Tomasz Stańko - From the Green Hill (ECM, 1998)

Tomasz Stańko, trumpet
John Surman, baritone sax & bass clarinet
Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon

Michelle Makarski, violin
Anders Jormin, bass 
Jon Christensen, drums

Recorded August 1998

Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug

I mentioned in a previous post that From the Green Hill is one of two albums by Tomasz Stańko to earn a place in my favorite jazz albums of the 1990s. Most of Stańko's music is somewhat bleak, according to the artist himself. Litania (1997) and From the Green Hill are the exceptions. With John Surman, Dino Saluzzi, and Michelle Makarski sharing the front line with Stańko's stark trumpet, the mix is intoxicating. 

Saluzzi's bandoneon is a small accordion that affords both single notes and chords, all played with a reedy yet emotive resolve. Surman plays mostly bass clarinet but uses his baritone sax effectively on a pair of cuts. The low registers of either horn contrast with Stańko's high brass and Makarski's violin. Bassist Anders Jormin and drummer John Christiansen provide a colorful backdrop for the proceedings. Jormin in particular adds deep resonant bass to the range of sounds. 

The blend of timbres across low and high frequencies immerses the listener in an unimaginably warm sonic bath. There is none of the cold "ECM sound" often found in Stańko's other recordings. I'm amazed at how well balanced the instruments are, given their variety. This may very well be the most challenging, and most successful, of engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug's many ECM projects. 

The program opens with Surman's "Domino," which introduces the blend of woodwind, violin, bandoneon, and trumpet. "Domino" blooms like a garden of sounds. The first of two interludes of "Litania" follows. In my previous post for the album Litania, I raved about this composition. The versions on Green Hill are shorter (2:41 and 2:00, respectively) and serve to bracket "Stone Ridge" and "...Y Despues De Todo," which translates as "and after all."

"Stone Ridge" is almost symphonic in scope over its 8 minutes. A lone violin is joined by a lumbering bass clarinet, over which a plaintive muted trumpet demands to be heard. Midway through, "Stone Ridge" becomes a folk dance that intensifies while the trumpet strives not to lose its lyrical footing. Later, the piece slows to a peaceful duet between violin and bass. 

"The Lark in the Dark," serves as another prime example of Green Hill's superior sound engineering. Surman's baritone is the least delicate of the band's instruments, but here it is rendered perfectly, as is Jormin's extended bass solo.

Stańko composed "Love Theme from Farewell to Maria" for a 1993 Polish film - Pozegnanie z Maria (Farewell to Maria). It's a tuneful, rhythmic contrast to most of the other tracks. 

For From the Green Hill, German producer Manfred Eicher drew musicians from six different countries. The band includes a Pole, an Englishman, a Norwegian, a Swede, an Argentine, and an American. Michelle Makarski, the American, is credited with six of her own albums including several in ECM's New Series.