Tomasz Stanko - Balladyna

Tomasz Stanko — Balladyna 

180-gram ECM Luminessence Series

Tip-on gatefold jacket with new liner notes and photos

An essential document of European jazz in the 1970s, and a recording that still sounds magnificent today, Balladyna exerted an enduring influence on successive generations of improvising musicians — in Poland and Finland above all, though it also cast its spell more widely. As Tomasz Stanko once said, "My international name was built on Balladyna." On the record, the Polish trumpeter is joined by his close collaborator Edward Vesala on drums ("We were like brothers," Stanko later said), saxophonist Tomasz Szukalski and master bassist Dave Holland, brought to the session by Manfred Eicher. Even though it was only the trumpeter's debut for the label, it presented Stanko's unique melodic voice in an already fleshed-out framework, with his earlier freer influences still looming in the band's explosive undercurrent. The quartet explores the seven originals on the album with a strong sense of rhythmic propulsion and melodic curiosity throughout. Recorded at Tonstudio Bauer in 1975, Balladyna was produced by Manfred Eicher.

Reissued as part of ECM's Luminessence series, Balladyna arrives in a tip-on gatefold jacket with new liner notes and photos from the archive.

Musicians:
Tomasz Stanko, trumpet
Tomasz Szukalski, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Dave Holland, double-bass
Edward Vesala, drums

Recorded December 1975, Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg
Original Release Date: Jan. 4, 1976

 

Side A

1. First Song

2. Tale

3. Num

4. Duet

Side B

1. Balladyna

2. Last Song

3. Nenaliina

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 1 person(s) rated this product.

Astounding resolution posted on 05/22/2026 5 Stars This is an interesting album and the sound quality is as good as any record I own.

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