Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Suspended Night

ECM Records CD No: ECM 1868 981 1244.

Tomasz Stanko is acknowledged to be one of the best of today's jazz musicians, with a faithful following of fans across the world.

He was one of a large group of Polish musicians who came to the West to play, following the heroes who inspired them and who played in America and Europe.

Tomasz Stanko plays the trumpet accompanied by a very young group of musicians - Marcin Wasileewski on piano, Slawomir Kurkiewicz on double-bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums.

Having written for film scores and plays, the range of his music is inspiring.

The music, extemporising and exciting, is modern and melodious.

This is trumpet playing at its most harmonious and with the excellent and restrained accompanists in his quartet nothing gets lost in the execution of the pieces.

Stanko acknowledges that one of his heroes was Miles Davis, and although you can get a whiff of the master occasionally, Stanko plays with more control and, it seems, less effort.

I'm sure that is not so, but the sound is so pure and so eloquent that it must take a master to achieve this.

If you don't like jazz at any price it is a shame - this CD could just tip the balance for you.

The music is every bit as important as any other - and if we listen to the same pieces all the time we won't discover the classics of tomorrow.

This man's work could well be some of them.