Raphael Roginski
Žaltys
The new album by Polish guitarist Raphael Rogiński is named after the grass snake Žaltys, a revered household spirit in Lithuanian folklore, and explores themes of Eastern European mythology and nature. As a conduit of cultural exchange, "Žaltys" connects with Rogińsk’s previous work, most recently his critically acclaimed 2023 album "Talàn".
"Žaltys" is deeply rooted in the rolling hills of the Suwałki region, in the northeast of Poland, where Rogiński spent childhood vacations and became intri…
Populista Box
A lovely 3cd box collecting the latest Roginski efforts on Bolt records. "An imperial person complained to Mozart that there were too many notes. A merely imperious trumpeter said pretty much the same to John Coltrane. Here’s a kind of answer. Polish guitarist Raphael Roginski, perhaps most widely known for his work with the Shofar trio, slows up and spaces out Coltrane’s music, unwinding some of those much covered test pieces – “Equinox”, “Countdown”, “Mr PC” – and taking them almost to stallin…
Plays Henry Purcell
Raphael Roginski, guitar. Olga Myslowska, voice, synth. Sebastian Witkowski, synths. “I feel a very intimate relation with English culture thanks to my admiration to the music of the 60s. But then there is also William Blake’s Albion, Benjamin Britten and the myths. I have been puzzled by why do I constantly hear the same thing in the music of Bert Jansch and Led Zeppelin, Joy Division and Dead Can Dance. And then in the music of PJ Harvey and Traffic. And in Henry Purcell too, and in John …
Raphael Roginski plays John Coltrane and Langston Hughes African
You may know Raphael Roginski for his justly celebrated treatments of Jewish and Eastern European music, including his Shofar trio (with Mikolaj Trzaska and Macio Moretti) and his work with Wac‚aw Zimpel (Music of the Yemenite Jews, Hera’s Seven Lines). Though these and related projects are important to Roginki’s ambitions as a guitarist, composer, and activist, his interests and influences range widely—see for example his collaboration with DJ Lemar (also reviewed on the blog) or his recor…