This truly remarkable recording that is brought to a the zen like improvisation for Lovano’s gongs, that throughout the album have been a constant source of surprise and delight.
ECM 2845 / 756 7799
Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone, tarogato, gongs); Marcin Wasilewski (piano); Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass); Michal Miskiewicz (drums)
Recorded November 2023
A second outing for Joe Lovano and the long standing Marcin Wasilewski Trio, with much water now under the proverbial bridge. Since the recording of Arctic Riff for the imprint the quartet have toured extensively, and indeed the new recording was captured in the studio while the group were in the middle of a residency at the Village Vanguard.
Transferring the material from a live setting into the confines of the recording studio, the quartet lost none of their potency or spontaneity and able to recapture the spirit of adventure found in a club performance. If bound by time constraints the four musicians have judged these cuts perfectly, and even when stretching the pieces over the ten mark there is no sense of longueur, no superfluous notes or gestures, just the feeling that the music takes as long as it takes.
Having said this, the self-editing process is very much in evidence. The opening ‘Love Is In The Garden’ composed by the Polish violinist Zbigniew Seifert is done in a little over four minutes yet sets the scene magnificently for the monumental ‘Golden Horn’. Lovano’s tenor sound is big and luxurious in the middle and lower registers and highly effective split tones are brought forth in the upper. This is followed in a dynamic solo from Wasilewski supported by bass and drums building the tension at a rate of knots until Lovano returns, this time on tarogato in a blistering solo with release coming from the gradual easing of the rhythm section with a bass ostinato from Kurkiewicz and the drums/percussion dialogue between Lovano and Michal Miiskiewicz.
The often rough and unruly sound of the tarogato opens the title track, and it is this composition that is given the freest and most exploratory reading. The pulse is often disturbed and seems distant from the opening two pieces. A solo piano interlude Wasilewski also fails to settle things until bass and drums step in alongside side the tenor saxophone of Lovano in a trio dialogue that is as coherent as it is tantalisingly exciting. The piece, dedicated to Manfred Eicher and written for Eicher’s 80th birthday celebrations is one minute looking to develop along freely melodic lines before once again Lovano takes to his gongs in a brief if tempestuous dialogue with Miskiewicz.
Need respite, ‘Giving Thanks’ is for solo tenor saxophone that once again brings out Lovano’s big warm sound on the instrument before once again we are plunged in the tumultuous sound of the quartet that looks to push the composition as far as possible without losing sight of the modal structure, and indeed the music swings like no other on the album and paradoxically is perhaps the most accessible of composition of the date.
This truly remarkable recording that is brought to a the zen like improvisation for Lovano’s gongs, that throughout the album have been a constant source of surprise and delight.
