Tomasz Dąbrowski FREE4ARTS - When I Come Across (2019)

Tomasz Dąbrowski FREE4ARTS

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet
Sven Dam Meinild - baritone saxophone
Simon Krebs - guitar
Kasper Tom Christiansen - drums

When I Come Across

AUDIO CAVE 2019/009


By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz trumpeter/composer Tomasz Dąbrowski and his Danish quartet FREE4ARTS, which also includes baritone saxophonist Sven Dam Meinild, drummer Kasper Tom Christiansen and this time guitarist Simon Krebs, who replaced pianist Jacob Anderskov that played on the debut album. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Dąbrowski.

In many respects this album continues the direction set by the debut, which moves completely into Avant-Garde Jazz, far away from traditional, melody based Jazz, flirting also with contemporary Chamber Music explorations. The music offers some melodic motifs but those often get hidden to a less experienced listener by the group improvisations. Without the presence of bass and now also the piano, there is almost no conventional harmony and rhythmic continuity, which leaves it to the listener to connect the dots. The sharp sound of the guitar is initially somewhat weird and takes time to get used to within the otherwise acoustic environment.

The music is mostly very subdued and delicate, low profile and quietly streaming, with long passages that involve solos, duets and trios and rarely the entire quartet. It seems Dąbrowski is trying to re-define the known parameters of Jazz and Improvised Music, stretching the existing limits of these idioms. He uses the trumpet to produce a plethora of unusual sound effects that often do not resemble the conventional sound of the instrument. The same can be said about Christiansen, who again proves to be one of the most creative European Jazz drummers, moving on a completely unique acoustic parallax, again re-defining the role of drums in contemporary music. Unexpectedly, it is the guitar which turns out to be the most conventional factor of this music, playing at times long melodic strings of notes.

In many respects this is the boldest and most adventurous project Dąbrowski headed in the decade-long period of his artistic development. It is completely uncompromising and boldly unconventional, against all odds. Hopefully the music, despite its estranged exterior, will find sympathetic, open-minded audience in time. Avant-Garde was never a rewarding and smooth career choice and Dąbrowski and his cohorts deserve our respect for pushing the boundaries time and again.