Joachim Kuhn Trio at Jazztopad (17.11)

Fourth day of the Jazztopad and a change of the scenery - the Joachim Kuhn Trio concert took place in a beutiful space of Wroclaw's synagogue. White walls, modest yet refined ornamentation, dimly-lit mystical space - it all added up to create a particularly spiritual aura.

Joachim is a restless soul and the trio is yet another adventurem, and it's music yet another prove that music is and intercultural language. Kuhn's rampant and poignant piano playing is rooted in european jazz and he's playing completely invested, lost in the moment. What brings new context to this kind of expression is the sound of guimbri. The melodic riffs  would not be so unlike a blues riff in a Jimi Hendrix song but the joyfull rhythmic pulsation gave the music a particularly vital and vivid character. In fact Joachim Kuhn would tell about how he thinks real blues was born not in States but in Marocco and Bekkas's singing in the next piece showed he has a point there.

William Parker Trio & Wroclaw Philharmony Orchestra (16,11) / Tony Malaby TubaCello Quartet & Polish Cello Quartet (17.11) at Jazztopad Festival

The 2nd and 3rd day of the Jazztopad festival presented to the audience specially commissioned projects, all three posing a question of a possible interjections between composed, classical music and improvisation - an ambitious task in any circumstances and kudos for the festival's for taking such a pro-active attitude, kudos for the artists for jumping on the train.

William Parker has quite an experience writing and leading for a big jazz bands but I believe that "Ceremonies for those who are still" written for a full scale 40 piece orchestra is a first of its sort in his musical activity. The amount of colours and textures you can get from such group may be in many ways overwhelming. The composition dedicated to a late friend of the composer, Moscow-based bassplayer Rustam Abdullaev and the mourning aspect of it seemed clearly present the ominous chants by the choir section. The colourfull passages would be linked together by the improvising trio.

Wayne Shorter Quartet at Wroclaw Philharmony - Jazztopad day 1 (14.11)

I've had a distinct pleasure to see Wayne Shorter Quartet live on stage already once this year. And the Warsaw Summer Jazz performance confirmed what is widely known - he remains one of the few guys who still posess the key to the Jazz Truth. As gratifying as the concert was, I wanted more and the knowledge that in only a couple of months there will be a second chance to see the group on stage was very consoling.

Jazztopad celebrates it's 10th edition and it's hard to immagine a more fitting introduction to the festival. Wayne Shorter and his cohorts - Danilo Perez, John Pattitucci and Brian Blade form a group that for over a decade remains one of the most exciting in modern jazz. The empathic connection they've developed, they spontaneity, the mututal appreciation and respect - it is all there, palpable. The group developed musical language of communication where, at a short hint, a music can go in any possible direction, non unlike the Miles's groups where the setlist was pretty much made up as they went . 

Blade is simply brilliant behind the drums - in control of the vivid pulse all the time, Pattitucci's bass gives the harmonic support, gracefull and elegant, Perez flight through the piano keys exchanging dynamic chord attacks and lyrical arpeggios. And then there's Shorter who for most parts of the evening limits himself to play short phrases and hint-lines. In fact Wayne seems quite happy when he listens to, with the rest of the audience, to the three musicians around him. While it might have seemed an off-night, he still can play your hats off on soprano, and the distinct sound he gets on the instrument is like a glimpse into jazz greatness.