Homage in Bloomington, MN

Tenor saxophonist
Joe Lovano
and Polish pianist
Marcin Wasilewski
reunite for their second collaboration, 2025's harmonically unfettered, free-leaning
Homage
. The album, which follows 2022's
Arctic Riff
, builds nicely upon their intuitive sense of group interplay, moving between deftly composed works and wholly improvised ones. Joining them once again is
Wasilewski
's trio featuring bassist
S¿awomir Kurkiewicz
and drummer
Micha¿ Mi¿kiewicz
. This is the same group that earned acclaim for their work with the late trumpeter
Tomasz Stanko
and who bring an equally empathetic approach to playing with
Lovano
. Cuts like the opening "Love in the Garden" and "Golden Horn" have a tender, sun-dappled quality that conjures a striking blend of
John Coltrane
and
Duke Ellington
's later-career small group work. Equally evocative is "This Side - Catville," which evokes the swinging, off-kilter free bop of the
Ornette Coleman
quartet. Yet more esoteric are
's two solo performances: the moody saxophone piece "Giving Thanks" and his textured percussion work on "Projection"; tracks that pull the listener deeper into
's dreamy, stream-of-consciousness lyricism. Most compelling is the title track, a free improvisation that finds
spiraling melodic ideas off
as the trio responds in kind. With
,
remain adventurous, kindred spirits. ~ Matt Collar