R.I.P. Tomasz Stańko, 11 July 1942 - 29 July 2018
A sad farewell to Tomasz Stańko, following his passing from cancer at the weekend. Following the release of December Avenue a year ago, I remember wondering if the septugenarian trumpeter might have another album, or more, in him; sadly now it's a bookend to an amazing 50+ year career. And IMHO, the absolute highlight of that career was the 100 minutes of music recorded by Stańko and his newly-formed New York Quartet in the summer of 2012, and released the following February.
The 'Wisława' of the album title was Szymborska (1923-2012), the Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet who Stańko had collaborated with in 2009, with a limited edition release of the concert appearing in 2012, in which he played solo responses to her poems (from the short excerpt I've heard). Some of the same poem titles appear here - Tutaj, Mikrokosmos, Metafizyka, Assassins - now recast as quartet pieces in which Stańko swapped out his long-standing Polish backing group for pianist David Virelles, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerald Cleaver.
The results were nothing short of magical, and well worthy of the extended running time which is bookended by takes of a 13-minute requiem for Wisława herself. This title piece unfolds its melody at a languid, dignified pace (like much of the album) before reaching the gorgeous five-note theme that Virelles has hinted at in the intro. Throughout the slower-paced material, like the title track, Dernier Cri and April Story, the spot-on production lets every breath from Stańko fill out the ambient atmosphere, and the upbeat tracks - Assassins, Faces, A Shaggy Vandal - show how much fire there was in this band. Żegnaj Tomasz, dziękuję.
Previously posted at SGTG:The 'Wisława' of the album title was Szymborska (1923-2012), the Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet who Stańko had collaborated with in 2009, with a limited edition release of the concert appearing in 2012, in which he played solo responses to her poems (from the short excerpt I've heard). Some of the same poem titles appear here - Tutaj, Mikrokosmos, Metafizyka, Assassins - now recast as quartet pieces in which Stańko swapped out his long-standing Polish backing group for pianist David Virelles, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerald Cleaver.
The results were nothing short of magical, and well worthy of the extended running time which is bookended by takes of a 13-minute requiem for Wisława herself. This title piece unfolds its melody at a languid, dignified pace (like much of the album) before reaching the gorgeous five-note theme that Virelles has hinted at in the intro. Throughout the slower-paced material, like the title track, Dernier Cri and April Story, the spot-on production lets every breath from Stańko fill out the ambient atmosphere, and the upbeat tracks - Assassins, Faces, A Shaggy Vandal - show how much fire there was in this band. Żegnaj Tomasz, dziękuję.
Jazzmessage From Poland (1972)
Purple Sun (1973)
Freelectronic in Montreux (1987)
Bluish (1991)
Polin (2014)
Blessings and thanks for the memorial post to a giant.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P.
ReplyDeleteTomasz was a master.
Thanks for putting this up. He was, indeed, a master.
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you! I read about Stanko's passing and Ill admit to not owning a large catalog of his music mainly since My magnetic north listening compass usually point to prog/electronic/reggae music but his cd The Soul of Things has been spinning for the last few years and that introduced me to his amazingly versatile horn playing not to mention the band on that recording was top notch. I look forward to listening to this release. Once again a tip of the hat to you for your good taste in music!
ReplyDeletenew links:
ReplyDeleteDisc 1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=10vZRpriomftJdteMs_OOTnZ3b809TS8w
Disc 2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1t8H5s_iEyMldhh94L46HTI-0o4LoXkxa
pw: sgtg