Szmańda/Nubiola/Mazurkiewicz - Ten Plagues (2020)

Szmańda/Nubiola/Mazurkiewicz

Luis Nubiola - alto saxophone
Jacek Mazurkiewicz - double bass
Krzysztof Szmańda - drums
Philip South - percussion (1,2)

Ten Plagues

PRIVATE EDITION



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by a trio consisting of Cuban (resident in Poland) saxophonist Luis Nubiola and Polish bassist Jacek Mazurkiewicz and drummer Krzysztof Szmańda. Percussionist Philip South guests on a couple of tracks. The album present five original pieces co-credited to the participating musicians. The very short total playing time (under half an hour) makes this an EP rather than a full album.

Nubiola, who is usually associated with Cuban/Latin Jazz, fits perfectly with the two veteran improvisers, creating an interesting series of spontaneous free pieces, which sound natural. His wonderfully worm saxophone tone is a nice twist, and manages to create just the right kind of interplay with the rhythm section.

The music is completely improvised, but has a strict melodic sub context, which makes it easily accessible to a wide range of listeners. It is also quite minimalist and subdued, which creates a delicate, emotional mood. All three musicians play wonderfully, being veterans of the trade, and the intimate setting enables their individual contributions to be heard clearly. Overall this sounds like a friendly experiment, which hopefully will lead to a bona fide full album soon. In the meantime we can enjoy this short foreteller and wait for the next one.