Tomasz Stanko Quartet (old)

Tomasz Stanko — trumpet
Marcin Wasilewski — piano
Slawomir Kurkiewicz — double bass
Michal Miskiewicz — drums

The Tomasz Stanko Quartet’s current lineup debuted world-wide in 2002 with ECM release Soul of things. The album was extensively promoted with series of tours in Europe and North America, was enthusiastically received by the media, and has paved the Quartet’s way to the world’s most prestigious concert venues. The press acclaimed Tomasza Stanko and his young band one of the hottest European combos of the time. In 2002 Tomasz Stanko was awarded with the European Jazz Prize as the Artist of the Year. The Quartet’s next release, Suspended Night (ECM, 2004), retained similar longing and freely flowing groove and continued the rush of the Quartet’s successes all over the world. The press fell in love with it (BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, Jazzwise, Die Zeit, et. al.), it hit Billboard Magazine hit list as the first European release among the jazz instrumental albums best selling on the US market. In Poland it earned Golden Disc Award within four weeks of sales. It was prized with the Melbourne Jazz Awards 2004 as the Best International Jazz Album of the Year (repeating the same honor of Soul of Things two year earlier). The Jazzwise found it one of the three best albums of 2004 in its annual ranking. In 2004 the Quartet again toured extensively in Europe and North America. 2005 was also abundant in live performances. The quarter toured the US and Canada for the third time, and successfully debuted live on stage in Japan, Australia and South Korea. Also the quartet’s British tour was a tremendous success with its highlight at the London Jazz Festival. The year 2005 was spectacularly wrapped up by the annual Down Beat Poll with Tomasz Stanko voted #12 Rising Star Jazz Artist, #6 Trumpet and #12 Rising Star Trumpet; Tomasz Stanko Quartet #3 Rising Star Acoustic Group and #11 Acoustic Group; and Suspended Night #14 Jazz Album. In the autumn 2005 the quarter cut its third album for ECM at its producer’s, Manfred Eicher’s studio of choice, La Buisonne near Marseilles. It was released in September 2006 year under the title of Lontano.
Concerts promoting Lontano included almost one month tour in USA (October 2006) which ended with four sold out nights at the Bridland club, NY. The New York Times heralded Tomasz Stanko as „Trumpeting Freedom: in Spirit, Thought, and Jazz“. Lontano was ranked the sixth best record of the year by Down Beat and Jazz Times, and the fourth best by Jazzwise.