Matt The Marcin Wasilewski Trio first came to International recognition in 2002 with the release of Tomasz Stanko’s “Soul Of Things” . They backed Tomasz Stanko on 13 variations of his composition which is no mean feat due to the fact of working just this one tune for the entire album. One could be excused for thinking that things could get a little dull and boring with only working the one piece but not so as every variation was performed beautifully and all had a different perspective. I was not the only Jazz fan that was impressed with the album which garnered impressive reviews and comments. They went on to do the next two albums with Tomasz Stanko being “Suspended Night” and Lontana” and all were recorded on the ECM Jazz label. Between the release of these two albums they released their debut on ECM as their own band simply named “Trio” in 2005 and once again all were highly impressed. After the release of “Trio” although the band treat all equal they decided to use the name, Marcin Wasilewski Trio as the pianist is usually referred to when naming Jazz trios. Albeit, as well Marcin does write the most of their material. Three albums have been recorded since by the band with just the trio present but this time around for the fourth they have decided to have Joakim Milder on tenor saxophone as an addition. Joakim Milder has also played with Tomaz Stanko being included in the line up for “Litania-The Music Of Krzysztof Komeda” which came out back in 1997. Joakim though like all these other musicians mentioned is not Polish but Swedish. Connections between these musicians are everywhere as Tomasz being a friend of the great Krzysztof Komeda ( Rosemary’s Baby Soundtrack plus loads more) has always had a special connection to this man’s music as Marcin’s Trio do, which is how Tomasz Stanko came across them in his native Poland and over a few years prior to their International debut they had been recording albums back in Poland and supporting him on various projects.

The trio still contain the same personnel and comprise Marcin Wasilewski , piano, Slawomir Kurkiewicz , double bass player and Michal Miskiewicz, drums for their latest release “Spark Of Life”. Space, time, silence with a touch of minimalism seem to best describe their approach with primarily a gentle laid back approach and every note and chord resounding with a beautiful contemplative clarity. “Austin “ with just the trio present opens the album with Marcin playing this ballad to perfection and The Rhythm section are spot on with the bass from Slawomir and brush work from Michal providing a simply low played beautiful support. You could never accuse Marcin of overplaying as every note that he plays, a simply gorgeous clarity is coming through. Joakim Milder comes in with his tenor for “Sudovian Dance” and similar to Marcin he has that space approach to his technique on tenor saxophone with a slight gradual build up throughout his input into what is another laid back number. The title “Spark Of Life” is given two separate takes on the album being track three and the last with a different approach for each but both are at that contemplative tempo with once again another absolutely beautifully played composition. We also have “Sleep Safe And Warm” the usual Komeda addition and it is another of the albums highlights played to perfection with an outstanding take of the tune containing a wonderful bass solo and piano input from Marcin and the band picks up a little tempo here for this one. Police’s “Message In A Bottle” is also included but for me it is the Marcin Wasilewski compositions including “Three Reflections” with the one Komeda and Herbie Hancock’s “Actual Proof” that are the album’s highlights. There are eleven tracks contained within the album but all but two seem to be heading to a sameness due to the same slow tempo approach. The albums length is just under 74 minutes which I find is for myself is a little too long and a good description maybe a Filet Mignon is just right for a dinner but to have the whole Chateaubriand given to one is just too much.

Superb musicianship from a superb band and saxophonist but just because on cds you can pile more content and it is great to think that bands feel they want to give everybody their money’s worth it sometimes gets a little too much.The album is superbly played and with that usual ECM production,sounds even a little more exquisite and if it had ran no more than 50 minutes I would be hitting repeat on the player but as it is 74, I'm kinda glad it is over.