Konrad Wiszniewski - New Focus (2013)

Saxophonist Wiszniewski and pianist-composer Stevenson were the hit of last year's Edinburgh Jazz festival with their revival of Stan Getz's 1961 masterpiece, Focus, for tenor saxophone and strings. The result was a commission to produce their own work for the same format to be unveiled at this year's London Jazz festival, and this is it. Although by no means a Getz copyist, Wiszniewski has a ravishingly beautiful tone and Stevenson's scores for string quartet, harp and rhythm section amount to much more than mere accompaniment. Combining jazz and classical idioms is a tricky business, but this succeeds splendidly.

Tracklist:
01. Konrad Wiszniewski - Nicola's Piece (7:33)
02. Konrad Wiszniewski - Intro (1:12)
03. Konrad Wiszniewski - El Paraiso (4:16)
04. Konrad Wiszniewski - For Ray (5:20)
05. Konrad Wiszniewski - Interlude (1:10)
06. Konrad Wiszniewski - Music for a Northern Mining Town (3:53)
07. Konrad Wiszniewski - Illuminate (4:50)
08. Konrad Wiszniewski - Dziadzio (5:26)
09. Konrad Wiszniewski - Leonard's Lament (4:38)
10. Konrad Wiszniewski - Parsons Green (7:32)