Tomasz Stanko Quartet — Lontano

The Tomasz Stanko Quartet have been playing together for some time and have released several critically acclaimed albums, mostly on the ECM label. Their front man Tomasz Stanko possesses one of the darkest trumpet tones in modern jazz, a style starkly contrasted to players like Nils Petter Molvaer who seem to move forward from Miles Davis’ free flowing electric era style playing. Here on Lontano the Quartet showcase their minimal understated moody jazz to full effect.

There are three tracks which share the name of the title, part one beginning the album. It’s moves in several parts, beginning with lone sparse piano notes falling freely ala Feldman before Michal Miskiewicz’s drums click and flick into life, only after the smallest aspect of rhythm has been established does Stanko appear with his trumpet pulling it all together like a shaft of light through a haze of dust and petals. The piece drifts in this manner for a few minutes before picking up with soaring trumpet calls and responses from both Wasilewski’ piano (Brilliant throughout) and Kurkiewicz’ bass.

The beauty of this sound, like many of ECMs quartets is the light and shade, how the group can move from such crystalline abstract darkness to semi-upbeat lounge (god I hate that word) jazz stylings. Mood and atmosphere would have been a better description of the central aspects of Stankos Quartet.
 
ECMs trademark products is really designed to bring acoustic acts like this one to the fore, tracks like Cyrhia literally glistens with presence and every isolated cymbal roll and piano tinkle are heard in absolute clarity, tracks like the above mentioned could almost have seen written for such sonic attention in mind. The distance, reverb and poetic unrhythm bursting to and fro from the group minute to minute on everyone of these pieces. Kattorna threatens to embark on it’s own trajectory of almost hard (soft) bob from it’s beginning but eventually finds itself drawn to the tranquillity of slow extended, so finitely placed instrumentation before asserting itself for the final two bars as a last hurrah before Lontano II allows us once again to drift out of body and into ethereal melodic territory. Here there is more tension, the piano strikes a more apprehensive tone of quick scales and almost silent single notes, as it falls back Stankos Trumpet falls forward as the ever present ring master he is. The drums while never leading as such move in and out of the mix as a ever present suggestion and hint of the next twist of mood to come.

Music like this has a literary quality to it. It’s language is that which never fully reveals the narrative behind the subtle chords and rhythms, but is more of a guide to a drama that is always just out of sight, but which we have no option but to pursue.