Tomasz Stanko/Germany 2017

Tomasz Stanko, the Polish jazz trumpeter of great stature, has released his first new recording in four years on ECM, featuring the new New York Quartet, live already available!!! Four years after the previous album “Wisława”, the new album “December Avenue” was released under the name of Stanko New York Quartet produced by Manfred Eicher on ECM. The recording member Davi Villeges, who is currently active in the Chris Potter Quartet, was replaced by the genius Finnish pianist Aleksi Tumalila, who has been highly praised by Brad Mehldau and has attracted a lot of attention in Japan. The new New York quartet, consisting of the same hard-edged and volatile energy as the studio album, and the amazing rhythm section filled with volatile energy, Stanko, and new bassist Reuben Rogers, who is known for playing in Charles Lloyd’s group from the Virgin Islands, and Gerald Cleaver, who is currently one of the best jazz drummers, was recorded live in Hamburg, Germany in April 2017 for one hour on a superb high-quality stereo soundboard that has been carefully mastered by the label! !!! Stanko is already flying, led by the heavy, groaning bass of newcomer Rogers, who is also influenced by reggae and calypso and has been highly praised for his work with Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, and others. Stanko’s improvisations, which always have insight and maintain the best overall performance while thoroughly eliminating waste, have a presence where each sound is conveyed vividly, but also have a cool texture that is permeated with the aesthetics of restraint that is typical of ECM (or rather, Stanko), and even surpass those of the emperor Miles. Also of note is the genius pianist Tumalila, who plays lyrical melodies with a beautiful, hard touch that is typical of Scandinavia, and improvisations with rapid, unrestrained playing that flap freely, with overwhelming technique and sense, as praised by Brad Mehldau, and continue to enhance the quality of this quartet. Of course, Cleaver, who is the driving force behind the modern jazz sound with his own group, has always been the backbone of the New York Quartet, and his magnificent drumming, which seems to have absorbed all styles, tightens up the performance and, together with bassist Rogers, brings out the best in Stanko and Tumalila. Just like Miles Davis, Stanko has been evolving by employing one talented newcomer after another, almost as young as his child. The New York Quartet, with Stanko’s one-horn gem, is serious and full of creativity without compromise, and we can’t take our eyes off it!