Bester Quartet
Between
1.Two Men and a Wardrobe
2.For MM
3.Zita
4.Grey Carol
5.La muerte del Ángel
6.After the Catastrophe
7.Crazy Girl
8.Oblivion
9.Las Ciudades
10.Ballad for Bernt
All arrangements by Jarosław Bester
Personnel
Jarosław Bester – accordion
Dawid Lubowicz – violin, mandolin
Maciej Adamczak – double bass
Ryszard Pałka – drums
Description
Before Jarosław Bester began performing under his own name (as the Bester Quartet), he released a number of albums for John Zorn’s prestigious Tzadik label under the name The Cracow Klezmer Band. Zorn appreciated not only Bester’s virtuosity, but above all his search for a unique artistic voice. It was precisely this creative exploration that led him beyond the klezmer idiom and directed his work towards a more universal musical language. The material presented here is already Bester’s fifth album released by For Tune. This collaboration began with the legendary album Krakoff, also available in a video version.
In his latest project, Jarosław Bester turns to the music of Krzysztof Komeda and Astor Piazzolla: at first glance, two composers representing entirely different worlds. On the one hand, there is Komeda’s Polish lyricism; on the other, tango nuevo, a style rooted in the traditional Argentine tango. The meeting of these two musical aesthetics resembles a duel between composers – a kind of tournament in which the goal is not victory, but dialogue between seemingly distant sonic worlds. And if anyone were to “win” this artistic encounter, it would be Jarosław Bester. It is his ideas, interpretations, and personal artistic vision that make both Komeda and Piazzolla sound fresh, bold, and original. That evening, the Bester Quartet gave a superb concert, weaving four individual voices into an emotionally charged narrative. Jarosław Bester (accordion), Dawid Lubowicz (violin, mandolin), Maciej Adamczak (double bass) and Ryszard Pałka (drums) enchanted the large audience at the 8th Love Polish Jazz Festival, who refused to let them leave the stage for a long time. (Krzysztof Balkiewicz, Artistic Director Love Polish Jazz Festival)
Recorded live 20 September 2024 at the 8th Love Polish Jazz Festival in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Poland).
Organiser of the Festival: Municipal Culture Centre in Tomaszów Mazowiecki.
Recording engineers: Dominik Czwartek, Piotr Mela, Daniel Podlecki || Mix & master: Ryszard Pałka
Design: For Tune® II Cover: photograph of the painting Between Heaven and Earth by Karina Góra II Photos by Dariusz Kwapisiewicz