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THE WORLD IN THE RAIN IS BEAUTIFUL, TOO The outstanding jazz composer and trumpeter Tomasz Stańko died on July 29. He was buried at Powązki cemetery in Warsaw. "Today, our hearts are burning. Anyone who has heard the sound of Tomasz's trumpet feels that loss. His music was recognised after just a few notes were played,” Tomasz Tłuczkiewicz, vice-president of the Polish Jazz Association, said in his farewell address. Maciej Proliński looks back on Stańko’s career.
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he New York Times once described Tomasz Stańko as “a trumpeter of the spirit of freedom, thought and jazz.” Perhaps that is the best way of putting it. Stańko did indeed symbolise the freedom of Polish jazz artists under communism, and his music was thoughtprovoking. He released a large number of albums at home and abroad, gave countless concerts and thus became one of the greatest ambassadors for Polish art abroad. He was a versatile composer and trumpeter with unique sensitivity, great intuition and his own sound. He recorded and performed with the most prominent musicians such as Krzysztof Komeda, Zbigniew Seifert, Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Dino Saluzzi, Gary Peacock, and Dave Holland. He never judged anyone, unlike many other artists of his day. In fact, in communist times, some musicians were members of what were known as vetting commissions which ruled who was an artist and who was not – not based on merit but in line with criteria imposed by the communist rulers. He never compromised the music standards he adhered to, unlike many of those who sat on the vetting commissions. For decades he was fortunate enough to enjoy a status which allowed him to choose who he wanted to work with and which country he wanted to travel to. In 1976, he released a CD for the elite German label ECM for the first time. It was called "Balladyna." In the 1990s, and in the following years, he released more records under that label, including "Soul of Things", "Lontano", "Dark Eyes" (music from this album is used in the soundtrack of the US "Homeland" series), and “Suspended Night."A track from this album -"Suspended Night / Variation viii" - found itself in an anthology published by the world's largest educational and research complex, the Smithsonian Institute. Out of the album’s 100 works, there are
only a handful of European recordings. The idea of this publication is primarily to showcase the greatest legends and innovators in the history of jazz. Another album, "Wisława," was dedicated to the Polish Nobel Prize winner in literature Wisława Szymborska, with whom Stańko had the honour to collaborate. His last album "December Avenue" was brought out last year. Stańko also wrote music for the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The song "Freedom in August" was composed and recorded especially for the Museum in 2004. Stańko’s music can be heard throughout the exhibition. Its first performance accompanied the opening ceremony of the museum. Stańko also wrote incidental music for many Polish films, starting in the 1960s, with works by filmmakers Janusz and Andrzej Kondratiuk, followed by animated films by Mariusz Wilczyński. Over the last 15 years, with the help of his daughter Ania, he ran the Jazz Autumn festival in the city of Bielsko-Biała. It became one of the most important jazz festivals in Poland, recordings from which came out under the ECM label. Such stars as Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Cecil Taylor and Pharoah Sanders played at the festival. Stańko's music, and especially the characteristic sound of his trumpet were easily recognised even by those not into jazz. Over the course of several decades his personality remained unchanged, though full of contrasts. The artist himself admitted that in everyday life he oscillated somewhere between fury and lyricism. These extremes certainly had considerable influence on Stańko's musical style. For many years, this style had distinctly veered toward fury - sometimes romantic, Slavic - but still furious. Stańko was, after all, a pioneer of free jazz in Europe and Poland. In the last two decades of his life, his style gradually revolved toward lyricism and peace, which first came through on the brilliant album
Tomasz Stańko’s last concert at a Teatr Wielki Polish National Opera gala on March 19 marking the 100th anniversary of ZAIKS. Photo: Kinga Karpati & Daniel Zarewicz
“Litany” published by ECM in 1997, which is described by music critics as one of the most beautiful records in the history of jazz. It is a true artistic tribute made after many years to the late Polish jazz and cinema music composer Krzysztof Komeda, whose soundtrack to “Rosemary’s Baby” remains a timeless classic. “Litany” contains a small anthology of Komeda's music performed by Stańko. It’s a verita• ble masterpiece. 10/2018 polish market
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