Tomasz Stańko - September Night (2024)

In the right hands, the trumpet can be supremely lyrical. Following the path cut by Miles Davis, the late trumpeter Tomasz Stanko was a distinctly sensitive voice on the instrument who sought the perfect mix of post-bop improvisation and melodious expression in his playing. Stanko is captured here in an unreleased 2004 live performance from Munich's Muffathalle with his quartet, an ensemble of proteges and eager students that he played with the longest in a career which began in his native Poland in the early 1960s.

Pianist Marcin Wasilewski, standup bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and drummer Michal Miskiewicz all adopted Stanko's democratic tendencies during their years with him and have became one of the most cohesive and musical units in jazz today. The foursome function in breathtakingly instinctual ways, being careful not to step on one another's playing and meshing with maturity and confidence. The audience has been completely edited out of these seven, long, beautifully-recorded performances which were engineered by Stefano Amerio and produced by ECM founder Manfred Eicher.

Lead track "Hermento's Mood" opens with short, lively statements and from there, the track is intuitively supported by Wasilewski until a nostalgic, long-lined ending. "Song for Sarah" follows in the same slow and gentle vein as the opener. Piano chords, both poetic and slightly dissonant, are improvised before Stanko's breathy tone proceeds to sketch the imaginative lines of an unhurried ballad in which he and Wasilewski fill the space with relaxed, sympathetic solo passages. Stanko's poignant, anxious tone carries the song through to its disconsolate close. The tempos increase on "Euforila" where trumpet and piano double before Wasilewski shows what a quick thinker he can be. The aptly titled "Elegant Piece" winds down to more gorgeous solo playing from Stanko. Although he occasionally squeaks and skronks in "Euforila" and "Theatrical," the trumpeter's playing is the very definition of improvisational beauty throughout this wonderful addition to his evocative legacy.

TRACKLIST

1. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Hermento’s Mood
2. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Song for Sarah
3. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Euforila
4. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Elegant Piece
5. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Kaetano
6. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Celina
7. Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Theatrical