Marcin Wasilewski Trio: Faithful

Marcin Wasilewski Trio

Faithful (ECM Records; 2011)

Marcin Wasilewski (piano)

Michal Miskiewicz (drums)

Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass)

Six albums on and the Marcin Wasilewski Trio (originally known as Simple Acoustic Trio) have evolved into a relaxed, introspective and now adventuresome outfit.  The trio's stint with Tomasz Stanko and some warm production work from Manfred Eicher of ECM have helped the group hone its sound as well as their performances. Their use of space is clever and precise and makes their latest album, Faithful, one of their best and one of JazzWrap best albums so far this year.

Adventuresome is one of the aforementioned words I used to describe MWT's advancement. On the opening of Faithful, "An den kleinen Radioapparat", the group explore German composer Hans Eisler classical standard sans vocals. Without the vocals the listener is clearly focused on the instrumentation. And the delivery from Wasilewski is sublime. Miskiewicz's subtle brushes add a layer of mystery that still reflects upon the original composition. "Night Train To You," moves a with lovely but rapid pace. Wasilewski while setting the structure has written a piece that still allows the group to improvise throughout.

One of the things I've always enjoyed with MWT's albums is their ability to reshape and re-imagine other artist's material. As evident on Paul Bley's "Big Foot" where by the very nature of the composition, the trio strive and deliver a powerful yet playful performance. Kurkiewicz's movements are dense and propulsive. Wasilewski's uptempo rhythms really give Bley's original a run for the money. It's one of the best versions of this piece I've heard (not that there are a whole lot). While on "Oz Guizos" (originally written by Hermeto Pascoal) the trio are wonderfully melodic and add a sense of spaciousness that gives the members wide breathing room. Kurkiewicz strumming is sublime and helps the piece move gently up and down.

The delightful "Lugano Lake" closes the album and for me encapsulates the trio's recent form of the last few years. It's peaceful, agile and dynamic all the while holding a sense of mystery  that many listeners will gravitate to. Marcin Wasilewski has emerged as a colourful and daring pianist in the last few years. The trio as a whole continue to solidify their name on the global psyche. The diversity of Faithful may finally send the Marcin Wasilewski Trio into the next level of recognition. This is a brilliant piece of work from a group that gets better and better with every outing. Deep. Personal. Reflective. And Highly Recommended.

Foton Quartet...Poland Strikes Again!

Foton Quartet (group)

Zomo Hall (Not Two Records)

Gerad Lebik (sax)

Artur Majewski (trumpet)

Jakub Cywinski (bass)

Wojciech Romanowski (drums)

The rich and versatile Polish jazz scene has gone through a big transform in interest over the last decade. Due in large part to the resurgence of the great Tomasz Stanko. Over the last few years a number of artists have leaped into the consciousness of jazz fans all across the globe. From Marcin Wasilewski Trio, Mikrokoletyw to RGG Trio, Polish artists are showing us all that great, creative and forward thinking jazz can come from more than just Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, England, U.S. and a few select countries.

One such collective is Foton Quartet and their debut, Zomo Hall (Not Two Records). Zomo Hall might sound like a trip into the avant garde for the uninitiated, its actually upon the deeper listening that you will find the detail. There are qualities here that are reminiscent of the more experimental work of Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and Art Ensemble. But the journey through these six "untitled" tracks is truly fruitful and a superb listen.

Artur Majewski (also a member of the duo Mikrokoletyw) and Gerad Lebik combine to bring forth some incredible phrasing and stellar improvising throughout this recording. Track three has a steady meditative tonality with both horns taking different patterns while Cywinski lays down a dreamlike bassline. Majewski later gains a bit of steam midway through but the track never loses its reflective aural sculpture.

Track five brought back memories of listening to Ornette Coleman's soundtrack for Naked Lunch. It's a journey through recess of my own mind that I'd rather not experience. A powerful performance from both Lebik and Cywinski, who turns his bass almost into a cello. This is the longest track on the album but its also the deepest and most creative as it takes the listener through a number of different themes all quiet in nature but adventurous in execution. Track six does stretch out with the band demonstrating that it can take the listener to far reaches of thought while still holding your interest (in only two and a half short minutes).

Foton Quartet is yet another piece of the new Polish jazz scene that must be heard by a wider audience. Zomo Hall standups against anything from rest the minimal, avant garde in other countries. And the work of Artur Majewski should really start to be noticed by more people as well. His collaborative work on the scene for me, is some of the best in Europe at the moment. 

