Well, actually... O.N.E.

• 1 Robespierre? 04:57
• 2 Berio 05:34
• 3 Kaldur Vindur 06:24
• 4 Cipher 05:14
• 5 Well, actually... 04:09
• 6 [solo form] 01:48
• 7 Oslo 05:05
• 8 Fount 05:01
• 9 Ry 01:56
• 10 Sneaking Around 04:00
• Total Runtime 44:08

Info for Well, actually...

"Well, actually...", the third album from Polish acoustic jazz quartet O.N.E. Grounded in the spirit of democracy and collective improvisation, the album offers a tightly woven set of original compositions that blur the lines between modal jazz lyricism and the raw energy of free improvisation.

The band name O.N.E. is a clever double entendre: in Polish, “one” (pronounced oh-neh) means “they” in the feminine plural – an apt nod to the all-female lineup. In English, of course, it signifies unity. Both meanings reflect the band’s egalitarian, leaderless approach and cohesive group sound.

Almost three years after the recording of their previous release Entoloma (Audio Cave), the group reunited in December 2024 at Studio S4 in Warsaw to record a fresh set of ten compositions. Spread over two sides, the album captures the continued evolution of a band that thrives on interaction, trust, and shared purpose – even in a society fractured by post-pandemic socio-economic uncertainty and political ambiguity.

Featuring contributions from all four members – pianist Kateryna Ziabliuk, saxophonist Monia Muc, bassist Kamila Drabek, and drummer Patrycja Wybrańczyk – the record reflects their commitment to artistic democracy. Each voice is given space, yet the music always feels greater than the sum of its parts. Even on the miniature solo track [solo form], the other three players remain present, supportive, and responsive.

From Ziabliuk’s percussive piano textures and dreamlike voicings on tracks like Oslo and Berio, to Muc’s expressive, woody tone on alto and baritone sax, each piece explores dynamic interplay and shifting emotional landscapes. Drabek’s resonant, grounded bass – by turns lyrical and propulsive – provides a central thread, while Wybrańczyk’s drumming fizzes with precision and imagination, as heard on Cipher and the angular closer Sneaking Around.

"Bright moments abound, especially from Muc’s characterful and mercurial sax playing. The album ignites in fits and starts, often strangely compelling when you least expect it. It’s thoughtfully wrought, even beautiful at times, with a wistful yet sincere nature to the music being performed. Well crafted and quietly confident, this is a sound built on trust, deep listening, and democratic creativity." (Mike Gates, ukvibe.org)

Kateryna Ziabliuk, piano
Monia Muc, saxophone
Kamila Drabek, double bass
Patrycja Wybrańczyk, drums

O.N.E.
is Poland's first all-female instrumental jazz band. An acoustic quartet - they mix lyricism and songfulness with wild and uncompromising free-jazz energy.

Performing for the last few years as O.N.E. Quintet, now as a quartet, the band was chosen by JAZZ FORUM critics, the band of the year in the HOPE OF JAZZ category and in 2021 the band got nominated for FRYDERYKI 2021 award in Debut in Jazz category and awarded with JAZZ OSCAR Grand Prix Jazz Melomani 2020 in New Hope category.

In November 2019, the band’s debut album, entitled ONE, was recorded at Cavatina Non-profit Studio and released on the Audio Cave label. The album premiered on 1 May 2020, and less than a year later the debut album.

Kamila Drabek
graduate of the Academy of Music in Krakow. She leads the original band Tercet Kamili Drabek. The band won the 2019 jazz phonographic debut competition and released the album “Naiwna Music” (nomination for the Fryderyk 2020 award for the best debut). She collaborated with the top American saxophonist Greg Osby, the Cuban band Vistel Brothers or Maciej Obara. She is a laureate of the Blue Note Poznań Jazz Competition, Azoty Tarnów Jazz Contest and Krokus Jazz Festival. As part of the “Partnership for Music 2.0.” she realized the project “Tercet plays the works of Jerzy Duduś Matuszkiewicz”. In 2020, together with writer Anna Malinowska and painter Pola Dwurnik, they created an interdisciplinary trio for word, image and double bass in the project “Unhappy Ending”.

Monika Muc
graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland in the class of Prof. Dr. with a postdoctoral degree Ryszard Krawczuk, a former student of the Jazz and Stage Music Institute in Nysa in the class of Prof. Piotr Baron. Collaborated with Małopolski Big Band. She is the „Powiew Młodego Jazzu” award winner in Krokus Jazz Festival in 2017, the second prize winner in the competition Novum Jazz Festival 2018 and award winner in Blue Note Competition in Poznań in 2019. Concreates the O.N.E Quintet and Król bands.

Patrycja Wybrańczyk
a mushroom-picking lover and a huge fan of hiking and living next to nature. Gifted graduate of the Jazz Department in ZPSM in Krzysztof Gradziuk’s class in Warsaw, she studied at the Krzysztof Penderecki Music Academy in Kraków, and now she is studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. Apart from O.N.E., she co-creates Jakub Żołubak Trio, Ninja Episkopat and the Polish-Norwegian quartet PESH. She performs on many Polish and European scenes (ex. Athens Jazz Festival / Greece, Vinnytsia Jazzfest / Ukraine, Opus Jazz Club / Budapest, B-Jazz Festival / Belgium, Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene / Oslo, NOSPR / Poland) on jazz and avantgarde scene. Her inspirations mostly come from avant-garde, improvised and classical music, polish folk and Scandinavian jazz.

Kateryna Ziabliuk
pianist, singer, composer, and journalist. Based in Poland, originally from Kyiv and has studied in Katowice, Krakow, and Milan. She is one of the most promising figures on the European music scene. In her work, she is interested in mixing composition with free improvisation mainly by using elements of traditional music and exploring the cultural/historical heritage of her homeland. She delves into electroacoustic music as well, collaborating with performers and filmmakers.

In 2019, based on a poem by Lesia Ukrainka, she recorded an improvised suite with her trio, Lisova Pisnya (Forest Song). At the invitation of the Katowice JazzArt Festival in 2022, she reinterpreted the piece in a duet with the leading Polish singer Natalia Kordiak. The performance gave rise to the TANŌK project. She permanently experiments with folk music, — previously Ziabliuk collaborated with the Balkan folk band Kriva Drina, where she played the accordion, sang, and co-created the arrangements, as well as with the rural Ukrainian folk collectives. She has made numerous appearances all over Europe, which she intensified in the face of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, by choice of acting as the “cultural ambassador” of Ukraine in the Western world.

This album contains no booklet.