Think of jazz violin and one recalls sprightly swing fiddlers such as Joe Venuti or Stephane Grappelli, or maybe the proggy electric explorations of Jean-Luc Ponty or Michael Urbaniak. Polish violinist Adam Baldych must thus be commended for developing a completely new vocabulary for the jazz violin. He usually starts songs pizzicato, playing clawhammer style like a folk guitarist – and when he does use his bow, he often uses it to create whispery, distorted effects. He’s also good at strong, sturdy melodies: the prairie-wide Dreamer nods towards Charlie Haden, the country waltz Karina recalls Keith Jarrett, while the 5/4 puzzle that is Mosaic sees him spitting out notes like Wayne Shorter. Pianist Helge Lien, a Lyle Mays to his Pat Metheny, proves a stronger foil than Baldych’s previous accompanists. If there’s a problem here it’s that Baldych’s improvisational style – a silky, smooth, undisrupted flow of notes – slips down so easily that you barely notice that anything’s happening.
