in New York with Ravi Coltrane, David Virelles, Dezron Douglas and Kush Abadey. Stańko last studio album December Avenue was released on 31 March 2017. Reviewing the album The Guardian jazz critic John Fordham wrote: "Nobody holds a single, long-blown trumpet note like the Polish pioneer Tomasz Stańko – a wearily exhaled, soberly ironic, yet oddly awestruck sound that is unique in jazz." On 14 January 2014 Stańko received the "Polityka Passport" for his work as a cultural leader. On the same day, in Paris, the l'Académie du jazz, under the leadership of François Lacharme, awarded him the Prix du Musicien Européen - the European Music Award of the Year - for his current achievements and his lifetime achievement. On 15 January 2014, he received one of the three honorary Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (PdSK) awards, granted by an independent association of over 140 music journalists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Stańko was the organizer and director of the Jazzowa Jesień festival in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. He also became a member of the honorary committee supporting Bronisław Komorowski before the presidential elections in Poland in 2015. In March 2018, due to suspected pneumonia, his April concerts were cancelled. Stańko died of lung cancer, in the oncological hospital in Warsaw on 29 July 2018. The following day ECM Records published a video tribute to Stańko, on its YouTube channel, entitled "Remembering Tomasz Stanko". Fellow musician Dave Holland praised him as "a unique musician with deep feelings and a gentle soul". Critical appreciation Derek Richardson, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle said, "Tomasz Stanko is not the first jazz musician to negotiate a rapprochement between gorgeous melodies and free improvisation. But he is one of the most eloquent proponents of extemporaneous lyricism working today." Author Brian Morton compared Stanko's lyricism to that of Miles Davis, calling it a "direct but individual offshoot." Discography As leader Tomasz Stańko Quintet Tomasz Stańko Quartet Tomasz Stańko New York Quartet Tomasz Stańko Septet Video albums Soundtracks Appearances Books Notes References External links Tomasz Stanko, A Trumpeter Whose Music Spoke To Freedom, Has Died- obituary at npr.org Death of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, precursor of free jazz - obituary at Le Figaro 1942 births 2018 deaths Avant-garde jazz musicians Deaths from lung cancer ECM Records artists Free jazz trumpeters Globe Unity Orchestra members Male film score composers Male jazz composers People from Rzeszów Polish jazz composers Polish jazz musicians