After three albums on ECM — Unloved, Three Crowns and Frozen Silence — alto saxophonist Maciej Obara expands his Polish-Scandinavian quartet with trumpeter Mathias Eick, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary European jazz. Under his own name, Eick has built an impressive catalogue with the albums The Door, Skala, Midwest, Ravensburgand When We Leave, all released on that same label.

For this new line-up Obara wrote a set of compositions, which he presents in our hall together with Eick, pianist Dominik Wania, bassist Ole Morten Vågan and drummer Gard Nilssen. The encounter places two temperaments side by side: Eick’s spacious, lyrical trumpet playing against the expressive, charged sound of Obara’s alto saxophone. The music of the five remains largely improvised: the compositions are starting points that the musicians shape on the spot.

Mathias Eick trumpet, Maciej Obara alto saxophone, Dominik Wania piano, Ole Morten Vågan double bass, Gard Nilssen drums