Almost black

Year

1991

Comment

Almost Black, graphic, digital score for the work ‘Almost black’, composed before February 1980 and released on the album Music from Taj Mahal and Karla Caves, produced by Edvard Vesala (Leo Records 1980). This copy of the manuscript (c.1991) was identified by Vitold Rek (Witold Szczurek, double bassist), according to whom:

First part: the numbers by the chord symbols indicate the number of bars, e.g. 2Dm chord lasts two bars; 4E7 chord lasts 4 bars

Metre 4/4, tempo 1 crotchet =184; I am not familiar with the second part (score with digits only).

I recorded ‘Almost black’ in a duet with Tomasz during a session on 20 January 1991 for Polish Radio in Warsaw.

In that session, the theme of the work was played ‘in time’, and the solos were in ‘free’ form (free harmonies and ‘out of tempo’).

On the programme of this recording session (Tomasz Stanko&Vitold Rek, PR Warszawa 20.1.1991)

Tomasz Stańko – trumpet

Vitold Rek – bass guitar (in Ha,Ha,Ha)

1. War Song (composed by: Tomasz Stańko) time: 5’32”

2. Rue de la Tour (composed by: Vitold Rek) 3′

3. My w.s.b. friend (composed by: Tomasz Stańko) 7’40”

4. Opowiadania dla dwunastoletniej dziewczynki (composed by: Tomasz Stańko)

first one 4’50”

bass one 2’45”

5. Almost black (composed by: Tomasz Stańko) 5’34”

6. Trombas (composed by: Tomasz Stańko & Vitold Rek) 3’15”

7. Hullo (composed by: Vitold Rek) 3’32”

8. Ha,Ha,Ha (composed by: Tomasz Stańko & Vitold Rek) 5′ 20″

This recording was never released.

Composer

Tomasz Stańko

Participants

Tomasz Stańko, Vitold Rek