Jacob Young - Forever Young

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:55
Size: 170,7 MB
Art: Front

(8:31)  1. I Lost My Heart To You
(6:47)  2. Therese's Gate
(7:49)  3. Bounce
(5:55)  4. We Were Dancing
(7:35)  5. Sofia's Dance
(7:04)  6. Comeback Girl
(6:37)  7. 1970
(6:15)  8. Beauty
(9:34)  9. Time Changes
(7:43) 10. My Brother

While all groups aim for the kind of collective chemistry that can make, for example, five people speak with a single voice, how they get there can vary significantly. In some cases there's instantaneous chemistry; in other cases, it comes from pre-existing relationships amongst various permutations and combinations of its members; in still other instances it is something that simply develops over time. On Forever Young, guitarist Jacob Young leverages both the relationships that have come before amongst the members of his quintet and a clear and immediate connection shared by its five members. A fine addition to an ECM discography that began with Evening Falls (2004) and continued with Sideways (2008) two recordings that featured a completely different lineup Forever Young leverages the strengths of what came before while simultaneously asserting its own independence. If anything, Forever Young provides Young with even greater freedom than on his previous ECM outings, where he was the sole chordal instrument. Here, Young recruits pianist Marcin Wasilewski's trio a group that, despite being on the shy side of forty, has been together for two decades and has, consequently, evolved both a chemistry and a language all its own, both in collaboration with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko on recordings including Suspended Night (ECM, 2004) and Lontano (ECM, 2006), as well as with its own triptych of superlative standalone releases (also on ECM), the most recent being Faithful (2011).

With a second chordal instrument in the mix, Young is relieved of the responsibility of constantly supporting his fellow band mates, though it's not as if he's abandoned the role entirely; in fact, one of Forever Young's biggest strengths is how Young and Wasilewski manage to continually complement each other without ever running into one another, a rare quality also shared by guitarist John Abercrombie and pianist Marc Copland on 39 Steps (ECM, 2013). On the deceptive "Sofia's Dance" deceptive because, although it's largely based on a simple, two-chord Phrygian vamp with a theme that begins as a similarly straightforward melody, its conclusion adds an unexpected Mid-Eastern-tinged twist Young's nylon-string guitar meshes empathically with Wasilewski's accompaniment during saxophonist Trygve Seim's characteristically taciturn solo, and gently underscores the pianist's own feature. But the chemistry doesn't stop there. Seim an ECM leader in his own right, with a slowly growing discography that includes the masterful large ensemble music of Sangam (2005) and more intimate duo date with pianist Andreas Utnem, Purcor: Songs for Saxophone and Piano (2010) has a shared history with Young on the guitarist's pre-ECM recordings Pieces of Time (Curling Legs, 1997) and Glow (Curling Legs, 2001), as well as with Wasilewski and his trio's bassist, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, as members of drummer Manu Katche's quintet heard on Playground (ECM, 2007).

The intervening years since Sideways have seen Young demonstrate a much broader, more electrified purview, in particular in his collective trio with expat British keyboardist Roy Powell and Norwegian drummer Jarle Vespestad (Tord Gustavsen Quartet, Farmers Market), first with Anthem (PVY, 2011) and, more recently, with the trio renamed as InterStatic and releasing even more extreme music on the upstart British label RareNoiseRecords. But here, on Forever Young, while the guitarist does mix some electric guitar work with the acoustic instruments that have helped to define his previous two ECM recordings, like Evening Falls and Sideways, it's a warmer, hollow body tone that continues to assert the importance of the late Jim Hall on Young's formative years. While there are hints of the darkness and melancholy that made his previous ECM outings so appealing, with Wasilewski's trio in tow Forever Young also demonstrates a more outgoing nature on tracks like "Bounce," where Young's muted electric guitar chords drive a change-heavy song with a brighter disposition. "We Were Dancing" follows, with Young employing a similar supporting approach before opening up into one of his most impressive solos of the set, a slightly tart-toned electric feature that allows the guitarist's virtuosic abilities freer rein.

