Habanera

While there seems to be an unprecedented number of young jazz musicians releasing recordings under their own names these days, one of the long-held foundations of the jazz tradition seems to be taking a back seat; specifically, the nurturing of young talent through the tutelage of older, more established musicians seems to be turning into a thing of the past. And that's a shame, because while there are certainly a number of young artists who have managed to emerge as strong and independent players in their own right, the chance to learn on the bandstand from artists who have been at it for a lifetime is an irreplaceable opportunity to absorb the tradition while, at the same time, keeping an eye firmly focused on the future.

And so when Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski, at the tender age of 16, got a call from trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, unquestionably Poland's most well-known jazz artist, and one who has been enjoying increasing international exposure since returning to the fold of the ECM label in the mid-‘90s, little did he know that for himself, and the other members of his Simple Acoustic Trio, this would be the opportunity of a lifetime and the beginning of a relationship that continues to this day. At first Wasilewski and his band mates — bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz — played smaller dates in Poland, while Stanko performed higher profile gigs with his international ensembles that included pianist Bobo Stenson, bassist Anders Jormin, drummer Tony Oxley and others. But since '01, when the trio recorded their first album with Stanko, the remarkably sublime Soul of Things, they have emerged as Stanko's ensemble of choice and now perform on stages internationally.