Faithful

Marcin Wasilewski | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ECM Records
• ASIN: B004NDVJJG
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,883 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Jazz Times

"Marcin Wasiklewski does not think like other jazz pianists, His improvisational underpinning, his sense of musical space and his aural imagery are so fresh they are initially mysterious, then get more so. The same can be said of his trio as a whole with bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz...It takes nerve for a young trio to create music of such stillness, such patience. The fact that three three have played together since they were teenagers is audible in the way they trust the epiphanies they collectively come upon."

Product Description

This is a dazzling and beautifully-recorded third ECM album by Poland's Wasilewski Trio, one of the most resourceful piano trios of the present day. The wide-ranging repertoire includes five new tunes from the pen of Marcin Wasilewski and contemporary jazz classics by Paul Bley, Hermeto Pascoal, Ornette Coleman and more. Produced by Manfred Eicher, the very natural and warm-sounding album perfectly captures the trio's blend of energy and lyricism. There is space here for both the outgoing and the reflective, for profound composition and in-the-moment creativity.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faithful Is A Gem But Not Quite The Pinnacle Of January, June 10, 2011

By 

[e-mail] (WI, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Faithful (Audio CD)

Marcin Wasilewski piano, Slawomir Kurkiewicz bass, and Michal Miskiewicz drums are the Marcin Wasilewski Trio, sometimes called the Simple Acoustic Trio in the earlier days. This trio also has played closley with Tomasz Stanko as the Tomasz Stanko Quartet. All their music is very good, some of it great. As a trio their three CDs are Trio, January, and Faithful. All three are excellent but my favorite CD by this group is the magnificent CD, January. The trio really clicked on January!

Faithful is a slower paced album than January. As such I found it slightly less engaging. The musicians are still the finest in the world but the material is just notch weaker than January. I'm a big fan of Michal Miskiewicz's drums. His technique is skillful and subtle. His cymbals never pierce but are rather understated. He has the finesse of a true master.

Marcin Wasilewski's flowing piano is smooth, sweet but precise. Wasilewski wrote some the original material on Faithful. He is quite an excellent composer. Again, I thought his material on January was just a bit better.

The recording of the material is at the usual extremely high quality that one has come to expect from ECM.

I highly recommend Faithful. But please, give January a listen.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another classic from the MW Trio, May 9, 2011

By 

Daniel Volovets (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faithful (Audio CD)

I became acquainted with Marcin Wasilewski's trio through Tomasz Stanko's albums. The music they recorded is easily some of the finest stuff released by ECM (or at all!). Even though Stanko is a fantastic musician in his own right, I was incredibly excited when I saw that the trio was branching off to do their own thing. Their pre-ECM records are very good, but the recording quality wasn't quite the same as on ECM efforts, understandably. Their first ECM release, "Trio", took care of that and was a great record. "January" was even better, continuing the line of musical thought established in the trio's previous releases and polishing it. "Faithful" is their best record yet.

If you enjoyed the Marcin Wasilewski Trio's previous efforts, pick this one up without any second thoughts. If not, I recommend buying all of the ECM releases from the trio. The music is sophisticated yet accessible, with plenty of interesting melodies, happenin' improv, and tasty harmonies. I suppose you could knock these guys for "not evolving", but who cares when the music is good in the first place? No other piano trio comes close to these guys, and I for one can't wait for their next release.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars creative but nostalgic approach., April 19, 2011

By 

Arthur Gorniak (Allentown,PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Faithful (Audio CD)

"Faithful", the newest release from Wasilewski and friends, continue rather mellow and nostalgic house-sound of the Trio started with "January". Well recorded material that fits perfectly into those long, and cold winter nights spent next to the fireplace. The pace of the album points to the slower side with couple exception like "Big Foot" where for several moments we have dynamic bass and drum dialog introduced by Miskiewicz and Kurkiewicz duo. The material given on this album reminds me of Tord Gustavsen's approach where the melancholy and nostalgia are constantly present in the air.
I am looking forward to see them again live in NY or PA area soon!