TOMASZ STANKO QUARTET

SEPTEMBER NIGHT

ECM Records

Tomasz Stanko, trumpet; Marcin Wasilewski, piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, bass; Michal Miskiewicz, drummer.

On a cool September evening in 2004, the Tomasz Stanko Quartet walked onto the Munich, Germany stage.  That show was a culmination of an extensive tour of both the US and Europe for popular trumpeter, Stanko.  Surrounded by youthful Polish musicians, (who Stanko had mentored), Tomasz brought distinctive and sometimes rough-sounding tones on trumpet, along with drama to the concert spotlight.  This work with his mentees would lift Stanko’s popularity to a new level of recognition. Tomasz Stanko was a true master and leader on the European jazz scene.

The quartet’s opening tune is “Hermento’s Mood” where Slawomir Kurkiewiez’s double bass opens as the focal point, setting the mood and tempo for Stanko.  His trumpet bounces off the concert venue walls, a trapped bird trying to free itself.  Marcin Wasilewski’s piano settles the piece down in a beautiful way, supporting Stanko’s quest for freedom, but always leading the melodic structure with his carefully placed chords.  The tone of Tomasz Stanko’s trumpet is lovely and demands my attention.  Sometimes the double bass plays with counterpoint, rallying against the trumpet’s free melodies in a wonderful way.  He is always supportive, but free.

On “Song for Sarah” you will hear Stanko’s tender side. His pianist opens the piece, with thoughtfully placed chords that invite the solo trumpet to enter.  What a sad, but beautiful song they sing together in an emotional duet.

“My greatest teacher was, of course, Tomasz Stanko,” says pianist Marcin Wasilewski.

“We were growing by his side, and he was watching us.  Every concert we played with him was important … the most important, almost as if it was the last one.  That’s the approach he taught us.  When you play music, play it at a thousand percent,” Marcin spoke about his mentor, who passed away in 2018.

Although Stanko led several strong bands concurrently, the Polish quartet ultimately was his longest lasting line-up.  They were perhaps his favorite. Their relationship began in 1993 and their final concert was in Warsaw, in 2017.

Track #3 is titled “Euforila” and opens with Slawomir Kurkiewicz providing a stunning double bass solo that captures the imagination.  When Michal Miskiewicz joins in on drums, it’s like a signal for their leader to step forward.  He brings trumpet brilliance and energy at lightning speed, encouraging the drums to quickly propel the excitement forward. The Miskiewicz impressive, percussive solo shines during this arrangement. Here is tenacious, Straight-ahead jazz that strokes the creativity out of these talented musicians.  Every song interpreted here is a sparkling gem encased in a necklace of originality and beauty.

The Stanko Quartet’s Muffathalle concert of September 2004 was presented in the context of a symposium for improvised music, under the banner headline ‘Unforeseen” and co-curated by Munich’s Kulturreferat and the musicology department of the Ludwig Maximillian University.  It was a previously unreleased package of beauty, sitting on a shelf somewhere.  What a blessing to finally present it for public consumption.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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