Scandinavian Art Ensemble with Tomasz Stańko

Partially a graduation concert and partially a newly unearthed piece of jazz history, this album is the companion and completion of sessions Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko created with participants after a week-long summer course he led in 2016. Stańko (1942 -2018) was involved in the birth of Polish free jazz in the 1960s with Adam Makowicz, Krzysztof Komeda, Zbigniew Seifert and others, worked internationally with ensembles like Globe Unit and in the last decades of his life toured with a Polish quartet and composed film and theatre soundtracks.

A rare teaching gig for Stańko, participants were younger but already professional and later went on to decisive careers in creative music. They included Poles, pianist Artur Tuźnik drummer Radek Wośko and trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski; Danes, tenor saxophonist Thomas Hass, vibist Martin Fabricius and bassist Richard Andersson; Icelandic trumpeter Snorri Sigurðarson and Finnish vocalist Johanna Elina Sulkunen.

With three trumpeter featured it’s difficult to ascribe individual solo work, though it’s likely most of the moody, atmospheric brass patterns are Stańko’s even though the others – especially Dąbrowski – continue to make a mark on the European scene. Participants noted that the trumpeter made a point of always joining the ensemble, making space for all the players. Besides layered trumpet setups, the pianist’s sympathetic comping and the vocalist’s mostly wordless murmurs in sync with expositions and elaborations are most prominent.

Bassist Andersson’s potent pulse makes “Anti-Freeze” one standout track as his pumps and Wośko’s ruffs create a rhythmic whirlpool upon which constant keyboard swirls and an assemblage of brassy shakes, triplets and narrowed smears rest. Energetic throughout  there are still places here and elsewhere where then-popular fusion stylistic cadences  predominate.

Other interjections from trumpet obbligatos, throaty vocalized syllables and a heartfelt saxophone solo on the concluding “Sunrise” also make an impression. However the overall slow pace and languid narratives produce a certain sameness with some sequences more enervating than exciting.

But still that’s hardy the point. The Copenhagen Session Vol. 2 allows yet another instance of  Stańko’s work as a player and organizer to be heard by the public at large. And it also offers a rare glimpse of soon to be notable Northern European players during a pedagogical apprenticeship. For more info visit

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. So Nice 2. New Ballad 3. 3rd For Eruption 4. April Moon 5. Anti-Freeze 6. Sunrise

Personnel: Tomasz Stańko, Tomasz Dąbrowski and Snorri Sigurðarson (trumpets); Thomas Hass (tenor saxophone); Artur Tuźnik (piano); Martin Fabricius (vibraphone); Richard Andersson (bass); Radek Wośko (drums) and Johanna Elina Sulkunen (vocals)