avant-garde jazz without avant-garde fetishism.