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The Deep (vinyl)

Juraj Stanik Trio

The Deep (vinyl)

Price: € 22.95
Format: LP 12inch
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917354126
Catnr: CRLP 73541
Release date: 16 December 2022
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1 LP 12inch
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€ 22.95
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917354126
Catalogue number
CRLP 73541
Release date
16 December 2022

"In short, a great LP from a super trio and a master pianist who can rightly boast of the title of a real musician musician."

Rootstime, 01-4-2023
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

When Juraj Stanik asks you to write something for the sleeve of his new recording, you certainly don't say 'no'. In my case, bolstered by years of experience of his work, from the outstanding group 'Five Up High' through to his trio CDs like 'Shaken not stirred', 'Wow' and 'Inside out'. It always was and still remains a great pleasure to listen to Juraj. His playfulness with musical forms, his unexpected, funny but always controlled fantasies and that consistent, unmissable swing with his colleagues on bass and drums, all following the same groove. Jazz that I always regarded as a sort of homecoming.

But then, the new recording – 'The Deep' – brings yet another surprise. It's mostly about the tone of a number of the ballads on it, adding something romantic to his approach, with a gratifying affinity for melody that still feels safe in his own very personal interpretation. And always with that swing. Intelligent but never intellectual, with no pretentious pathos and none of that 'you just gotta listen to this!' feel. In a nutshell, pure.

It starts with 'I'll close my eyes', by the English bandleader Billy Reid, dating back to 1945, which oddly only scored a success when Buddy Kaye gave a positive spin to Reid's slightly dark text about a broken love affair, with the accent on loyalty. Then 'You know I care' by Duke Pearson (known from its 1965 nonet version with George Coleman and Pepper Adams) and Johnny Mandel's 1979 song 'Close enough for love'. It's telling that these pieces are mainly familiar from their vocal versions. Peggy Lee in the last case. Stanik makes beautiful jazz out of them with some immensely subtle playing.

As a album, 'The Deep' is anything but monochrome, as you can hear from the title track written by Jasper Blom, inspired by the film of the same name. And Eddie Harris’s ‘Freedom jazz dance’, which we know from Harris’s own version with Cedar Walton on piano and the version by Miles Davis (with Herbie Hancock) on the celebrated extended bootleg version. With Juraj, it gains a masterfully controlled, contagious groove that's hard to get out of your mind.

"I wanted to make a trio album that I was comfortable with myself", says Stanik. With a number of standards like Ellington's 'The feeling of jazz'. And with musicians he truly admired: bass player Frans van der Hoeven ('a fine, musical bassist') and the promising young drummer Tim Hennekes. Rubbing shoulders with these delicious standards, we have two compositions by Stanik himself, perfectly embodying the two sides of 'The Deep'. We have the elegant tenderness of his 'More than ever' and the pacy 'Chasin' Joe', which for me could have lasted three times as long. But the fact is that the same could be said for 'The Deep' as a whole. Hence my advice: enjoy its warm spirituality and playfulness. And then play it again and again.

Bert Jansma

Wenn Juraj Stanik dich bittet, etwas für das Cover seiner neuen Aufnahme zu schreiben, sagst du sicher nicht 'nein'. In meinem Fall, gestärkt durch jahrelange Erfahrung mit seiner Arbeit, von der herausragenden Gruppe 'Five Up High' bis hin zu seinen Trio-CDs wie 'Shaken not stirred', 'Wow' und 'Inside out'. Es war und ist immer noch ein großes Vergnügen, Juraj zuzuhören. Sein Spiel mit musikalischen Formen, seine unerwarteten, witzigen, aber immer kontrollierten Fantasien und dieser beständige, unüberhörbare Swing mit seinen Kollegen an Bass und Schlagzeug, die alle dem gleichen Groove folgen. Jazz, den ich immer als eine Art Heimkehr empfunden habe.

Aber dann bringt die neue Aufnahme - 'The Deep' - noch eine weitere Überraschung. Es geht vor allem um den Ton einiger der darauf enthaltenen Balladen, die seinem Ansatz etwas Romantisches verleihen, mit einer erfreulichen Affinität zur Melodie, die sich dennoch in seiner ganz persönlichen Interpretation sicher fühlt. Und immer mit diesem Swing. Intelligent, aber nie intellektuell, ohne prätentiöses Pathos und ohne dieses "Das muss man sich einfach anhören!"-Gefühl. Kurz gesagt: pur.

Es beginnt mit 'I'll close my eyes' des englischen Bandleaders Billy Reid aus dem Jahr 1945, das seltsamerweise erst dann zum Erfolg wurde, als Buddy Kaye Reids leicht düsteren Text über eine zerbrochene Liebesbeziehung mit der Betonung auf Loyalität eine positive Wendung gab. Dann 'You know I care' von Duke Pearson (bekannt aus der Nonett-Version von 1965 mit George Coleman und Pepper Adams) und Johnny Mandels Lied 'Close enough for love' von 1979. Es ist bezeichnend, dass diese Stücke hauptsächlich durch ihre Gesangsversionen bekannt sind. Peggy Lee im letzten Fall. Stanik macht aus ihnen wunderschönen Jazz mit einem ungemein subtilen Spiel.

