maciej obara nyc quartet at dizzy’s, nyc, june 17 - jazztopad 2025 - second set
photography by ©Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas
The ninth edition of Jazztopad - Poland’s boldest jazz celebration - returned to New York. On Tuesday, June 17, at Dizzy’s, Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara, accompanied by his longtime collaborator, pianist Dominik Wania, and two heavyweight American partners for the occasion, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Nasheet Waits, presented music from his latest quartet album Frozen Silence (ECM, 2023) and a couple of new pieces.
The compositions, mostly rubato, don’t rely on swinging rhythms but rather on complex harmonic progressions and a constant in-and-out lyricism shaped with intricate intervallic designs. The quartet opened with “Waves of Glyma”, featuring solos from all four musicians, with Waits receiving a particularly enthusiastic response for his inventive extemporization. “Twilight” followed, launched by Patitucci’s arco bass and further anchored by Wania’s intriguing voicings, before giving way to a more muscular piece (likely a new composition) where a crisp backbeat created a subversive undercurrent.
“Frozen Silence”, gracefully poised on the tip of its toes, offered one of the night’s most beautiful moments. At the end, Obara confessed he had fulfilled a dream by performing with these American giants, expressing gratitude to the Festival, the venue, and his peers for a memorable night of modern creative jazz.