Marcin Wasilewski Trio - January (2008/2017) [Hi-Res]

The members of this young Polish trio — pianist Marcin Wasilewski, bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and drummer Michal Miskiewicz — have been working together since they were teenagers, and listening to January makes it clear that the band members know each other inside out. (The group also serves as a backup band for one of Poland’s most well known jazz artists, the trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.) The choice of material is intriguing: how many albums include pieces by Gary Peacock (“Vignette”) and Prince (”Diamonds and Pearls.”)? Overall, January has the reflective mood and strikingly clear sound that is emblematic of the German-based ECM label. On the title track, Wasilewski’s dreamy playing is sensitively accompanied by just-so drums and bass. But other cuts find the band in a different mode. The Stanko-penned “Balladyna” starts off quietly enough, but the band eventually brings an edgy, dramatic intensity to the music, and on the next track, Carla Bley’s “King Korn,” the threesome take off. January closes as quietly as it opens: “New York 2007” evokes a low-key sense of wonder right up to its last brushed drum sound.

Marcin Wasilewski: piano
Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double-bass
Michal Miskiewicz: drums