Zomo Hall was a hard record for me to find. I had known about it for some time but couldn't even stumble across it. Then one day my good friends at Downtown Music Gallery got it in and I immediately put down the money. I suggest if you are interested in something new and creative--do yourself a favour and pick up Zomo Hall. Highly Recommend!

Guitar Week: Jakob Bro

This week JazzWrap will take a look at guitarists and guitar driven groups that have or will be making a difference in jazz.
Jakob Bro (guitar; b. 1978)
Balladeering (Loveland)

In conclusion to our Guitar Week I hope we have given you insight into some of the historical figures of jazz guitar. Trust me there are another dozen we could have written about or have written about. We will probably do another one in the future. Today I wanted to discuss a musician whom I have been a big fan of for a couple of years now. I have to admit only until recently did I know he had solo material. I knew his work more from the session/touring collaborations with Paul Motain and recently Tomasz Stanko. That musician is Jakob Bro.

Jakob Bro is from Denmark but has spent considerable amount of time in the U.S. either touring, studying or recording. In his brief recording career he has already work with a large number of revered musicians, among them, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Paul Motian, Chris Cheek, Bill Frisell, Ben Street and Lee Konitz. Bro has recorded 7 solo albums since his debut, Daydreamer (Loveland Records) in 2003. He has also works with three Danish bands, Bandapart, Got You On Tape, and one of my favourites Beautiful Day (all worth checking out).

Jakob Bro style is confident, ethereal and emotional. At times it reminds me of a young John Abercrombie. While I came to hear Jakob on Paul Motain's Garden Of Eden (ECM; 2006) album, his playing beautiful on that album, but it was the recently released Tomasz Stanko Dark Eyes (ECM) that really turned my head and made seek his own material.

Jakob Bro is a musician who allows his band members to express themselves freely. His seven albums are all very diverse but highly accessible for jazz new comers as well as your typical jazzhead.

The two records I would highly recommend are his 2007 quintet release, Pearl River (Loveland) and the recently released Balladeering (Loveland). At the point of Pearl River, Bro has already achieved the acclaimed within the jazz community to enlist some of the best musicians of the day (Mark Turner, Paul Motian, Chris Cheek and Ben Street). The album itself is a delight in hearing the exchanges between each of the musicians especially with Bro, Cheek and Turner. Tracks like "Pearl River," "Black Is All Colours At Once," "Mosquito Dance" and "Welcome" showcase a beauty and complexity that most artist this days can't come anywhere near achieving.

On his recent release Balladeering (Loveland; 2009) Jakob Bro expands his lush, beauty and melodic themes with the help of Paul Motian, Ben Street, Bill Frisell and the legendary Lee Konitz. Tracks like the opener "Weightless," "Vraa" and "Terrace Place" display the best of Bro's theory of allowing his fellow musicians to fill in the picture he has framed for them. The experience of Konitz and the counterpoint of Frisell and Bro shines throughout the session. Konitz sounds fresh as ever especially on "Starting Point (Acoustic Version)." Ben Street and Paul Motian add wonderful, lush and quite brushes across Bro's compostions, giving them strength and depth.

The album closes with "Starting Point (Electric Version)" which takes a more electronic/reverb vibe which Bro and Frisell tackle with ethereal effect. This is slightly similiar to Bro's previous work (most notably Sidetrack (Loveland; 2005) and is a great deconstruction of the entire album through one long solo (or two solo) loop. At times throughout this recording it is hard to believe that this was done in just two days.

Jakob Bro's mastery of composition and ability to set an stunningly emotional tone to the session makes this one the years best albums for me. So if you do anything this weekend, go out and buy Balladeering. It may not be at your local record store but you will be able to find it online at Amazon and iTunes. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

JazzWrap were caught up with Jakob while on tour with Tomasz Stanko to discuss his music, his label and what inspires him.

How have the experiences of playing in different size groups helped you develop as a performing musician and as a composer?

I find if very interesting to envision the music I play as a whole and then try to fill in whatever I think is missing - whatever I would like to hear that's not already there. So, playing in many different constellations and listening to a lot of different music has helped me become better at this…

How has your work with Paul Motian and Tomasz Stanko influenced your new album?

