Stanko is a flight to Heaven

On Thursday, October 12 – Stanko takes stage.

Of the five human senses the one most responsible for launching our conscious and subconscious into the real or imagined ethereal plane is stimulation of the auditory cortex. That’s the place way down deep in the brain that processes sound.

Perhaps the most unique jazz trumpet player in the world will perform two shows at Murphy’s Place on the corner of Summit and Jefferson down under the northern wing of Fort Industry Square. The same complex that is home to the studios broadcasting the “Melodies of Poland” radio show Sunday mornings at 8 AM on WCWA.

Toledo landing as one of only 12 U.S. Cities on Tomasz Stanko’s tour is nothing short of euphoria.



Stanko was born in Rzeszow, Poland in during World War II. Rzeszow is the same city where the Polish Folk Festival is held and our local Echoes of Poland Song and Dance Troop performed there last summer. His father was a lawyer (and violinist) and his mother was a teacher. Tomasz decided to learn trumpet at age 16 after attending Dave Brubeck's concert in Krakow.

Four years later after formal music training he formed his first group called Jazz Darings, later described by German critic Joachim E. Berendt as "the first group in Europe to play free jazz". His earliest gigs were in the jazz cellars of Krakow, so one would expect Stanko will feel at home at our local venue.

To use the tired, trite and pedestrian phrase “Stanko is Poland’s Miles Davis,” is a disservice to an artist who stands on his own merit of originality, style and tonal grace. It’s easy to pass comment on antecedents and influences. The similarity ends with their choice of instrument. It’s all irrelevant except to get people to listen to the stuff.

Hearing Stanko is like discovering a whole new window in music. Very sensitive, deep and chilling. His impressionistic approach to music is no less than what Cezanne, Dagas, and Monet meant to the canvas.

Once Stanko recorded trumpet solos in the Taj Maha. The thought of that summons thoughts of mystical elegance and mellow psychedelics of pastel intonations and timbre. To hear Stanko, one might forget there is even one ounce of “brass” contained within his pallet of valves.

Play the Stanko Music Video below:



Stanko

Murphy's Place