Saxophone Titan Joe Lovano Creates Magic with the Marcin Wasilewski Trio on "Homage"

Joe Lovano w/ Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz; Homage; ECM

There is no denying that saxophonist Joe Lovano is one of this era's giants on his instrument. On his latest release Homage from ECM released on April 25, 2025, we find Lovano's titan tenor brilliantly matched with the Polish trio of pianist Marcin Wasilewski that includes bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskjewicz. My most recent exposure to this anticipatory trio was on the late Tomasz Stanko's album September Night released in 2024. As their work with Stanko, this trio is a remarkably intuitive unit that meshes so well with Lovano's extemporaneously fluid approach to this music . Consequently the music has a unified feel  that makes this release just a joy to listen to.

Homage, the title song, was written by Lovano as an homage to ECM's founder Manfred Eicher for saxophonist's appearance at the celebration of Eicher's 80th birthday in Hamburg, Germany in 2023. Lovano has a special feeling for the music that Eicher has so steadfastly produced since the early seventies. The song is an acknowledgment of the excellence that the body of work created and the appreciation for how it influenced him and so many other artists over the decades. 

The album was recorded in the Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey when the group  had a residency at the Village Vanguard in New York during the autumn of 2023. This wasn't the first time the group played together or recorded, as they also released Artic Rift  back in 2020.

Joe Lovano with Marcin Wailweski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskjewicz. 

The opener is a composition by Polish violinist Zbgniew Seifert titled "Love in the Garden." The song was originally released on his Man of the Light from 1977 and had a distinctive poignancy with Seifert's emotionally charged violin playing this ballad over  drone-like organ work by Jasper Van't Hof. The artist, who unfortunately died from cancer, at the age of thirty-two,  was dedicated to bringing the music of John Coltrane into the world of jazz violin. The song was purportedly dedicated to Coltrane's pianist McCoy Tyner. Seifert's Polish heritage and his connection to trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, who he played with in 1968, make this music so vitally important to Wasilewski and his trio.

On Lovano and the trio's just over four minute interpretation of this music, it is  quite apparent that the music never loses any of Seifert's intended poignancy. Wasilewski's piano delicately opens the music before Lovano's tenor is heard briefly presenting the melody. His rubato treatment of the lines resonate with emotional commitment and simple beauty. Wasilewski's facile, light touch, and glorious embellishments enchant, as Kurkiewicz's bass and Miskjewicz's cymbal work provide subtle accompaniment.  As sensitive and endearing a take on this beautiful music as I have heard.

"Golden Horn" is a Lovano composition that takes a more modal approach. Here the trio is committed to creating a repeating framework as the armature on to which the group creates extemporaneous musical improvisational excursions for just over ten minutes. Lovano opens with some percussive accents from what sounds like shells, as Miskjewicz's trap and cymbal work set the tone. Kurkiewicz's ostinato bass line is mimicked by Wasilewski's repeating piano line, before Lovano's husky horn enters here. Joe's tenor is free, fluid and exploratory. His sound is mellow at times, deliberate and thoughtful, and yet he changes the pace of his playing in a split second, blowing a gush of notes that flow out of his horn like a cascade of free thought covering the listener. Wasilewski's piano is equally revelatory. His lines are swift and unpredictable, rippling, ascending and descending in bursts that shower you, as Miskjewicz's deft cymbal work adds another element to the feel. Lovano returns with shells before he adds the sinewy sound of his tárogató, a Hungarian woodwind instrument, that just adds a more exotic feel to the mix. The music feels so organic, a musical testament to just how simpatico these musicians are, as the group fades into a calming coda. Splendid! 

The title cut "Homage" finds Lovano and Wasilewski in a free mode. The two develop lines that seem to be released from the ether in the moment. There is some probing piano, tárogató , and tenor solos that spur interaction of the musicians, all intuitively responding to each other. Kurkiewicz has a short feature where his plucky bass is given a chance to express on a solo demonstrating his own free thinking. Lovano's higher-pitched instrument is often the  instigator that spurs  Wasilewski to respond in kind. Miskjewicz's facile drum skills produce a percussive answer to the magical interaction.

"Giving Thanks" is a two-plus-minute meditation of sorts. Lovano's large sounding tenor is featured solo here, as he musically offers thanks. There are no fireworks here, simply a heartfelt, reverent outflow of this man's feelings, brilliantly played on an instrument he has made another extension of his soul. 

"This Side-Catville" is another Lovano composition that is probably the most "in-the -moment" of the songs on this album. Lovano's overblown tenor sets the tone as Wasilewski and the trio respond in a truly reactive way. Wasilewski explained this in the notes- “It was a spontaneous choice – no discussion about how or what to play. We just went for it, and the music unfolded naturally.” Listening to the way music can be created like this is a treat. No preconceived notions, just going with the flow, pure creativity at its finest. The music bubbles with a home grown essence that cannot be repeated, so rather then explain this, just enjoy and be happy it was preserved for us all to hear.

The closing piece  is another Lovano piece titled "Projection" and opens with a clashing cymbal or is it a gong? The changing rhythmic patterns on bells, rims, cymbals are continued like a exploration in sounds, tones and timbres. A peaceful two minute rhythmic excursion.