Wislawa[2 CD]

Like his early hero Miles Davis, Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko has a gift for shaping great bands, and this one, formed in the worlds jazz capital, overflows with promise. The bass and drums team of Thomas Morgan and Gerald Cleaver is one of the most sensitive in contemporary improvising, and Cuban-born pianist David Virelles, inspired by ritual music as well as by Thelonious Monk and Andrew Hill, seems particularly well-attuned to the brooding darkness and sophisticated dread of Stankos free ballads. In the uptempo pieces all four players seem to enter new territory, with very exciting results. The double-album program of new Stanko compositions is inspired also by the poetry of Wis awa Symborska, the Polish poet, essayist and Nobel Laureate, who died in 2012. As Stanko writes in in the CD booklet, Reading Wis awa Szymborskas words gave me many ideas and insights. Meeting her and interacting with her poetry also gave impetus to this music, which I would like to dedicate, respectfully, to her memory.

Recorded June 4-6, 2012 at Avatar Studios, NYC
Recording Engineers: James A. Farber
DDD
Produced by Manfred Eicher