Record Reviews

TOMASZ STANKO ~ BALLADYNA – THEATER PLAY COMPOSITIONS GOWI 16 (Barcode: 786497093526) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1994 Released: 1994 This little-known album by Polish trumpeter / composer Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist contains the music he wrote for the theatre performance of the tragedy "Balladyna" written by Polish playwright Juliusz SlowackiFind albums by this artist. Not to be confused with Stanko´s pivotal album also entitled "BalladynaFind albums with this title", recorded almost two decades earlier and released on ECMFind albums on this label. The album presents the complete theatre soundtrack for the play, consisting of 23 tracks ranging in length between half a minute to over five minutes. The central theme is repeated many times in different renditions, arrangements, tempi and instrumentations, creating a beautiful and often chilling atmosphere. The music stands on it´s own as a completely valid piece of music, which can be enjoyed separately from the theatre performance it was intended for. The performers include Stanko´s quartet members: pianist Marcin WasilewskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Slawomir KurkiewiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal MiskiewiczFind albums by this artist, as well as saxophonist Tomasz SzukalskiFind albums by this artist, vocalist Ewa WanatFind albums by this artist and percussionists Piotr WolskiFind albums by this artist and Zbigniew BrysiakFind albums by this artist. In retrospect this is an important piece of Stanko´s recorded legacy, similarly to his other soundtrack compositions, which show his rare ability to write wonderful atmospheric music. This is a must to all Stanko connoisseurs, although deleted since many years with (so far) no prospects for a reissue.

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