Polish violinist Adam Bałdych is a unique virtuoso of his instrument in jazz. However, he puts his virtuosity entirely at the service of the music - with a cultivated tone, a strong sense for sound and space and a talent for haunting melodies. All qualities that link him to the Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, one of Italy's most successful jazz musicians, who becomes Bałdych's musical partner in lyrical musical conversations on "Poetry".
Chance remarks can have far-reaching consequences. When Adam Bałdych was in the early stages of working on the compositions for this new album, among the first feedback he received from a friend was the phrase “you are a poet of the violin.” That remark didn’t just give him the title of the album. It also set him thinking about the effect that music has on him and that, by extension, it can hopefully have on other people...Bałdych, described by Jazzwise’s Stuart Nicholson as “probably the greatest violinist in jazz today,” explains that impulse quite simply: "I want to communicate." He has a strong desire, as he explains, to “create music which will come into people’s lives and stay with them.” Such beliefs have been reinforced and seemingly made more urgent by the detachment of the pandemic. He started asking himself the que...
BesetzungAdam Bałdych / violin, renaissance violin
Paolo Fresu / trumpet, flugelhorn
Marek Konarski / tenor saxophone
Krzysztof Dys / piano
Michał Barański / double bass
Dawid Fortuna / drums
Music written, arranged & produced by Adam Bałdych, except Hyperballad, composed by Björk
Recorded by Ignacy Gruszecki at Monochrom Studio, June 18 & 19, 2021
Mixed and mastered by Piotr Taraszkiewicz
Piano tuned by Zbigniew Wajdzik
Cover art by Martin Assig, used with the kind permission of the artist
Lacquer Disc Cutting by Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios Berlin