Als Album ist 'The Deep' alles andere als monochrom, wie man an dem von Jasper Blom geschriebenen Titeltrack hören kann, der vom gleichnamigen Film inspiriert wurde. Und Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance", den wir aus Harris' eigener Version mit Cedar Walton am Klavier und der Version von Miles Davis (mit Herbie Hancock) auf der berühmten erweiterten Bootleg-Version kennen. Mit Juraj erhält es einen meisterhaft kontrollierten, ansteckenden Groove, der einem nicht mehr aus dem Kopf geht.

"Ich wollte ein Trio-Album machen, auf der ich mich selbst wohlfühle", sagt Stanik. Mit einer Reihe von Standards wie Ellingtons 'The feeling of jazz'. Und mit Musikern, die er wirklich bewundert: Bassist Frans van der Hoeven ("ein feiner, musikalischer Bassist") und der vielversprechende junge Schlagzeuger Tim Hennekes. Zu diesen köstlichen Standards gesellen sich zwei Kompositionen von Stanik selbst, die die beiden Seiten von "The Deep" perfekt verkörpern. Wir haben die elegante Zartheit seines "More than ever" und das rasante "Chasin' Joe", das für mich dreimal so lang hätte sein können. Aber Tatsache ist, dass das Gleiche für "The Deep" als Ganzes gesagt werden könnte. Daher mein Rat: Genießen Sie seine warme Spiritualität und Verspieltheit. Und dann spielen Sie es wieder und wieder.

Bert Jansma

Artist(s)

Juraj Stanik (piano)

Juraj Stanik (1969) is a respected jazz pianist and a real musician's musician. He graduated Cum  Laude at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, was finalist at the Wessel Ilcken Concours, winner of the Pall Mall Export Swing Award and with the quintet “Five Up High” won the Leverkusen Jazz Award.   As well as standards Juraj plays many of his own numbers during performances. New titles are regularly added to his already large catalogue of compositions. He is also engaged in his own musical development at the Royal Conservatoire, and Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Messiaen can frequently be heard in his own musical conceptions.   Juraj Stanik's sources of inspiration are wide. He has a clear respect for the jazz tradition, but...
more
Juraj Stanik (1969) is a respected jazz pianist and a real musician's musician. He graduated Cum Laude at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, was finalist at the Wessel Ilcken Concours, winner of the Pall Mall Export Swing Award and with the quintet “Five Up High” won the Leverkusen Jazz Award.
As well as standards Juraj plays many of his own numbers during performances. New titles are regularly added to his already large catalogue of compositions. He is also engaged in his own musical development at the Royal Conservatoire, and Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Messiaen can frequently be heard in his own musical conceptions.
Juraj Stanik's sources of inspiration are wide. He has a clear respect for the jazz tradition, but is also inspired by contemporary pioneers such as John Scofield, Chris Potter and Joe Lovano. As well as this he is strongly influenced by classical music.

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Frans van der Hoeven (double bass)

Frans van der Hoeven played with Clark Terry, Woody Shaw, Barney Wilen, Jack deJohnette, Eivind Aarset, Harry Sweets Edison, Art Farmer, Ronnie Cuber, Tom Harrel, Lee Konitz, Dee Dee Bridgewater,Toots Thielemans, Kurt Rosenwinkel and more…and recorded with:The Toon Roos Quartet, Rob Madna,Jesse van Ruller,Han Bennink, Diederik Wissels/David Linx, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano,Fairouz,Lew Tabackin, the Dutch Jazz Orchestra and others.
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Frans van der Hoeven played with Clark Terry, Woody Shaw, Barney Wilen, Jack deJohnette, Eivind Aarset, Harry Sweets Edison, Art Farmer, Ronnie Cuber, Tom Harrel, Lee Konitz, Dee Dee Bridgewater,Toots Thielemans, Kurt Rosenwinkel and more…and recorded with:The Toon Roos Quartet, Rob Madna,Jesse van Ruller,Han Bennink, Diederik Wissels/David Linx, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano,Fairouz,Lew Tabackin, the Dutch Jazz Orchestra and others.

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Tim Hennekes (drums)

Composer(s)

Press

In short, a great LP from a super trio and a master pianist who can rightly boast of the title of a real musician musician.
Rootstime, 01-4-2023

He hopes to be able to take the listeners into his musical story. “That they feel the romance and that the foot sometimes goes up and down; the jazz foot. It would be nicest if people turn on the record with a smile. It's made with so much fun, i hope that fun will be conveyed to the listener.”
Jazzism, 17-2-2023

A real master of the keys.
Jazzism, 17-2-2023

... However, surprises with a romantic, almost elegiac tone on ballads like "You Know I Gare" by Duke Pearson or "Close Enough For Love" by Johnny Mandel, actually known from Peggy Lee's vocal version ...
Jazzthing, 27-1-2023

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