Twelth

Four years after the landmark album Wislawa, the great Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's New York Quartet returns with another masterful recording, "December Avenue". Always an insightful bandleader, Stanko here encourages spirited improvisation to flower around his characteristically melancholic and soulful themes, and all players are presented to best advantage. New band member Reuben Rogers originally from the Virgin Islands and perhaps best-known for his work with Charles Lloyd is a splendid addition to the team, establishing a profound understanding with Cuban-born pianist David Virelles and Detroit drummer Gerald Cleaver.

No fighting man can go into the battle thinking of death, for to do so is to risk bringing on that very fate. Twelth Century, Italy. The domination of the Normans, the most feared warriors in Christendom, is causing trouble. At their head is the feared Robert de Hauteville, the 'Guiscard', who has colonised much of Italy and now commands the triple Dukedom of the extended Norman family, but Robert has made many enemies, including the ever-powerful papacy in Rome. The newly elected Pope Gregory excercises his vendetta against the Normans by encouraging them to sail to Byzantium and fight the Turks. But first he must deal with the Guiscard…