Marcin Wasilewski Trio

Thu., May 22, 8 and 10 p.m., $15, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com.

by Shaun Brady

jazz

Kamila Czerniawska (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is known for his gorgeously airy atmospherics, an expansive palette capable of conjuring vast, ethereal landscapes. One thing he's not known for is Prince covers. But when the head cat is away ... The young Polish trio led by pianist Marcin Wasilewski was culled by Stanko fresh out of high school, and have comprised three-quarters of their mentor's quartet for nearly a decade, creating several albums of elusive beauty. The trio's second ECM CD apart from Stanko, January, is full of that sense of weightlessness, a comfortable tension not of suspense but of precarious invention. But there's also "Diamonds and Pearls," a tender ballad take on Prince's New Power Generation tune. While not a tremendous departure from their wintry aesthetic (the purple-clad Minnesotan knows a bit about the cold season, after all), it's a relatively sunny choice, suggesting that these childhood friends retain a sense of playfulness underneath all that asceticism.

Thu., May 22, 8 and 10 p.m., $15, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com.