Maciej Obara Quartet

Maciej Obara’s melodies are permeated with Eastern-European melancholy. The Polish alto sax player takes inspiration from classical music as well as Roma culture. For the compositions on his album Frozen Silence, he retreated to the mountainous Karkonosze region in south-west Poland, where his family is from. The emptiness and silence of the landscape is reflected in the music, which offers space for Obara’s band members to improvise.

Crucial for the band sound is pianist Dominik Wania, already a musical partner of Obara in the band of legendary trumpeter Tómasz Stanko. The band is rounded out by two top Scandinavian players, Norwegian double bassist Ole Morten Vågan and Swedish drummer Jon Fält. Frozen Silence is Obara’s third album on the renowned ECM label, following Unloved and Three Crowns, which included renditions of compositions by famous Polish composers Henryk Górecki and Krzysztof Komeda.

Maciej Obara sax, Dominik Wania piano, Ole Morten Vagan double bass, Jon Falt drums