Pages

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Krzysztof Komeda - Astigmatic


Great Polish pianist who died way too young (just shy of 38).

He worked with Roman Polanski, composing many film scores, but unfortunately he didn't have many studio albums to his name. However, Astigmatic makes up for the lack of material, as it's one of the finest European jazz albums I have had the pleasure of hearing.

This recording has that European "cool" sound, which many Americans were going for in the 50's, but mixes it with some more of the avant-garde of the 60's, which sounds great. The half hour title track also features a more free type of improvisation, but again, it's more in the "cool" vein than some of the blowing sessions found in the US at the time. Also, Tomasz Stanko puts in a great performance here on trumpet.


Astigmatic

No comments:

Post a Comment