Marcin Wasilewski Trio Live (2 LP)

After four studio albums for ECM this is the live recording so many have been waiting for. Recorded in August 2016 at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, it captures the trio in energetic, extroverted mode, fanning the flames of their Spark of Life repertoire and drawing on the deep understanding Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz have established in the course of a quarter century of shared musical endeavour. As UK magazine Jazz Journal has noted, “Wasilewski’s music celebrates a vast dynamic range, from the most deftly struck pianistic delicacies to gloriously intense emotional exuberance, the chords pounded with unrestrained joy, yet always within a marvellously melodic concept.”
"In this ‘Live’ environment, partially fueled by an enthusiastic audience, the trio surpasses even their best studio material." - Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz
"While the trio at the side of Tomasz Stanko was still the filigree-light-footed counterpart to his brittle, melancholic-rough melody lines, the band 'Live' now shows itself more strongly as an energetic power package. Sensitively played melodies and dynamic improvisations combine in the music of the trio with technical perfection to form a collectively acting whole." - Heribert Ickerott, Jazz Podium
"The repertoire is mainly based on the 'Spark Of Life' program, the collaboration with saxophonist Joachim Milder from 2013. In these pieces, the trio can be heard with a significantly increased energy supply compared to the studio versions. This also applies to 'Night Train To You' from the Faithfull album, in the course of which the trio merges so much into unity that it is hard to say who is currently soloing and who is accompanying. In the gentle 'Three Reflections' the musicians reveal their sensitive playing. You can really feel the tension in the room. The amazement, the suction." - Sebastian Meißner, Soundsandbooks
"With a light hand, Marcin Wasilewski, as Primus inter Pares, draws fabulous piano melodies of shimmering playfulness. In addition, Slawomir Kurkiewicz pulses delicate bass lines with a beautiful tone, which perfectly complement the refined accentuated drumming of Michal Miskiewicz. After four magnificently dynamic tracks, the ballad-esque 'Austin' sets such a touching counterpoint that it would immediately become a chart-breaker in the Pp. Herbie Hancock's 'Actual Proof' finally sums up her world class: No other piano trio is currently acting so confidently." - Hans-Dieter Grünefeld, HiFi Records
"It's hard to believe: such sounds in front of 4,000 listeners! In addition, there was a recording that Wasilewski and his two colleagues only found out about after the concert. So they did not play for the microphone, but for the audience – and for the moment. And apparently everything was right about that. Bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz have long been the trio partners of Marcin Wasilewski: a trio that breathes with each other and has a special sense of atmospheric intensity. And for drive - if necessary. For example, in a piece that was originally written by the singer Sting and his band The Police. A pop classic, here in the guise of a jazz trio: 'Message in a Bottle': An ensemble like this makes listeners rediscover even such a rush. A breathtaking experience of jazzy sound over a period of more than ten minutes makes it dramatic." - Roland Spiegel, Bavarian Radio
"The team does some wonderfully selected pieces of other artists for interpretation; The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ is a deep and delicate pulsation of extrapolation, and Herbie Hancock’s ‘Actual Proof’ has some intrepid interplay between Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz. Wasilewiski’s own ‘Spark of Life/Sudovian Dance’ opens with soft reflective spaces before building up into a dramatic passion, while his ‘Three Reflections’ has autumnal brush work and a bass solo that is like water color brush strokes. Open spaces with a full moon glowing from above." - George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
"Recorded by Flemish radio in Antwerp 2016 without the trio's knowledge, this accidental live disc not only delivers to followers of this long-lived Polish unit an essential live document, it washes over newcomers like a cresting baptismal wave that never stops cleansing the soul and senses. Nearing thirty years as a unit—they also served as the late trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's adventurous rhythm section from 2001-2006)—the ability of pianist Marcin Wasilewski, double bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz to anticipate and activate each other's musical turns and temptations is a marvel to experience." - Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz
