• November (4:52)
• You Don't Know What Love Is (6:38)
• Like a Dream (6:52)
• Time Café (7:41)
• Bles For Eden (7:15)
• Precious Moments (9:03)
• Before The Journey (6:44)
• Gift (4:58)
• That Night (5:43)
• Conclusion Part 1 (1:23)
• Conclusion Part 2 (5:26)
• Conclusion Part 3 (0:41)

Artists

• Adam Benjamin
• Mark Ferber
• Larry Koonse
• Chuck Manning
• Bennie Maupin
  Woodwinds
• Brad Mehldau
• Darek Oles
  Bass
• Nate Wood

Reviews

• Bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz, who prefers to go by the abbreviated moniker Oles, has gradually been establishing a name for himself in the West Coast scene over the past decade, playing on notable recordings by artists including Dianne Reeves, Jackie Ryan and Charles Lloyd. Now, with his Cryptogramophone début as a leader, Like a Dream, he sheds a spotlight on his compositional skills. On a programme of eleven originals and one standard, Oles demonstrates a style that crosses a number of musical boundaries much like Eric von Essen, who came before him in the LA scene and figures prominently on Oles' work.
  
  The album presents Oles in three different and contrasting contexts. First is a series of duets with pianist Brad Mehldau. While there is the inevitable lineage to Scott LaFaro and Bill Evans, Oles also combines a certain economy of style that is reminiscent of Charlie Haden. Oles and Mehldau seamlessly shift between being drivers and passengers on what are the most mainstream compositions of the album. Oles' tone, while woody like Haden's, also has a certain Gary Peacock-like edge to it. Mehldau displays the contrapuntal style he has become known for, with left and right hands sometimes playing call-and-response, other times playing independent lines that inevitably cross paths and come together into a common theme. Oles' compositions are lyrical and immediately memorable. One wonders if his inclusion of the Raye/DePaul standard, "You Don't Know What Love Is" is to simply give context to Oles’ compositions which are fresh while, at the same time, oddly familiar.
  
  Two pieces by Oles' longstanding cooperative, The L.A. Jazz Quartet, place him in a clearly comfortable ensemble setting. Oles aside, the star of this group is guitarist Larry Koonse who, with a warm and elegant style that is similarly spare, contributes heartfelt accompaniment and solo work on the tender ballad, "Precious Moments." The folksy 5/4 "Before the Journey" is an aptly-titled, strongly visual piece that hints at Americana without being blatant. Oles' solo is remarkably singable considering the register of his instrument; a characteristic, in fact, of most of his work.
  
  The program closes with five tracks that feature pianist Adam Benjamin and drummer Nate Wood, with reedman Bennie Maupin guesting on "Conclusion Part II," another folk-tinged piece that is the most outgoing piece of the album. "Conclusion Part I" and "Part III" are darker, more introspective pieces, as is the melancholy "That Night." Oles shows his abilities as thoughtful accompanist who, while occasionally unpredictable, always keeps a strong pulse.
  
  Oles may not be a secret on the LA scene, but he is less well-known on larger national and international stages. With Like a Dream he proves that he has what it takes, as a performer and composer, to reach the next level; once again the adventurous Cryptogramophone label brings a deserving artist to a hopefully broader public.
  John Kellman
  All About Jazz [9/25/04]
• When you choose to invite a player like Brad Mehldau to begin your first CD as a leader with five duets, you have to be cravenly commercial, a masochist, or utterly selfless. I'll take door number three. There's no denying the musical chemistry between the pianist and the 41-year-old Polish-born bassist Oles, who wrote eleven of the 12 cuts on Like A Dream. Like a lot of the material on Cryptogramophone, the tunes veer dangerously close to the cloying (perhaps the influence of the late bassist and composer Eric von Essen, whose spirit hovers over the label). But also like the Cryptos I've heard, the sensitivity and great musicianship of the players involved redeems the performances and lifts them to a fairly rarefied musical world. That's where the duets with Mehldau belong - a standard ("You Don't Know What Love Is" taken in seven), a blues, a Latin-flavored piece, and the title cut. It's a gorgeous melody placed over harmonies that move with Bachian balance and poise. That's a mode of expression that suits Mehldau, and he makes the most of it. The seven selections by two different Los Angeles quartets are scarcely less good, with Larry Koonse's wistful Abercrombian lyricism and a cameo by old friend Bennie Maupin, the highlights. But it's the writing tnd the duets that get your attention on Like A Dream, a CD that should help Oles make a name for himself, however long he chooses that name to be.
  John Chacona
  Signal To Noise [January, 2005]
• Polish émigré Oleszkiewicz is one of the most in-demand bassists in the Los Angeles jazz environment, but little known beyond. This solid, all-winner album could help change that. Five tracks pair Oles, his abbreviated working name, with pianist Brad Mehldau. They allow Oles' bold, ringing sound, crisp facility and deft improvisational ability to stand front and center, revealing him as the major league artist many know him to be. "November" has a fresh air, folk-jazz feeling and sways between bass and piano solos. "You Don't Know What Love Is," usually taken slowly, is played much faster, with Mehldau finding many choice phrases amidst Oles' thick, round tones. The title track is delicate, and tender; both the pianist and bassist offer welcome, evocative thoughts. On a warm ballad, "Precious Moments," Oles joins tenorman Chuck Manning, guitarist Larry Koonse, and drummer Mark Ferber, his partners in the L.A. Jazz Quartet. "Gift," with pianist Adam Benjamin, recalls early Keith Jarrett trio; Oles drops in one more sure-footed solo.
  Zan Stewart
  Newark Star Ledger [October 4, 2004]
• Like A Dream is bassist Darek Oles' debut as a leader and composer. It opens as if in a dream: "November" recalls Steve Swallow's Falling Grace," that sont's ascending and descending scales key components to the tune's being so memorable.
  
  Beyond "November" we are treated to what is probably the "jazziest" part of the program, a sprited frolic throught the standard, "You Don't Know What Love Is." Played in seven, it features pianist Brad Mehldau in what amounts to a rare swinging moment, both players soloing effectively. The duet continues through the first five tracks, and the simpatico between Mehldau and Oles is palpable.
  
  Like A Dream holds together nicely, the thematic statements tethered from one song to the next despite the chnges in personnel. And yet, to quote one of the song titles here, there are too many "precious moments;" I kept hoping for more blues, more grit, more hints of angst, something that jazz musicians can pull off even when the mood is on the dreamy side. The one exception occurs when veteran saxophonist Bennie Maupin steps up to the plate toward the end on a slowly building rocker of a tune that finds Oles' propulsive cycles supporting the tenorist as he tears the place up in the tradition of an R&B honker.
  John Ephland
  Downbeat [November, 2004]