The first day of Jazz Jamboree 2025 was not a closed story, but an ongoing process — multi-threaded, dynamic, and open-ended. The Many Faces of Piotr Damasiewicz became not only the title of a project, but an apt description of the festival’s very idea: a place where jazz is constantly taking on new forms.
Photos: Piotr Gorczyński
By contrast, “Berlin Session”, featuring Joe Smith and Ranjit Prasad, brought a more raw and rhythmically driven sound. Built on an intense pulse, dense structures, and strong ensemble dynamics, the music evoked the industrial landscape of Berlin and its uncompromising improvised music scene.
The premiere performances seamlessly evolved into an expanded collective format, with numerous guest musicians, including Into The Roots and Power Horns Ensemble. Artists representing different aesthetics and backgrounds met on stage, while Damasiewicz assumed the role not only of instrumentalist, but also of conductor and coordinator — shaping tension, dramaturgy, and the coherence of this multi-layered musical narrative.
The evening opened in a classic, acoustic jazz idiom, with clear references to the tradition of great quintets. Alongside Damasiewicz, the stage featured Dominik Wania, Antoine Roney, and Kojo Roney, with a special guest appearance by David Murray. The music was intense and driven by dialogue between the horn players, a strong rhythmic pulse, and expansive improvisations in which experience met youthful energy.
After this opening set, the narrative shifted decisively. The central point of the day became the premiere presentation of two albums by L.A.S. Collective (Piotr Damasiewicz, Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Grzegorz Lesiak), marking a new chapter in the collective’s artistic activity.
The album “London Session”, recorded with Barbara Drazkov and Cleveland Watkiss, introduced elements of electronics, voice, and freely shaped form into the festival space. The music flowed beyond traditional concert frameworks, creating a trance-like, almost cinematic narrative in which atmosphere and the shared energy of the performers were just as important as sound itself.
Jazz Jamboree Festival | October 24, 2025 | The many faces of Piotr Damasiewicz
For years, Jazz Jamboree has remained one of those festivals capable of bridging memory and the present moment. The opening day of the 2025 edition had a clear protagonist — Piotr Damasiewicz, who appeared in his own curatorial format, The Many Faces of Piotr Damasiewicz, guiding the audience through different stages and aesthetics of his musical journey.
Damasiewicz has often emphasized that Jazz Jamboree is a symbolic festival for him. This time, he returned not only as an instrumentalist, but above all as a curator of ideas — an artist consciously creating a space for encounters between musicians, generations, and languages of improvisation.
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