Wasilewski/Kurkiewicz/Miskiewicz: Trio

Herald rating: * * * *

The acoustic trio here, debuting on ECM after five albums in indie labels in Europe, were the group on trumpeter Tomasz Stankos' excellent Soul of Things album of mid-2002.

But where that was a lively set of miniatures veering between the sublime and the swinging, this collection often feels darker and more melancholy. Pianist Marcin Wasilewksi has it in him to take off on romantic flights, especially when propelled by the deft drumming of Michal Miskiewicz (KTC, Shine), but mostly there is a haunted quality to these tunes.

They essay Wayne Shorter's Plaza Real as if they were in a frosty courtyard of some European palace as the snow brushes in, and the originals are similar as they tread lightly between sparse expression and suggestions of lightness. One song, minimal in a latter-day Keith Jarrett style, is entitled Entropy which gives you a clue.

The album is book-ended by two tracks of ineffably beautiful delicacy (both entitled Trio Conversation) and along the way Bjork's Hyperballad is given refined treatment. ECM has covered this ground before, but those who heard Stankos' album should find a lot here to enjoy, and if you haven't explored slightly austere European piano/drum and bass in a while this will be rewarding. Casual jazz listeners and Katie Melua fans probably need not apply.

Label: ECM/Ode