Kuba Wójcik and Piotr Damasiewicz – artists, who are well known on Poland’s jazz and avantgarde scene, were on a tour in India and Bangladesh. The tour was organised within the JAZZ PO POLSKU “Around the World” Project and took place from 16 to 30 April 2024. The duet were joined by local musicians and played in New Delhi, Goa, Kolkata and Dhaka.
The duet launched its tour on April 16 in New Delhi at the Piano Man. On April 17 they played in the same club and a day after in Gurugram supported by local musicians – Aradhya Khurana (bass) and Aditya Bhagavatula (drums). Next they flew to Goa for a shows at the Flying Goat on April 19, where they performed with Denis Petukhov on bass, and Judah Lobo on drums. On 24th of April they played in Kolkata at Skinny Mo’s Jazz Club with Debjit Mahalanobis on bass and Premjit Dutta on drums. The end of April the Polish artists spent in Bangladesh, where on April 26 they played at Bengal Institute and day after in East 138 Club. At both venues Piotr Damasiewicz and Kuba Wójcik performed with Mustakim Abir (flute), Imran Ahmed (guitar), Nishit Dey (sitar), Mohaimin Karim (bass), Towfiq Arifin (drums). Artists also conducted jazz workshops in Dhaka.
Last stop of the tour was a duo performance in New Delhi. On the occasion of International Jazz Day 2024, UNESCO New Delhi Office along with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Alliance Francaise, the Polish Institute, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic organised an international jazz concert. The concert took place on April 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. It brought together musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds to celebrate jazz as a universal language, showcasing its pivotal role in fostering inclusivity and unity.
About the artists:
Damasiewicz – Wojcik fot Sisi5.jpg
Piotr Damasiewicz – composer, trumpeter, multiinstrumentalist, educator, traveler and curator of international music platforms. Outside of studying trumpet he also gained education on double bass, piano, classical singing – including gegorian choir. He studied choral and chamber conducting, arrangement and composition. In his work he reaches out to the language of jazz, 20th-century classical music, ethnic music, modern music, which includes impro and experimental music.
Kuba Wójcik – guitarist, composer, educator and traveller. Author of projects on the borderline of jazz and avant-garde: Minim feat. Sainkho, Mad Ship, Kuba Wójcik’s Threak or the duo with Piotr Damasiewicz. As a solo artist, he explores ambient sounds by combining guitar and electronics. He has released 7 original albums (including Minim Experiment – ,,Dark Matter” recognised as Debut of the Year 2016 and Minim feat. Sainkho ,,Earth”, which was ranked 2nd among all jazz releases in 2019). He has collaborated with Rolf Kuhn, Sainkho Namtchylak, Nils Davidsen, Peter Bruun, as well as with the Cracow Improvisers Orchestra and Prof. Leszek Kulakowski’s Big Band. He has given concerts in Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and Nepal, among others. Graduate of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk in the field of Jazz and stage music. Scholarship holder of the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He was ranked 3rd among guitarists in the Jazz Forum critics’ ranking for 2020. He is co-founder of the KOLD Foundation and organiser of the ,,Spontaniczne Kompozytorskie Spotkania”. He received the Artistic Scholarship of the City of Warsaw for 2021. As a composer, he is interested in the achievements of the minimalists, which he transfers to the contemporary jazz language. He is inspired by nature and traditional cultures.
The JAZZ PO POLSKU “Around the World” project has taken a form of an international concert tour that will see Polish artists perform on 4 continents. The project launched in May 2023 and will continue until the end of 2025.
The project is carried out by the JAZZ PO POLSKU Foundation in collaboration with Polish diplomatic missions around the World, as well as with a number of local partners. The honorary patronage over the project has been taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its 2024 partners include: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Institute in New Delhi, Polish Airlines – LOT and the Industrial Development Agency Foundation. Patrons: Polish Radio Programe III, Polish Press Agency, and Jazz Forum Magazine.
www.jazzpopolsku.pl
