# Photos: Stańko’s Horn Hymnals Hamstrung By Candy-Coated Symphonics At NFM, Wrocław: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/03/01/photos-stankos-horn-hymnals-hamstrung-by-candy-coated-symphonics-at-nfm-wroclaw-video/
- Published: 2018-03-01T10:26:38+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**A grand occasion for a towering figure in Polish music. Tomasz Stańko has founding
father status as one of the post-war players who fostered the significant growth
of jazz in the Eastern European country whose scene has since seen the emergence
of several other feted champions. **

[jazzwisemagazine.com](http://jazzwisemagazine.com) Fittingly, the 75-year-old trumpeter
leads a quartet comprising musicians half his age, but the other major selling point
of the gig is the presence of the **NFM Philharmonic Orchestra**, arranged and conducted
by **Krzysztof Herdzin**.

Those with long memories will know that Stańko worked with the pioneering Globe 
Unity Orchestra back in the 1970s, and that he has always shifted astutely between
post-bop and avant-garde pathways. Hence the prospect of hearing his broad, at times
brash, at times plaintive tone cast against a stage full of strings and horns is
mouth-watering. The majesty Stańko has often been able to evoke in his vast discography,
above all on highlights such as 1976’s _Fish Face_ and 1999’s _Litania_, his urbane
take on the music of Krzystof Komeda, the iconic, enduringly influential composer
with whom he worked in the 1960s, should lend itself well to such a dignified setting.

![Stanko HI res fot Karol Sokolowski 022](https://i0.wp.com/jazzwisemagazine.com/
images/MARCH2018/Stanko_HI_res_fot_Karol_Sokolowski_022.jpg?resize=640%2C410)

So it proves intermittently. Backed by drummer, **Michal Miskiewicz**, double-bassist**
Slamowir Kurkiewicz**and pianist **Dominik Wania**, Stańko, a master of what he 
himself termed the ‘heavy ballad’, projects commandingly in the 1,800 capacity concert
hall, which is sold out, and the airy, swish strains provided by the orchestra serve
to heighten that, bringing out the precise, dry crackle of his brass all the more.
While the mysterioso, sombre grace of _Ascenseur_-era Miles is part of his vocabulary
Stańko has a hard, if not austere turn of phrase that is utterly gripping at times.
The set-list comprises excellent material from recent works with his New York Quartet
such as ‘Dernier Cri’ and ‘Wislawa’, which the band negotiates well, handling the
buoyant swing and lithe, looser, more metrically open passages with a deft touch.
Pianist Wania takes fine solos on which his harmonic finesse is matched by carefully
channelled rhythmic drive from bassist Kurkiewicz and drummer Miskiewicz.

Sadly, there is a major problem with the arrangements. The horns are mostly underused,
and the biggest disappointment is the inappropriately saccharine preludes and interludes
on some pieces that stray far from the innate character of the band, to the extent
that when the quartet is left alone without the orchestra the performance is enhanced
rather than impoverished. The rest of the set has some beautiful melodies – ‘The
Street Of Crocodiles’, ‘Oni’, ‘April Story’ – but the sense of imbalance between
the orchestra and the band is a shame, given the potential of the meeting on paper.

Having said that, Stańko, radiating charisma in a bright red beret and slick dark
suit, plays too lyrically for the concert not to engage a highly responsive and 
openly appreciative audience. Last year I was lucky enough to see him play with 
his New York quartet at Gateshead and the performance, marked by superb interplay
and probing improvisations, was brilliant. This Polish band is also excellent, but
the question is, how can a soloist of Stanko’s immense stature be most adequately
served in an orchestral setting in one of the best concert halls in the world? There
are hints of an answer tonight, but the enquiry on ‘Stańko symfonicznie’ shouldn’t
stop here.

**– Kevin Le Gendre; http://jazzwisemagazine.com
 – Photos by Karol Sokołowski

![Stanko HI res fot Karol Sokolowski 025](https://i0.wp.com/jazzwisemagazine.com/
images/MARCH2018/Stanko_HI_res_fot_Karol_Sokolowski_025.jpg?w=640)

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