The most superb Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer accompanied by Swedish bass player – Lars Danielsson and the Israeli percussionist – Zohar Fresco, have created something of a Dream Team Trio. Dream Team sounds like a dream indeed – light, dynamic, with a touch of reflection at times. And as in a good poem – imagination does not argue with discipline, and the visualization comes along with intellectualism.
Mirosław Pęczak/ Polityka
Three Musicians – Three Cultures – One Time
The Trio story started during the XIthInternational Jazz Festival – Jazz in the Old Town in Warsaw – July 2004. Especially for this festival Leszek Możdżer invited the Swedish bassist and cellist Lars Danielsson and Israeli percussionist as a Dream Team. They performed a debut repertoire which was more than enthusiastically accepted by both the audience and the reviewers.
After being widely applauded the Trio decided to record their repertoire. In this way the first Trio studio album was released in Sepetmber 2005 – Możdżer Danielsson Fresco – The Time – OM CD 001. Supported by a concert tour that took place in all major cities of Poland, just to name a few: Kraków, Warszawa, Katowice, Szczecin the album sales skyrocketed and just two months after the album’s premiere it was awarded the Double Platinum Award. With this great occasion a special PLATINUM CONCERT was organized in the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdansk. “The Time” reached a Diamond Award in Poland.
One year later the Trio met again in the studio to record their second album – Between Us and The Light OM CD 002. Again the overwhelming success of the album surprised everybody when just two weeks after the album’s release it was awarded the Double Platinum Award. The musicians were given the Prizes on the penultimate concert of the tour in Fabryka Trzciny Artistic Center in Warsaw.
The third Możdżer Danielsson Fresco Trio’s album is a kind of summary of the Trio’s perfomances in Poland. It consists of a CD and DVD. The CD is a recording of the concert that took place in The Fabryka Trzciny Artistic Center in November 2006. At that time the Trio performed the repertoire that was comprised of the works from previous albums The Time and Between Us And The Light. Two different concerts are shown on the DVD – the concert from the Movie Making Hall in Wroclaw in 2006 and from the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in 2005.
In 2013 the Trio recorded their fourth album, titled “POLSKA”. The album reached Double Platinum.
The album conveys many feelings and associations. It appeals to different moods, combines styles and complements various musical climates.
Each musician gives a piece of his soul to this music collage.
Możdżer celebrates sound and tone. He pursues impressionistic sensations, satisfying the senses through music infused with colour.
Danielsson is an unpretentious and detached master in creating atmosphere. He offers simple, optimistic and carefree tones, at once nostalgic and full of musical reflections.
Lastly, Fresco brings the delicate and sensitive story of Poland to life. Fresco is an impulsive artist whose pieces are unstructured. His style not only activates and stimulates sensations, it is also disturbing in a way that makes his music unavoidable.
The audience appreciated the Polish – Swedish- Israeli Trio for gentleness and most of all for their subtle refinement. The musicians managed to compromise with what is the most acclaimed in jazz namely free but hermetic improvisation and the melodic accessibility.
They seem to have created a regular jazz trio – grand piano, double bass and percussion. But this is Możdżer’s project so nothing is obvious. Apart from the grand piano Możdżer also plays the electronic keyboards and celesta. Danielsson swaps the double bass and the cello, Fresco puts a spell on us with his percussions. On one hand this is demanding music that requires some kind of preparation, focusing, sometimes even erudition, but not to exaggerate – a spare hour will do. And the rest lies in the hands of the musicians.
