Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's newest release, "Suspended Night," is a masterpiece of minimalist beauty. A suite of interconnected compositions, "Suspended Night" simply numbers its "Variations" I to X. The unaffected simplicity and flexible modal structures strip down chords and melody lines to allow each of the quartet members to enter the flow with calm force or lay out with delicate understatement. At times, the melody line rests on just repeated pairs of notes -- the right ones.
The quartet has worked together regularly since last year's equally intricate release, "The Soul of Things." They let the rhythm drift into comfortable stillness, but aren't shy to drive ahead either, letting individual notes resonate freely. Still based in Poland, Stanko and quartet outcool the coolest of the late '50s jazz groups and make it easy to see why he was awarded the first European Prize in jazz last year.