If Forever Young proves anything, it's that the tendency to whitewash anything coming out of Norway as "Nordic Cool" is just that: whitewashing. Young may adhere to a generally sparer approach with his ECM recordings, but if there's a single word to describe his music it's warm, whether it's his own tone, the refined elegance of Wasilewski's trio or the patiently unfolding energy of Seim's playing throughout the set. It's also a recording whose language speaks clearly to at least some adherence to the American tradition, especially on pieces like the brighter "1970" and "Time Changes." For those unfamiliar with Young's extracurricular activities, Forever Young demonstrates an ability to simmer in a way that his previous ECM recordings did not. It also represents a first outing by a quintet with plenty of potential; hopefully six years won't have to pass before this intimate yet delicately expressionistic quintet can once again reconvene.~John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jacob-young-forever-young-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Jacob Young: guitars; Trygve Seim: tenor and soprano saxophones; Marcin Wasilewski: piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double bass; Michal Miskiewicz: drums.

Forever Young

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Marcin Wasilewski Trio - Live

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:18
Size: 149,2 MB
Art: Front

(12:28)  1. Spark Of Life / Sudovian Dance
(10:43)  2. Message In A Bottle
( 9:14)  3. Three Reflections
(13:32)  4. Night Train To You
( 7:42)  5. Austin
(10:36)  6. Actual Proof

It is timely, albeit in a melancholy way, that one-time Tomasz Stanko protégé Marcin Wasilewski and his trio would offer a retrospective live performance that closely coincides with the passing of the legendary Polish trumpeter. The pianist, still just in his early forties, first recorded with Stanko's octet while he was a teenager and quickly went on to release his first Simple Acoustic Trio album, Komeda (Not Two, 1995), at just twenty. From the outset bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz have been equally integral in shaping a distinctive sound that has straddled lines between minimalism, free playing and perpetual inquisitiveness. Live is the first planned release of the trio in performance though an earlier album, 20th Getxo International Jazz Festival (Hilargi Records, 1996), was apparently documented by the venue itself. Initially, it is a bit of a disappointment to learn that five of the six tunes on Live were taken from Spark of Life (ECM, 2014), given the wealth of exceptional material on the group's previous ECM albums, Trio (2005), January (2008) and Faithful (2011). 

That said, Spark of Life was a quartet album with tenor saxophonist Joakim Milder appearing on many of the tracks and so what we have here is a fresh perspective enhanced by the energy of a live performance. Take "Spark Of Life / Sudovian Dance"as a medley employing that familiar slow build up through the first half of its twelve-plus minute run. Wasilewski then takes the second half to new heights with his charged solo. Sting's "Message in a Bottle" is a longer, freer, looser interpretation giving Miskiewicz an opportunity to expand on his excellent drum solo of the previous version. The source outlier on Live is "Night Train To You," from Faithful. The Wasilewski composition stays true to its amalgam of groove and lyricism but here with the palpable dynamism of a well-oiled machine pushing its limits. "Austin"recorded in trio format originally is the only ballad on the album and in most respects, an accurate version of the beautiful original. Herbie Hancock's "Actual Proof" closes the album in an intense, spirited route that leaves the a five-thousand audience members at the Middleheim Jazz Festival ecstatic. The Marcin Wasilewski Trio of recent years has moved beyond their austere roots to a tranquility and airiness that often gives way to a show of force. Over time they have patiently and subtlety created a new identity where their low-key approach is often a stage-setter for their power trio alter ego. In this Live environment, partially fueled by an enthusiastic audience, the trio surpasses even their best studio material. ~ Karl Ackermann https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-marcin-wasilewski-ecm-records-review-by-karl-ackermann.php

Personnel: Marcin Wasilewski: piano;  Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double bass;  Michal Miskiewicz: drums.

Live

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Marcin Wasilewski - Spark of Life

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:50
Size: 169,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:07)  1. Austin
(6:28)  2. Sudovian Dance
(6:34)  3. Spark of Life
(4:37)  4. Do rycerzy, do szlachty, do mieszczan
(7:36)  5. Message in a Bottle
(6:55)  6. Sleep Safe and Warm
(8:33)  7. Three Reflections
(6:44)  8. Still
(6:06)  9. Actual Proof
(8:05) 10. Largo
(5:01) 11. Spark of Life

