Annie

A recording by saxophonist Janusz Muniak, one of the most colorful and towering elder figures of Polish jazz, whose roots reached back to the 1960s circle around Krzysztof Komeda and Tomasz Stańko — collaborations that included Stańko's quintet on landmark albums such as Music for K and Purple Sun. By the time of this session, Muniak had moved on from his earlier modern and innovative free-jazz period — much as Archie Shepp did — toward a warm, straight-ahead idiom in which the ballad sits at the center. Working from his Kraków base, where his club 'U Muniaka' had become a key incubator for young talent, he was both elder statesman and active mentor to the next generation.

Backed here by a young rhythm section — pianist Piotr Wyleżoł, bassist Adam Kowalewski, and drummer Łukasz Żyta, the trio billed elsewhere as the Yearning Trio and described by critics as one of the most interesting jazz trios in Poland — the 2003 album captures a master in dialogue with a generation he helped inspire. The seven-piece program, more than half of it Muniak's own compositions, runs through 'Annie,' 'Before Rain,' the standard 'My Shining Hour,' 'Late-night-out-ism,' Benny Golson's 'For Minors Only,' 'Blues For H.G,' and the closing 'Piece for Wietek.' That final ballad — a sax-and-piano duet between Muniak and its composer Wyleżoł — was singled out by reviewers as the album's high point, recalling the finest sax-and-piano duos.

The record makes no claim to set the jazz world on fire; its value lies in the quality of its mainstream craft and the depth of feeling Muniak draws from familiar forms. The mostly balladic mood is where Muniak feels most at home, confirming his reputation as a master of the ballad, and his finest tone places him at the very top of saxophonists working in this idiom. For listeners not seeking the freaky or over-experimental, the album opens onto a world of relaxation and tranquility.