Record Reviews

TOMASZ STANKO ~ CHOPIN`S LETTERS. IMPROVISATIONS NIFC 074 (Barcode: 5906395034710) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2022 This is a live album by iconic Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer / bandleader Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with pianist Marcin WasilewskiFind albums by this artist, Norwegian bassist Arild AndersenFind albums by this artist and Finnish drummer Olavi LouhivuoriFind albums by this artist. Fragments of Frederic ChopinFind albums by this artist’s letters are recited by Andrzej ChyraFind albums by this artist. The album presents fifteen tracks, nine of which are performed by the quartet, of those eight are original compositions by Stanko and one is by Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist. Three of the quartet tracks include recitation and six tracks are recitations only. The album is packed in a lavish digibook format with bi-lingual texts, which include the texts of the letters and background information about the musicians. The album presents a special concert, organized by The Fryderyk Chopin Institute, recorded in 2014, which was part of the music festival called “Chopin and his Europe”. The album was released only in 2022, four years after Stanko’s death in 2018. In many respects the recording follows the Jazz & Poetry concept, but in this case the spoken word is Prose, which is obviously less effective, especially since the music was not specifically written to accompany these texts, but rather offers a random (?) selection of Stanko’s compositions recorded during his long career. The performances are, as expected, nothing short of spectacular, with Wasilewski’s beautiful romanticism, Anderson’s brilliant bass parts, Louhivuori’s energetic and tasteful rhythmic accents and of course Stanko’s Godly trumpet artistry. The sound quality of the live recording is a bit iffy at times, but acceptable. Chopin’s fate as the Polish “National” composer has been brutally abused over time by the Polish Jazz community, with hundreds, if not thousands of interpretations of his music, often completely tasteless and unnecessary. Although this album is completely innocent of these vices, it still rises a question as to the relevance of the project as a whole, at least in my mind. Overall, this is a beautiful Jazz album, which Stanko’s many fans worldwide can fully enjoy, if they program their player to skip over the spoken word tracks. Polish speakers can of course enjoy also Chopin’s witty and emotional letters, in addition to the excellent Jazz music, and I leave them to contemplate the connection between the two at their own leisure.

Updated: 02/08/2024Posted: 02/08/2024

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TOMASZ STANKO ~ DARK EYES ECM 2115 (Barcode: 602527112664) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2009 Released: 2009 Polish trumpeter / composer Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, one of the great Lions of European Jazz, now in his fifth decade of the tireless journey dedicated to discovering uncharted territory. Following the last three brilliant recordings with his all-Polish quartet in the early to mid 2000s and then three years of silence, Stanko returns with this recording of a completely new group comprising of young Scandinavian musicians: Finnish pianist Alexi TuomarilaFind albums by this artist, Danish guitarist Jakob BroFind albums by this artist, Danish bassist Anders ChristensenFind albums by this artist and Finnish drummer Olavi LouhivuoriFind albums by this artist. Obviously rejuvenated by the presence of these young and talented players, Stanko presents his new energetic music as well as paying tribute to his Mentor Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist by including two of his compositions into the set. There is no need to say much more here, as Stanko is already well beyond criticism with his magic touch and incredible talent. He shows no signs of age and anything produced by him is pure gold. Although the album does not break any new ground musically, one can hardly hold this against Stanko, who just keeps perfecting what he does best, and as a result allows us to drink from his seemingly perpetually full cup. Brilliant stuff!

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