EDITOR’S REVIEW - ART FARMER IN WROCŁAW
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A remarkable late-career performance, newly preserved on two master-quality reel tapes
Some recordings impress through spectacle. Others draw the listener closer through musical intelligence, restraint and humanity.
Art Farmer in Wrocław belongs firmly to the second category.
This atmospheric studio performance captures the legendary American trumpeter and flugelhorn player Art Farmer alongside an accomplished Polish-American quintet:
🎺 Art Farmer — flumpet
🎷 Piotr Baron — tenor saxophone
🎹 Kuba Stankiewicz — piano
🎻 Harvie S — double bass
🥁 Adam Czerwiński — drums
Recorded at Polish Radio’s large studio in Wrocław during one of Farmer’s Polish visits, the session is especially valuable because it belongs to the final chapter of his recording career. Farmer died in October 1999, making this more than another excellent jazz date - it is an important document of a mature artist whose playing had become increasingly lyrical, economical and emotionally concentrated.
THE MUSIC: ELEGANCE WITHOUT EXCESS
Art Farmer never needed aggression to command attention.
His sound was warm, rounded and beautifully controlled. His solos were constructed with patience and logic; every phrase seemed to lead naturally towards the next. He could play hard bop with authority, yet his greatest strength was an ability to communicate intensity without sacrificing refinement.
On this session, Farmer plays the flumpet, an instrument created to combine aspects of the trumpet and flugelhorn. Its tonal character suits him perfectly: clear enough to articulate complex lines, but sufficiently mellow to preserve the intimacy and burnished warmth for which his later playing became celebrated.
The programme combines familiar standards with compositions written by members of the ensemble:
1. “What’s New”
2. “Hard Farmer”
3. “I Mean You”
4. “Deep in a Dream”
5. “Artificial Thing”
6. “No Walls”
7. “My Shining Hour”
8. “Alone Together”
Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You” gives the musicians room for rhythmic play and conversational improvisation, while “Deep in a Dream” and “Alone Together” reveal Farmer’s exceptional sensitivity as a ballad interpreter.
The original pieces prevent the album from becoming merely another standards session. Piotr Baron, Kuba Stankiewicz and Harvie S contribute music that gives every member of the quintet space to develop an individual voice.
This is essentially a hard-bop blowing session—but it is one governed by listening, balance and mutual respect.
A SESSION THAT ALMOST DID NOT SURVIVE
The history behind the recording is fascinating.
According to Adam Czerwiński’s account published by High Fidelity, an earlier session had failed to satisfy Art Farmer. After listening to the results, Farmer reportedly offered to return at his own expense and record the music again so that it would meet his standards.
The successful session was subsequently completed in the large studio of Polish Radio Wrocław, with Włodzimierz Krakus as recording engineer and Stanisław Kołodziej assisting.
That story says a great deal about Farmer’s professionalism. Even late in his career, his name alone was not enough—he wanted the performance itself to be worthy of release.
The album first appeared domestically through Mercury/PolyGram Music Poland in 1997, followed by An international EmArcy edition in 1998.
In 2024, AC Records returned to the recording and prepared new audiophile editions, including double 45 RPM vinyl and an on-demand reel-to-reel presentation.
THE PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
The critical response to the renewed edition has been exceptional.
Tom Gibbs, writing for Positive Feedback, described every performance across the two 45 RPM records as “absolute ear candy.” Of the three AC Records albums under review, he considered Art Farmer in Wrocław the essential choice and awarded it a very high recommendation.
He praised its combination of standards, blues and original compositions, as well as Farmer’s generosity in allowing the other musicians room for extended solos. The 45 RPM vinyl presentation was judged remarkably close to “perfection incarnate.”
High Fidelity reached an equally emphatic conclusion, describing the album as musically revelatory and sonically stunning. It received the magazine’s Big Red Button Award, reserved for recordings considered suitable as references.
LISTENER FEEDBACK: TAPE VERSUS CD
The 149th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society compared the tape presentation with the compact disc using a modified Technics RS-1500.
Several listeners preferred the tape for its:
• greater physical presence
• richer tonal saturation
• deeper soundstage
• stronger instrumental mass
• more natural decay
• increased rhythmic energy
• warmer and more involving presentation
One participant remarked that the music possessed so much life and presence that his hands seemed to begin clapping by themselves.
The discussion was refreshingly honest rather than uniformly promotional. Some listeners found the CD more sharply separated and appreciated its clarity, while the tape was recognised as having been recorded at a high level, with occasional saturation noted during particularly intense passages.
The broad conclusion was nevertheless highly positive: both the tape and vinyl were described as world-class releases, and the musicianship itself received universal praise.
Publicly documented purchaser testimonials for the reel edition remain limited, so claims of universal customer consensus would be premature. The professional reviews and group listening impressions, however, provide substantial independent evidence of the recording’s musical and sonic quality.
THE REEL-TO-REEL EDITION
The AC Records edition is made to order and presented across two reels.
Album: Art Farmer in Wrocław
Label: AC Records
Catalogue number: ACR-RTR033
Format: Two reel-to-reel tapes
Tape width: ¼ inch
Configuration: Two-track stereo
Speed: 15 ips / 38 cm/s
Reels: 10.5-inch aluminium NAB reels
Equalisation: NAB, with CCIR available by request
Duplication: Custom34 Studio, Gdańsk
Playback machine: Studer A807 MkII
Recording machine: Telefunken M15A
Tape: RTM professional tape stock
Presentation: Certificate of authenticity included
Preparation: Custom-made, with an estimated two-week production period
The current AC Records documentation describes the original recording as analogue multitrack, mixed to a 16-bit/44.1 kHz DAT master. A new analogue remaster was subsequently prepared on ¼-inch tape. This provenance is important: although some sales descriptions use “AAA,” the documented DAT stage means the release should not be represented as an uninterrupted all-analogue chain in the strict SPARS-code sense.
That qualification does not diminish the artistic or audible success of the new edition—it simply gives collectors the transparency they deserve when evaluating a premium recording.
Official AC Records tape edition
Available from The Sound of Tape
THE EDITOR’S VERDICT
Art Farmer in Wrocław is both an audiophile recording and an important musical document.
Its appeal extends beyond soundstage depth, instrumental texture and analogue warmth. At its centre is the unmistakable voice of Art Farmer: thoughtful, lyrical and completely free from unnecessary display.
The tape presentation magnifies the weight of Harvie S’s double bass, the body of Kuba Stankiewicz’s piano, the energy of Adam Czerwiński’s drums and the tonal contrast between Farmer’s flumpet and Piotr Baron’s tenor saxophone. More importantly, it preserves the natural conversational flow between five musicians performing with freedom and mutual understanding.
For collectors of Art Farmer, European jazz history and carefully produced physical media, this is an album worthy of serious attention.
It does not rely upon studio effects or exaggerated audiophile spectacle. Its strength comes from something more enduring: accomplished musicians, a responsive acoustic space and the quiet authority of one of jazz’s most elegant improvisers.
Where to order the master reel-to-reel tape copy?
Please visit the online shop https://www.thesoundoftape.com/products/art-farmer-in-wroclaw-reel-tape
Art Farmer Quintet - Art Farmer In Wroclaw
Which track would you play first - and would you choose this recording on reel-to-reel tape, 45 RPM vinyl or CD?
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The Sound of Tape
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