Recording of the Week, Marcin Wasilewski Trio, 'En attendant'

Photo credit: Artur Krutowicz

None have championed the Polish jazz scene as much as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio. Originally forming over a quarter of a century ago - when its members were still teenagers - the band hasn’t always borne the pianist’s name; Wasilewski, along with bassist Sławomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michał Miśkiewicz began the group as the Simply Acoustic Trio, releasing a handful of records for Polish jazz labels throughout the mid-’90s to early 2000s. It was during this time that the young trio caught the attention of the Polish jazz champion Tomasz Stańko, who worked with them informally for a few years before officially recruiting them as his band for touring and recording in 2001. It’s Wasilewski and co. that you can hear on classic Stańko releases like 2001’s Soul of Things, and their work with Stańko eventually saw them recording with a number of other ECM-affiliated artists - releases like Jacob Young’s Forever Young and Manu Katché’s Neighbourhood - while they continued to release music under their own name. The trio have been on something of a winning streak with their recent crop of albums, including the excellent 2018 live album aptly titled Live, and last year’s collaboration with American saxophonist Joe Lovano, Arctic Riff. Recorded within a month of their Lovano collaboration in the Summer of 2019, En attendant has Wasilewski, Kurkiewicz and Miśkiewicz back as a trio, working through both familiar tunes and collaborative experiments.

Having been recorded within months of each other, En attendant shares some of its material with the group’s Lovano collaboration; the following Carla Bley tune ‘Vashkar’ is familiar territory for the trio, not only having performed it many times throughout their time as a trio but also including it on Arctic Riff. You’d be hard pressed to tell the two differences apart if it weren’t for Lovano’s driving tenor lines on the Arctic Riff version, but their absence gives the trio space to explore this timeless tune further. Also reappearing on this release is the Wasilewski original ‘Glimmer of Hope’, its loose structure proving it to be a greatly versatile piece - the version with Lovano almost reaches the 9-minute mark - with this interpretation highlighting Miśkiewicz’s shimmering kit work, cymbals and hats washing over Wasilewski’s piano passages. With this much time together, the Wasilewski Trio are well-tuned to the more contemplative sounds of contemporary European jazz - the name of the game has always been fluidity. Even when an excerpt from Bach’s Goldberg Variations makes an appearance, their totally transformative interpretation of the work leaves it feeling like a new piece entirely, though those familiar with the original will no doubt be able to pick out the familiar melodies.

Photo credit: Andrzej Łazarz

Keeping with jazz tradition, the Wasilewski trio have often explored interpretations of pop and rock songs, from The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ to Björk’s ‘Hyperballad’ - this time around, they offer up their take on The Doors’ classic ‘Riders on the Storm’, dialing into the atmospheric side of the original psychedelic hit, yet still about as groovy as the trio get on this recording. All these more structured tracks are complemented by the three-part suite ‘In Motion’, embracing a more improvisatory and collaborative method of songwriting. Be it the malleability of their material, chemistry after more than 25 years as a group, or a mixture of both, En attendant very neatly encapsulates the freeform style of these Polish jazz mainstays.