September Night, a previously unreleased concert, completes a quartet of recordings and follows chronologically on from Soul of Things, a Stańko masterpiece from August 2001, and Suspended Night from July 2003. It was a period when Stańko was enjoying a deserved career renaissance, inspired by the talented threesome of Wasilewski, Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz, whom he had been mentoring for a couple years behind the scenes.

Recorded live at Munich’s Muffathalle, September Night, was followed by Lontano from November 2005, and these four albums represent Stańko at his very best, captured during a creative highpoint in his career.

By the time of the Munich concert, the quartet had been working together for almost six years (Stańko had been using the group for work in Poland for some two years before recording Soul of Things) and the degree of empathy and understanding between all the musicians was something to behold.

Stańko preferred, in the main, medium to medium-slow tempos, and demanded clarity of execution, meaning that every note was available for scrutiny. This was demanding music that at its best – as it is in this concert – assumes a degree of perfection without sacrificing spontaneity. It is difficult to convincingly accomplish, but quite something to behold.