Tubis Trio – the Polish jazz sensation

The most promising young Polish band, Tubis Trio, has been receiving universally enthusiastic reviews. It is compared to the Swedish e.s.t. trio, not only because it constitutes an exceptionally harmonious combo which has been co-operating for years. The musicians have created a single organism and each of them is equal as a creator of the sound, surprising with references to various musical styles and dragging the listeners into a musical show.

The pianist Maciej Tubis said in his interview for Rzeczpospolita journal: “I used to draw inspiration from Esbjorn Svensson and his e.s.t. trio. When I heard their album “From Gagarin's Point of View”, I thought that it was my vision of music and that someone forestalled me.”

The essence of Tubis Trio’s music are improvisations evolving around the tunes composed by trio members. You never know which way they will go as each of the musicians adds his ideas, develops the theme, sometimes directing it on other stylistic tracks, and the others take up his thought, thus creating a new, vivid form of the tune. This formula guarantees each of their concerts to be different and all of them to be equally fascinating. The associations with American bands, Brad Mehldau Trio and The Bad Plus, are not a coincidence – similar waves of artistic expression and creative passion experienced by the musicians flow from the stage during the concerts given by Tubis Trio. And most importantly, the audience feels that passion as well.

“The most important thing for me is conveying the emotions”, says Maciej Tubis. “Every concert is a very deep experience for me and I’m glad I’m able to play live. I totally concentrate on the music, I give myself absolute freedom, I capture the spontaneity of the moment.” The audience feels the magic of such encounters with the creator and always reacts vividly.
“I liked that! But it wasn’t jazz, was it? I don’t like jazz, you know!”, said an excited member of the audience after one of the concerts.

Since 2008, the group is composed of the pianist Maciej Tubis, the double-bassist Paweł Puszczało and the drummer Przemek Pacan. The Trio performs tunes composed by its members, based on jazz improvisations combined with broad musical horizons.

“The term jazz is just a label and it imposes limits”, explains the pianist Maciej Tubis. “We create tunes with melodious themes but unforeseeable forms. Classical polyphonies transform into rock ostinatos. We draw inspiration from various musical styles and various periods, sometimes we reach for pop songs, but we rehash them using our best artistic skills.

The trio made its debut with a CD recorded in the famous Robert Krieps hall in Luxembourg, often played in by famous performers. “The acoustic conditions there were excellent and even though initially we just wanted to capture the concert to be able to listen to it ourselves, the recording was of such high technical quality that we decided to make it our CD debut.”

This album surprises the listeners with a clear vision of music evolving under the influence of the ambience of the moment. The improvisations are full of creative joy and of desire to share the new music with the audience.

“Live In Luxembourg” was considered one of the world’s best jazz albums of the year 2009 by the British Jazzwise magazine. After many other concerts, the band began the year 2012 with an enthusiastically received live performance on Programme Three of the Polish Radio, which gained the recommendation “Programme Three Quality Mark”. New tunes which were first performed during this concert will be recorded for the trio’s first studio album.

The musicians of Tubis Trio experience pure joy during the concerts. When you listen to them, you know that they feel free as birds. They have no limits and thus they “fly away” to unknown lands. The trip with them, full of surprises and exciting experiences, is well worth taking. (Marek Dusza, Jazz critic working for the Rzeczpospolita journal, co-operating with Jazz Forum and AUDIO magazines, nominated thrice for the Jazz Oscar, the Grand Prix of Stowarzyszenie Melomani association, for the Journalist and Critic of the Year)

Mix: Tubis Trio - Live In Luxembourg:
http://soundcloud.com/maciej-tubis/tubis-trio-mix

Video: Tubis Trio - Live In Trojka (Gotye cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSTtBd6TAiQ