Adam Baldych - Imaginary Room (CD)

Release Date: 05/22/12

“A player the jazz world should watch.” Jazzwise

Adam Bałdych has, without doubt, the greatest technique of any jazz violinist alive today. We can expect everything of him (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper). On 'Imaginary Room' Bałdych is now taking on new challenges and has gathered a top-class studio band around him: the Baltic Gang, with the world-class Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson, the Danish drummer Morten Lund (who normally performs his magic with Paolo Fresu and Stefano Bollani), and the Swedish pianist Jacob Karlzon (best known for his collaboration with Viktoria Tolstoy), forming the musical backbone. Two of the biggest talents on the Scandinavian jazz scene - the Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and the Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset make up the brass section. On 'Imaginary Room' this all-star ensemble dedicates itself to Bałdych's latest compositions, which leave ample room for improvisation, breath-taking solos and the inspirations of his ingenious accompanists, despite all being based on a compelling melody. These run the gamut from an eastern European touch to elegiac Nordic, right through to the modern American sound of the big city. What doesn't change throughout is a violin the likes of which you will seldom have heard before. There is no lamenting or sobbing here; indeed, Bałdych's technically stunning lines are more reminiscent of a wind instrument, and the polyphonic passages of a pianist's chords, with a throaty, bluesy undertone throughout. On 'Imaginary Room' one forgets every violin stereotype and gains an impression of why Bałdych is jokingly nicknamed 'Evil' - because of his 'devilish' virtuosity, expressiveness and variability.