Whether in trio format or associated with late Tomas Stanko, the team of pianist Marcin Wasilewski with bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz have created a clear and crystalline sound. Here, tenor sax titan Joe Lovano rounds out the team to create a richly textured quartet, with everyone’s strengths being played like a winning hand at poker.
If nothing else, Lovano proves the adage that all tenor saxists get better with each passing year, as his tone gets warmer, the vibrato is more breathy and the melodies are more relaxed. Lovano taps into his inner Ben Webster as he rolls in like a fog on “Glimmer Of Hope” , the sighing “Fading Sorrow” and puffs out smoke rings on “Stray Cat Walk”. The trio creates with Wasilewsi’s ripples a gentle rubato for Lovano’s Coltranesque yearning on “Vaskar” and the impressionistic “A Glimpse”. The team is most frisky after Miskiewicz brings in a crisp stick to the intro of “On The Other Side” and the four are kinetic and bold as they bop through “L’Amour Fou”. It’s albums like this that make you glad for the birth of Adolphe Sax.