I learned a lot playing with Motian - trying to blend in with two horns, bass and another guitar - and sometimes trying to stick out. His compositions and the way that he arranges them and plays them have been a great influence to me over the last ten years. It's like he has created his own world of music combining the way he plays the drums with his compositions. It's very unique. To me, it's all the way up there alongside the great masters.

WIth Stanko I play a lot of unison and harmony parts with his trumpet - so again I'm learning to blend in and at the same time add colors…also in Stanko's band I have a lot of open solos which gives me the possibility to shape parts of the songs the way I hear them from night to night . This kind of freedom is something I can bring into my own music also.

In general, playing in different bands and with different composers has helped me and inspired me in my efforts to get closer to my own way of writing, arranging and improvising. And I've been very lucky to play with a lot of beautiful musicians from both Denmark and abroad.

Balladeering strikes me as a return to the more melodic and atmospheric soundscapes of your previous quintet release, Pearl River. Were you looking to expand of some of the themes created on that album?

After releasing Pearl River I wanted to record a lot of "songs" and arrange them pretty tightly. So, during a full week in 2007 I recorded 25 songs in New York with Frisell, Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Chris Cheek, Andrew D'Angelo, Paul Motian, Ben Street and the Danish alto saxophonist Jesper Zeuthen. The music from those sessions will be released as: The Stars are All New Songs (vol.1, 2, and possibly 3) - only vol.1 is already out.

The year after, in 2008, I went into the studio in New York again and made Balladeering. The focus for me on this recording was clearly to come back to the vibe of Pearl River - giving the musicians involved a lot of room to color the music and just open up the songs and see where the music would take us. The material is very simple, almost folk-like...

You've sometimes employed two guitarists or two tenor saxophonists -- what are the challenges and rewards when having two players for a particular instrument?

I like the thick sound of having two of the same instruments playing together. And especially with the case of guitars I like how strings can "melt" together. That way orchestral things, interesting voicings and melodies occur in a very spontaneous and sometimes even coincidental way. I find that beautiful. Sometimes though, a solo is much stronger if there is only one person playing - so the challenge for me with having double up's on instruments in a band is to know when to use that thick sound and when not to...

What is your vision for the direction of your label Loveland?

Loveland Records is kind of a playground for me, a place where I can store the music and the ideas I come up with and where people can buy it if they want…my distributor who is also the co-owner of the label is trying to make it as easy as possible for people to buy my music - it's difficult getting distribution and promotion but things are slowly moving in the right direction.

Who or what are you listening to lately that surprises or inspires you?

I listen a lot to Louis Armstrong at the moment. I also love Lester Young, Miles and countless more…in my teens I fell in love with Coltrane's music - that sound and that expression was the main reason why I decided to explore music.

What will you work on next?

I have some "Live" quartet-recordings with my trio + Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano and Lee Konitz - we did nine concerts in total at the Copenhagen Jazzhouse in 2009.

I need to spend a good amount of time on figuring out which takes sound the best. Also I still have a lot of unreleased material from New York in 2007. The Stars are All New Songs (vol 2 and possible vol 3). Besides, we just recorded "Live at Birdland" with Stanko so I hope that it will turn out to be an ECM album in the near future.

Tomasz Stanko Live At Birdland

Tomasz Stanko Quintet
Live At Birdland 14.4.2010
(Hey it's not the best picture in the world but I tried.)

A dark, melodic, roaming evening with the new Tomasz Stanko Quintet the iconic jazz club, Birdland in New York. The "jazz corner of the world" was about 2/3 filled as the legendary Polish trumpeter approached the stage in support of his new release Dark Eyes (ECM). The band went through a series of short pieces that highlighted each of Stanko's new members exquisitely. For me, Jakob Bro (guitar) and Olavi Louhivuori (drums) where the major standouts. Bro's interplay throughout the earlier pieces was sublime. Louhivuori's time changes were delicate and inventive. Tomasz Stanko's playing picked up towards the final two pieces as he finally let loose with some vintage work.

The new quintet has a vibrant attitude that is definitely a contrast to his previous quartet led by Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass) and Michal Miskiewicz (drums) which feature more introspective and emotional detail. Dark Eyes sizzles with Jakob Bro's almost Abercrombie-esque atmospherics and the rest of the bands subtle exuberance making the album truly fresh in quality. Live the quintet are still working through a number of new directions but it's a journey worth jumping aboard--impressive and open. An all around thoughtful evening. (The following videos are not from the show last night.)