PIOTR WOJTASIK "Quest"One
of the recently formed international jazz groups is present one,
combining three eminent, universally known Americans with the two Polish
young lions of jazz. The amazing thing is these five excellent jazzmen
merge into a wonderful unity. The music on this CD is simply wonderful.
It's like a five-act drama in the best Shakespearean style. Each of the
five pieces / the first by Wojtasik, the rest by Harper / has its own
dramaturgy, burning with emotional content, but also shining with formal
beauty and clarity. Each piece was allotted some ingenious unifying
device, be it bass ostinato figures or a riff or a recurrent motif that
joins, divide sand interacts with the improvised soli. This music is
full of strength, serious, bristling with invention and meaning, telling
the stories. There is one reflective ballad just before the last number,
Harper plays this tender confession himself preceded by the exquisitely
subtle piano introduction. The last piece - Quest, is simply astounding.
No wonder it gave the title to the whole CD. The impression is, this is
something more then a quest; it's more like a mission, a dangerousone.
The military apprehensive sounds of ensemble sections and the ingenious
soli are to stick long in our imagination, our feelings and memory.
Amazing Music ! |