Single Review: Mr Ponsonby

As far as introductions go, Poland-born composer and guitarist Maciek Hrybowicz has left quite the impression with this calling card.

Mr Ponsonby is taken from his 2019 album AWA, a collection of pieces inspired by the beauty of his adopted home land New Zealand.

As the title suggests, it references an afternoon spent driving around the suburb of Ponsonby in Auckland and captures the somewhat sophisticated (of course, that would be a matter of perception!!!), laid-back, cafe dynamic of the area.

Hrybowicz, who has honed his craft in multiple genres but most notably with jazz singer Carol Grimes, has a technique and style that’s evocative but understated.

Mr Ponsonby shuffles along at a gently brisk pace with precise and fluid guitar lines, a delicate flourish of horns, a woozy solo that never overplays itself and smooth shifts in time signatures.

It’s the kind of track I would have expected to have heard on Rattle Records, where, as a reference point, he would not be out of place as an artist.