The trio is an independent force. Their story begins in 1990 when Wasilewski u0026 Kurkiewicz, both 15-year-old students at the Koszalin High School of Music, began playing jazz together. The following year, they formed their first trio. They added drummer Miskiewicz in 1993, and their lineup has remained stable ever since. They won numerous awards as the Simple Acoustic Trio and released five albums on local labels. Their first international release for ECM, “Trio”, was recorded in 2004. It was immediately released and won the Quarterly Prize from the German Record Critics. The US was also a hotbed of criticism. Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times: “Their years together has resulted in an ensemble that has an utterly synbiotic creative flow.” A change in the name is also evident in “January”, which was recorded in New York by Manfred Eicher in 2007. The group will now be known as the MarcinWasilewskiTrio. Although the group is still run as an equal group, its members have accepted that piano trios are usually identified by their pianists. Marcin, the band’s principal writer, contributes four songs to the disc, including the title song and the lovely opener “The First Touch”. At the request of Marcin, Wasilewski addresses pieces by Gary Peacock, Carla Bley, and other major pianists Keith Jarrett, and Paul Bley. Wasilewski is not afraid to take on the challenge, but he and his trio partners make of this music something that is his own. Gary Peacock’s composition “Vignette”, which was first heard on 1978 ECM album “Tales of Another”, is the recording that marked the beginning of Jarrett’s “Standards Trio”. The Wasilewski Trio plays it at a slower pace and extracts deeper emotions. It was a powerful performance, especially considering Marcin’s debt to Jarrett as an instrument player. He acknowledges the influence and moves on. Carla Bley’s “King Korn”, meanwhile, is a piece from the early 60s that was recorded on Paul Bley’s 1963 classic “Footloose” recording. It features the great trio of Steve Swallow and Pete La Roca. The Polish trio performs with an invigorating energy, great group interaction and a wonderful recording quality. There are exciting dialogues between Michal Miskiewicz (and Wasilewski) as well. “Balladyna”, a Tomasz Stanko song, was the title track on the Polish trumpeter’s ECM debut album (with a rhythm section by Dave Holland and Edward Vesala), back when Wasilewski was a child. Their dark and swirling rubato performance evokes Stanko’s predatory lyrics and stark drama. They’ve performed the piece many times in concert with him. The trio performed a glowing version of Bjork’s “Hyperballad” on their 2004 ECM CD. The season’s pop cover this year is Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls”, a ballad that dates back to 1991. This stripped-down version, in which bassist Kurkiewicz and Wasilewski share the melody, adds a lot of mystery. Polish jazz is not without cinematic arts. Since 1958, when Komeda collaborated first with Polanski on “The Young and Cinema”, the two genres have been influenced by each other. Wasilewski’s “The Young and Cinema”, which is a reference to the identically-titled festival featuring new Polish films, was held in Koszalin. Ennio Morricone covers Ennio’s theme from Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1988 film “Cinema Paradiso”, which itself is a celebration of cinema. “New York 2007” closes the album with a trioimprovisation. This is a spontaneous ballad that’s created in the moment and unique to its place and time. These players are extremely skilled at creating songs in real-time, as demonstrated by Stanko’s album “Lontano”. Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and Slawomir Kaniewicz were also featured on Manu Katche’s “Neighbourhood” and “Playground” albums. from http://www.artribute.de