What do you do when you've released three albums as a trio (more, if you include albums released in Poland, prior to coming to the label) for a producer who traditionally seems to like shaking things up after that magic number? For Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski and his longstanding trio first coming together in their teens, they've been together more than two decades, and first recorded for ECM with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko for a triptych of evolutionary albums that began with 2002's Soul of Things and concluded with the far maturer Lontano (2006) there have been two moves in 2014: first, show up as Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young's band (along with saxophonist Trygve Seim) on Forever Young, and now, follow that appearance with another set under the trio's own name, but with guest saxophonist Joakim Milder in tow. Spark of Life is another stellar collection from a trio predicated on the value of longevity and leveraging the opportunities this now late-thirty-something trio has been afforded to build a language all its own. The Swedish-born Milder is no stranger to either the Polish scene or to ECM, though it's been 17 years since he last made an appearance on the label on one of Tomasz Stanko's most lauded sessions since the trumpeter's fruitful return to the label in 1994, 1997's Litania: Music of Krzystof Komeda. Here, in a smaller, more intimate context, the saxophonist helps make Spark of Life an album that, while rich with the profound lyricism that has imbued Wasilewksi's trio since it first emerged in Poland as the Simple Acoustic Trio, with its own tribute to the great film and jazz composer, Komeda (GOWI, 1995), simmers at a higher temperature...even, at times, approaching (if not exactly reaching) a full boil.

Not that Spark of Life doesn't possess the same elegance, the same rarefied, song-like melodism of previous albums including 2008's January and 2011's Faithful, nor does it fail to capitalize on the innate strength of the trio, which performs six out of Spark of Life's eleven tracks on its own. Wasilewski's "Austin," is as soft and lyrical as the trio has ever been, an inviting opener that creates a strong sense of continuity with what's come before. And if "Austin" seems redolent of the American music town for which it might be named, despite it actually being a dedication to fellow pianist Austin Peralta, Wasilewski's "Sudovian Dance" which follows and introduces Milder to the mix turns to a more appropriately Baltic sense of folkloric melody, even as bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz begin to turn the heat up during the saxophonist's solo, hinting at more muscular interaction to come. Still, Wasilewski's title track presenting in two variations, first with Milder, but closing the album with a trio-only take demonstrates that Milder does more than simply light a fire. A rubato tone poem where Miskiewicz's textural support is particularly noteworthy, Milder engages in a piece where interpretation and tone are everything. The saxophonist demonstrates similar developmental patience on his own irregularly metered "Still," while on a by now de rigueuer look at a Komeda piece, in this case, "Sleep Safe and Warm," the saxophonist demonstrates his attention to detail on a track that simmers with a slow-burning pedal point before breaking the tension into its familiar changes, with Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz treading a very fine swinging line between the implicit and the explicit.

While Wasilewski contributes five of the album's compositions, the trio makes clear that its musical touchstones range far and wide on a series of covers that range from a luxurious look at "Do Rycerzy, do Szlachty, do Mieszcan," from the Polish rock group Hey, that features Milder at his sparest and most refined, to a trio reading of Jazz Police's "Message in a Bottle. Heavily deconstructed and reconstructed, Kurkiewicz delivers his most potent solo of the set, while Wasilewksi demonstrates just how many rounded surfaces he can find in the relatively square corners of such a simple construct having, in the past, found similar freedom in the music of Björk and Prince. And while he's long been a personal reference for Wasilewski, Spark of Life is the first time the pianist has taken the leap to actually perform a song by Herbie Hancock. In this case, the bright and bubbly "Actual Proof" performed often by Hancock but first heard on the Headhunters' Thrust (Columbia, 1974) and here turned into a more liberated and open-ended version that comes as close to incendiary heat as this trio gets, also providing Miskiewicz a rare moment in the spotlight.

ECM has, in its 45-year history, created a number of particular emphases amongst its massive breadth of musical offerings, and one of them has been to take that most conventional of jazz ensembles, the piano trio, and push it into different directions that respect the tradition of American greats like Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and, looking further back, Lennie Tristano, while encouraging it to incorporate music of other genres and cultures as, at the same time, it strives to assert a clear sense of modernity. Of the young piano trios it has encouraged over the years, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio may well be its longest-standing, and for good reason. Clearly, Wasilewski, Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz are capable of working in other contexts Wasilewski and Kurkiewicz, for example, working together on drummer Manu Katche's first two ECM dates, 2006's Neighbourhood and the 2007 followup, Playground but it's equally clear that it's in the context of this trio that these three young Poles find the most freedom to explore as they please. With the addition of Milder on roughly half of this 74-minute program, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio has managed to retain its core strengths while adding something new to avoid any pitfalls of predictability. If the at once sublet yet intense Spark of Life is any evidence (along with Forever Young), it's a sure thing that this simpatico trio still has plenty up its collective sleeve to ensure no risk of that ever happening.~John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/marcin-wasilewski-trio-w-joakim-milder-spark-of-life-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Joakim Milder: saxophone (2-4, 6, 8); Marcin Wasilewski: piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double bass; Michal Miskiewicz: drums.

Spark of Life

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