Record Reviews

ALG TRIO ~ BETWEEN THE VISTULA AND THE HUDSON AESTHETIKO 006 (Barcode: 5038622144920) ~ UK ~ Jazz Recorded: 2025 Released: 2026 This is the debut album by the ALG TrioFind albums by this artist, which comprises of Israeli (resident in UK) saxophonist Gilad AtzmonFind albums by this artist and Polish bassist Piotr LemanczykFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam GolickiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven tracks, seven of which are original compositions co-credited to the trio members, two are by John ColtraneFind albums by this artist and two are standards. As the title suggests, the music created by the trio tries to find a path, which connects the American Jazz tradition, which culminated with the Free Jazz explosion led by John Coltrane, but also abruptly ended there, moving rapidly “across the pond” to Europe, where it was reinvented, reshaped and revitalized by European Jazz musicians since the late 1960s, both in Western Europe, but surprisingly also beyond the Iron Curtain, with Polish Jazz leading the way in the “Wild East”. Of course some music lovers might wish to contest this concise Jazz history, but for me this is grosso modo exactly what happened. The rhythm section of Lemanczyk (whom I have often called my favorite Polish Jazz bassist) and ten years younger Golicki, started to cooperate closely a few years ago under various monikers, and Israeli born Atzmon, whom I had the pleasure to know since his very first steps on the virgin Jazz scene in Israel, before his departure for the much greener pastures in the UK, form together a formidable and quite unusual trio. Obviously formidable, considering the amount of talent, experience and vision these three musicians have to their credit and unusual for two reasons: first as being a saxophone trio, a rather less popular “harmonic-less” Jazz ensemble, but more importantly because they are able to create a perfect bridge between standard almost Bebop sound and the more Free oriented and Improvised aura, which makes their music accessible a wide Jazz audience, without compromising any of the sophistication, complexity and challenge of the more “advanced” Jazz impressions. To put it simply: the music, although devilishly clever and complex, sounds beautifully melodic and as likeable as a baby’s smile. Overall, this is a truly delightful piece of music, both entertaining and highly educational, which, as already mentioned above, does exactly what it promises to do without giving up an iota of quality, sophistication or aesthetic pleasure. Thank you my Friends, for this gift of music!

Updated: 11/10/2026Posted: 11/10/2026

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