MARCIN
WASILEWSKI, SLAWOMIR KURKIEWICZ, MICHAL MISKIEWICZ
Trio
ECM
Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewica, and
Michal Miskiewicz have been recording on independent Polish
record labels as the Simple Acoustic Trio since the mid-1990s,
but Trio is their first international major label
release. Of course, many jazz fans have heard the group
on Tomasz Stanko’s Soul of Things and Suspended
Variations CDs or seen them on tour with Stanko as
his backing group. Still, the opportunity to hear this amazing
group of musicians, recorded with producer Manfred Eicher’s
fine attention to sonic detail, is a welcome one indeed.
This group is more jazz-oriented and less gimmicky than
new piano trios like Bad Plus or EST, and much less obviously
beholden to the blues/gospel aspect of Keith Jarrett’s
influence than labelmates the Tord Gustavsen Trio. Wasilewski
is more clearly under the sway of Bill Evans. Like Gustavsen’s
group, though, this trio also gets an extra kick from its
drummer, in this case Michal Miskiewicz, who can channel
modern masters like Motian and DeJohnette effortlessly.
If Gustavsen is influenced by Jarrett’s
“European Quartet” of the 1970s, Wasilewski
& Co. are much more influenced by his Standards Trio.
They demonstrate the same penchant for group improvisation—and
a similar talent for it as well. Elements of Brad Mehldau’s
approach are also in evidence. Wasilewski has said, in interviews,
that the trio has always liked to do group improvisations.
That can be hard to do during live performances though,
because audiences like to hear familiar tunes and because
the musicians need to be able to concentrate solely on what
they and the others are playing, and a live audience can
be something of a distraction. Here they had studio time
with Manfred Eicher offering advice and helping them direct
their improvisations, and they recorded something like eight
improvisational pieces. Five are included on the CD, heavily
loaded onto the second half of the disc.
The group also tackles interesting pieces
in pop singer Bjork’s “Hyperballad” and
Wayne Shorter’s “Plaza Real.” “Hyperballad”
is an interesting piece of music, and the trio does it justice
here. Wasilewski mimcs the original version’s slow,
dirgelike bassline, while Miskiewicz provides a great deal
of coloration, not settling into a beat or groove, which
keeps the listener on his or her toes. “Plaza Real”
comes from Procession, a late Weather Report album, and
the version here sounds very, very different from the original,
which featured concertina, accordion, and whistling. Their
work with these covers further demonstrates the originality
and high level of musicianship at the core of this trio.
Wasilewski and company make music that becomes
more interesting and more beautiful the more time you spend
with it and the more familiar you become with it. That’s
the mark of a true artist, and lets you know that these
are musicians who will still be around and playing years
from now. Trio is an instant classic that will
become part of the jazz piano trio canon all young musicians
must listen to.
