With their fourth ECM release, the Wasilewski Trio presents a special guest musician: the lyrical saxophonist Joakim Milder from Sweden, with whom the Polish musicians connected through joint performances as part of Tomasz Stanko's Litania project. A shared passion unites the artists – their admiration for Krzysztof Komeda's compositions, which is why his theme "Sleep Safe and Warm" from Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" is reinterpreted on this album.
The group maintains its characteristic balance: On the one hand, there are Marcin's own melodically rich compositions, including two variations of the beautiful title track. On the other hand, the ensemble ventures a diverse selection of cover versions – from Herbie Hancock and The Police's "Message In A Bottle" to Slawomir Kurkiewicz's arrangement of a composition by Grazyna Bacewicz. With this, the trio once again confirms its reputation as an exceptionally creative ensemble.
Following their impressive performance as the rhythm section on Jacob Young's "Forever Young," "Spark of Life" marks the group's second ECM release that same year. The recordings were made in Lugano in March 2014, produced by Manfred Eicher.