Tubis Trio – The Truth (2017)

Tubis Trio

Maciej Tubis - piano
Paweł Puszczało - bass
Przemysław Pacan - drums

The Truth

CHALLENGE 608917344523




By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz piano trio (Tubis Trio) led by pianist/composer Maciej Tubis, with bassist Paweł Puszczało, who replaced the original bassist Marcin Lamch, and drummer Przemysław Pacan. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Tubis. The album was recorded at the excellent RecPublica Studios in Poland, and presents a superb sonic quality with a somewhat unusual timbre and was released by the prestigious Dutch Challenge Records label. This album follows the debut album "Live In Luxembourg", which was recorded nine and released seven years earlier, and which achieved some international acclaim.

The music is in fact only partly directly connected with the Jazz idiom, and belongs to the modern European instrumental music variety, which is strongly based on deeply melodic themes and lengthy lyrical, somewhat introvert improvisations, which use typical European harmonic approach, creating a manner similar to many other contemporary pianists, who record for the ECM, ACT and related labels. In most cases the compositions are slow and melancholic, with just a few of the album's tracks using an up tempo pace.

The music is dominated by the piano parts and the rhythm section has limited opportunity to show off, but supports the leader very solidly and amicably. The bass provides the bottom notes all the way and its pulsations are vital to this music. The drums provide a steady rhythmic support, which suits this music perfectly. The instrumental performances are of course first class from start to finish.

Overall this is an excellent example of contemporary instrumental music, which is accessible to a wide audience without making any compromises as far as the music quality is concerned. This Polish trio proves again that Poland is a reliable source of great European music, which is on par with anything being created beyond its borders, usually quite ahead of the pack. This is definitely a welcome comeback, which hopefully will not be followed by another long term of silence.