Simon Rose, et al.: One Voice

What is more American than jazz? Historians generally agree that the music was born in New Orleans, forged from African musical traditions, European harmony and Caribbean rhythms. Alongside jazz, baseball and basketball are among America's great cultural inventions. Yet today, none of these belongs solely to the United States. Japan captured the imagination of baseball fans before Venezuela won the 2026 World Baseball Classic, while the NBA has recently been defined by international stars such as Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serbia's Nikola Jokić and France's Victor Wembanyama. Jazz has followed a similar trajectory. Although unmistakably American in origin, much of the music's most adventurous recording, promotion and preservation now takes place abroad.

Few labels have done more to champion creative improvised music over the past quarter century than Poland's Not Two Records. Founded by Marek Winiarski, the label became one of the indispensable homes for contemporary jazz and free improvisation, documenting both established masters and emerging voices from Europe, North America and Asia. Whether issuing intimate duo recordings, ambitious box sets or live performances from festivals in Kraków and beyond, Not Two built a catalogue remarkable for both its breadth and consistency. Releases by Joëlle Léandre, Mats Gustafsson, Steve Swell, Satoko Fujii, Joe McPhee, Rodrigo Amado and Peter Brötzmann established the label as a spiritual successor to the pioneering work once carried out in the 1960s by American imprints such as ESP-Disk and Impulse!

Now the label begins a new chapter. Winiarski has entrusted operations to Cezary L. Lerski, relocating the archive of nearly 350 releases to Northern California. Rather than signaling an ending, the move represents a continuation of Not Two's mission. One Voice, the first of four introductory compilations, serves as both an entry point for newcomers and a welcome reminder of the label's extraordinary catalogue for longtime listeners.

Appropriately, the series begins with solo performances, placing each musician's individual voice in sharp relief. British baritone saxophonist Simon Rose launches the collection with "Boxhanger," from Schmetterling (2011), transforming the instrument into a vehicle for both raw power and surprising agility. Swedish tubist Per-Åke Holmlander follows with the reflective "Jabulani," from On The A And The B (2013), revealing an unexpected lyricism from one of improvised music's least likely solo instruments.

The collection continues with Ken Vandermark's rich and economical tenor saxophone meditation "Dekooning (Portrait of Coleman Hawkins)," from Mark in the Water (2012), while Hungarian violist Szilard Mezei contributes the quietly expressive "Mint Amikor Tavasz" from his 2009 album of the same name. Joe Giardullo's live soprano saxophone performance "Channeling," from Weather (2004), twists through a maze of extended techniques without sacrificing its sense of narrative. Swedish vibraphonist Kjell Nordeson fills the air with shimmering resonance on "Walking with Mirabeau I" (2020), while American John Purcell offers a chamber-like meditation on saxello with "Out of the Question," originally recorded with the Jarek Śmietana Band.

The anthology concludes with three masters of the double bass and percussion. Barry Guy's "Black, White, Red, Blue," from Occasional Poems (2015), stretches the sonic possibilities of the bass into orchestral territory, while Dominic Duval's haunting arco performance "Images from the Dark," from Songs from Kraków (2007), is both austere and deeply expressive. On the closing selections by Polish brothers Marcin Oles and Bartlomiej "Brat" Oles, Marcin's inventive bass feature "Una Muy Bonita," from Ornette on Bass (2003), and Bartłomiej's solo drum piece "Rain," from Free Drum Suite (2004), provide a fitting finale, celebrating two musicians whose artistry helped define the label's identity.

One Voice is more than a sampler. It is a portrait of a label that has consistently trusted artists to speak in their own unmistakable voices. In an era when jazz has become a truly global language, Not Two Records has served as one of its most devoted translators, preserving music that refuses borders while reminding us that originality remains the genre's universal dialect.