"Throughout, the trio’s bluesy, propulsive groove factor contrasts with a majestic classical music sensibility […] a raw (you can feel the presence of the huge, 4000 capacity audience), yet sonically well-balanced mix, retains the electricity of their live performances, as anyone, who’s seen the trio perform would recognize." - Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise
"There’s a galaxy of piano trios in today’s jazz universe, but few shine as bright as Marcin Wasilewski’s. […] The Sting tune ‘Message in a Bottle’ has a gently delirious quality, Wasilewski drifting from the theme only to be drawn back by Kurkiewicz reiterating the melody on bass; the urgent ‘Night Train to You’ rattles off the leader’s right hand, stoked by a surging rhythm. Another original piece, ‘Austin’ is a perfect palimpsest of Polish melancholy combined with the blue poetry of American jazz. It’s a gorgeous album." - Garry Booth, BBC Music Magazine
"Since 1993, the Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski has been making music with his compatriots, the bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and the drummer Michal Miskiewicz in an unchanged line–up - such continuity is also and especially rare in jazz. Their interplay on the six tracks of this album is correspondingly fine-tuned. Nevertheless, it does not seem like a jam session, sounds neither intimate nor relaxed, but on the contrary gripping and captivating, sometimes also high-energy." - Harry Schmidt, Jazz Aesthetics
"This band is, for me, the greatest jazz piano trio the world currently has to offer. Their line-up has not changed in a quarter of a century, and in that time they have become so cohesive as to sound like one person somehow managing to play all three instruments at once. Wasilewski, bassist Sławomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michał Miśkiewicz are truly telepathic. […] The gentler tunes quiver with the same intensity and drama as the fast ones: ‘Three Reflections’ and the gorgeously melodic ‘Austin’ are both examples of this. The trio never strays into discord or ugliness, yet maintains a distinctively modern sensibility." - Peter Jones, London Jazz News
"The impressive live atmosphere of this CD is conveyed, for example, in the trio version of the song 'Message in a bottle' by the legendary band The Police. Completely detached in the here and now, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio interprets this title and drives the audience in front of them with a constant rhythm. Only after ten minutes, the musicians breathlessly reach something like a small art break, before it continues with the next excitement. [...] The fascinating thing about the live recording is that you could hear a pin drop during the quiet pieces. The audience simply holds their breath and lets themselves be carried away by the trio. Marcin Wasilewski on piano, Slawomir Kurkiewicz on bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums are then completely one. A mini ensemble that has been perfectly matched for years.
Georg Waßmuth, Südwestrundfunk
"Mostly reworkings of previously recorded material, the tracks pulse with fresh vigour, right from the opening ‘Spark of Life’/’Sudovian Dance’, balancing delicacy and exuberance over a tidal surge of bass and drums. There’s a similarly powerful current to ‘Night Train to You’ while the ballad ‘Austin’ radiates a winsome melodic delicacy. The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ certainly travels, and with irresistible and ominous drive, a springy bass break spelling out the tune before piano whirrs back in, giving way to a boisterous drum solo before things subside in a sort of Morse code signalling from all three." - Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman
"What’s displayed on the long awaited ‘Live’, documenting a 2016 performance at the Jazz Middelheim festival in Antwerp, Belgium is a telepathy and intimacy of three musicians so comfortable with the music they can take it anywhere, whether it’s floating as gracefully as a night mist or with pulsating drive. For first time listeners of the trio, the recording is a treat and entry into a polished mode of operation and for long time fans, they can sink into the extended readings. […] ‘Live’ is a satisfying, magisterial performance from the Marcin Wasilewski Trio. The pianist flows forward with twinkling streams of ideas that move in and out of the excellent accompaniment of his band mates that allow the tunes to expand, contract, and adopt intriguing contours." - CJ Shearn, Jazz Views

• Double LP
• Recorded at Jazz Middelheim, Antwerp, August 2016
• Gatefold jacket
• Made in Germany

• Marcin Wasilewski, piano
• Slawomir Kurkiewicz, double bass
• Michal Miskiewicz, drums