Cyryl Lewczuk Quartet – Cactus Flower. Premiere November 7, 2025 (SJRecords 089)
The album is available on CD as well as in WAV Hi-Res (24-bit / 48 kHz) format for download, including artwork.
The compositions on Cactus Flower are musical images. In their original material, Cyryl Lewczuk Quartet presents a full palette of colors, emotions, and moods. The artists draw from various jazz styles—from straight-ahead jazz through latin jazz to post-bop. At the same time, they reach toward the tradition of program music, stimulating the listener’s imagination and inviting them into a world of fantasy.
The album includes a booklet featuring paintings, photographs of sculptures, and descriptions of the compositions. Each piece is a separate story. Carefully constructed musical themes create atmosphere and give direction to the improvisations, in which each band member brings an individual voice to the shared narrative. The contexts presented in the booklet may serve as inspiration for experiencing the music and help listeners engage with it on a deeper level. They are invited to participate in the creative process, interpreting the sound-painted stories through the lens of their own sensitivity, memories, and experiences.
The album was recorded at Monochrom Studio and will be released by SJRecords.
At a time when every second of our lives seems measured and priced, and the world is shaken by anxieties that were never meant to return, the music of Cyryl Lewczuk’s quartet reminded me of the power of art. It reminded me that, unlike ideology and politics, art appeals to what is beautiful, noble, naive, and joyful within our souls.
— Robert Kozubal, Jazzda.net
Their music, though subtle and soft in form, gains clear contours that testify to a coherent approach to dialogue and expression. It is evocative, emotionally deep, and—in many respects—noble, which decidedly works in favor of this project. The artists possess a natural lightness in shaping sound matter, drawing on classical refinement and traditional solutions, at times even leaning toward straight-ahead jazz.
— Łukasz Dębowski, Polska Płyta / Polska Muzyka
Operating on several levels clearly works to the ensemble’s advantage—one can easily sense the influence of various jazz idioms, including hard bop, modal jazz, and at times even free jazz. The calmer passages pleasantly envelop the listener, with the group maintaining contact even when momentarily stepping off the path established in earlier compositions (as in “Guardian”). This diversity is held together by a professional approach to form and narrative, giving us the feeling of engaging with something meaningful, yet without pretension or excessive monumentalization of musical sequences.
— Łukasz Dębowski, Polska Płyta / Polska Muzyka
ABOUT THE BAND
Cyryl Lewczuk Quartet is a jazz ensemble formed by graduates of the Jazz and Popular Music Department of the Academy of Music in Katowice. The band was founded in 2023. The artists perform mainly original compositions and regularly give concerts in Poland and abroad. They have appeared at numerous jazz festivals, including Nišville Jazz Festival 2025 (Serbia), the 43rd Jazz na Kresach – Zamość Jazz Festival 2025, Jazz Juniors 2024 in Kraków, and the 26th Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa 2024 in Bielsko-Biała.
In 2024, they took part in the 60th edition of the Jazz nad Odrą festival, where they received a special award in the Wojtek Siwek Individual Jazz Personality Competition.
Cyryl Lewczuk – tenor saxophone
Jan Maciejowski – piano
Mateusz Lorenowicz – drums
Jan Dudek – double bass
