Stańko Jazzes Up Europe with Wisława
The Tomasz Stańko New York Quartet sets off on tour with their latest album, Wisława, presenting material from the record devoted to Wisława Szymborska, the late Nobel laureate poet, across 10 Polish cities and Oslo, London and Hamburg
Tomasz Stańko, photo: Marek Dusza
The double-disc Wislawa was recorded in Avatar Studio in New York and released by the ECM label a few months ago. Stańko performs with his rhythm section from New York’s jazz scene, Gerald Cleaver on percussion and Thomas Morgan on bass. The musicians are joined by the young Cuban pianist, David Virelles, who adds Latino colour to the melancholic mood of the compositions.
According to jazz connoiseurs, the Polish trumpeter has a particular gift for gathering the right mix of musicians. The quartet formed by Stańko in New York City seems a very promising one, indeed. The New York Times critic Ben Ratliff reviewed last year’s performance of the quartet in New York, emphasising Stańko’s evolving approach in this new project:
Without radically changing the character of his music — he still loves ballads, still foregrounds a lonely melody — Mr. Stanko is allowing its balances to shift. Thursday night’s music was hard to define, in an excellent way.
[…] The set achieved a high order of stealth: Some extraordinary passages unfolded without any of the musicians making them feel formal or clinical, almost as if natural forces were moving the musicians’ hands. Mr. Stanko’s records have generally been more solemn than his performances, but I’d be surprised if this band turns out a solemn record.
Stańko and his colleagues have presented the Wisława material in jazz clubs of New York City, Munich and Kraków. In a talk with Culture.pl, Stańko says that they were very well received in each venue. He further revealed:
Everybody is asking me whether the musicians are familiar with the poetry of Wisława Szymborska. I reply that they don’t have to, because art operates with magic!
Details of the Tomasz Stańko New York Quartet international tour:
• 11.05 - Katowice: Galeria Szyb Wilson
• 12.05 - Essen: Grillo-Theater
• 13.05 - Warsaw: Teatr Polski
• 14.05 - Białystok: Białostocki Ośrodek Kultury
• 15.05 - London: Barbican Hall
• 16.05 - Stalowa Wola: Miejski Dom Kultury w Stalowej Woli
• 17.05 - Ostrów Wielkopolski: Kino Komeda
• 18.05 - Opole: Filharmonia Opolska
• 19.05 - Poznań: Sala Ziemi MTP
• 20.05 - Wrocław: Synagoga Pod Białym Bocianem
• 21.05 - Szczecin: Zamek Książąt Pomorskich
• 22.05 - Kołobrzeg: Regionalne Centrum Kultury
• 23.05 - Oslo: Cosmopolite
• 24.05 - Bergen: Festiwal NattJazz, Norwegia
• 25.05 - Hamburg: Festival Elbjazz
Editor: Anna Legierska, translated by Paulina Schlosser, source: www.tomaszstanko.com, 19.04.2013
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