BIO & PROJECTS


Tomasz Dąbrowski is an award-winning Polish trumpeter and composer settled in Copenhagen, Denmark. With eight albums released under his own name and dozens of CDs as a co-leader and sideman, he is considered one of the most gifted trumpeters and composers in Europe. Tomasz has mostly been known for his work with groups TOM TRIO [ nominated to the FRYDERYK AWARD - Polish Music Industry Award], FREE4ARTS, his Japanese quartet AD HOC, string of concerts S-O-L-O: 30th Birthday / 30 Concerts / 30 Cities and projects with Tomasz Stańko, Tyshawn Sorey and Kris Davis, which received raving reviews internationally and created opportunities to tour all over Europe, North America and Asia. Tomasz is a member of a Danish musician-run collective and record label Barefoot Records.

Tomasz Dąbrowski has always been rejecting the conventions of lineup choice: starting with a trio without a harmonic instrument, forming a duo with drums and a trio with piano and drums, playing solo trumpet concerts. Tomasz is always looking for new sounds, textures and forms, proving that the unconventional has its peculiar colour and is beautiful in its own way.

AllAboutJazz magazine, named Tomasz as one of the 15 most significant European jazz musicians today [2017].

Tomasz was awarded with artistic scholarship by Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2012, a year later he has been named "Musician of the Year" by FFJ in Denmark [Foreningen af Fynske Jazzmusikere - Årets fynske jazzmusiker 2013]. He is a member of the program "You Me - Young Musicians play Europe"

Over the last few years, while living in Denmark, Dąbrowski has worked and performed with some of the finest musicians and bands on the Danish scene: Marilyn Mazur, Kresten Osgood, Jacob Anderskov, Fredrik Lundin, Kasper Tranberg, the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, Hunger Pangs, Lotte Anker, Andreas Lang, AC, Mette Rasmussen, Simon Krabs, and Kasper Tom to name a few. 

Along with that Tomasz has worked and played with artists, such us: Tomasz Stańko, Evan Parker, Pheeroan akLaff, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Riccardo Del Fra, RJ Miller, Aaron Parks, Richard Bona, Stacey Kent, Rudi Mahall, Henrik Walsdorff, Avishai Cohen, Sam Pluta, Ikue Mori, Óskar Guðjónsson, Tyshawn Sorey, Kris Davis, Jonathan Blake, Andrew Drury, Gilad Hekselman, Alex Terrier, Rodolfo Zuniga and Jaleel Shaw. 

 



Projects

projects

Tomasz Dąbrowski AD HOC

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, mutes
Hiroshi Minami - piano
Hiroshi Tsuboi - drums
Hiroki Chiba - double bass, electronics

THE JAZZ NINJA

Yet Another (following Steps, Vermilion Tree and Radical Moves) Tomasz Dąbrowski project published by our label, this time it’s a vinyl recorded with a great team, including the following Japanese musicians: the legendary pianist Hiroshi Minami, double-bass player Hiroko Chiba and the drummer Hiroshi Tsuboi. This is the second joint project of the Ad Hoc Quartet, which was formed in 2014, when Tomasz Dąbrowski first visited Japan. Their first album was titled Strings, it was released in 2015. The music from said album was performed during two concert tours in Japan.

A Ninja symbolises the highest level of craftsmanship and refinement in martial arts. A Ninja is a warrior enveloped in a mysterious nimbus – a master of intuition, elusiveness, as well as the unexpected, he is the unseen... consistently and with unerring precision hitting his mark. How can this album be described? What is this unique Polish-Japanese interaction of thought and sound?

"I never dreamed that I’ll have a Japanese band, just like I never expected it to be so easy to create without using verbal communication. Ad Hoc is a band of no words, while its music pours like a wide stream with little use of formal composition, when compared with my previous albums. The Ninjazz album is an important point in my artistic development, it is a full-blown and thought-out album, which very aptly portrays the position of Ad Hoc at this moment, as well as the direction of my artistic exploration. [...] The pieces are so constructed and have such flow as to effectively introduce Slavic melancholy to Japanese audiences, which the Japanese people really appreciate in music, all of this is combined with guided improvisation. Japanese people are typically very reserved, they don’t usually express emotions... that means that those emotions, which every person possesses have to find an outlet somehow. And this is what happens when we play. I have an overwhelming feeling that this Japanese restraint works very well within the context of this band..." - that's what Tomasz Dąbrowski had to say about the project.

(FOR TUNE®)

 

Tomasz Dąbrowski S-O-L-O: "30th Birthday / 30 Cities / 30 Concerts"

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, mutes

S-O-L-O: “30th Birthday/30 Concerts/30 Cities” is Tomasz Dąbrowski’s seventh album as a leader and his first solo recording. This album is the culmination of a series of solo concerts celebrating his 30th birthday performed in 30 cities in 12 different countries over almost seven months, plus three formal recording sessions held in various locations around Copenhagen. The album is made up of 10 songs intended to represent 10 chapters of one story.

This is music inspired by sumi-e, the Japanese ink and wash painting technique. Its goal is not simply to reproduce the appearance of an object, but to capture its essence. Like a sumi-e artist, painting with one stroke without removing the brush from the canvas, Dąbrowski translates this idea into music, telling the story with only one instrument. He takes the listener to his very private world, encompassing previous experiences and his contemporary musical inspirations.

As Dąbrowski says: "There are a few moments in your life when things change once and for all. To me it is turning 30, simply because for the first time I can feel time is going by faster and faster. Instead of thinking about the past though, I'm looking to the future trying new things, looking for another unopened door.
Playing solo is most definitely the most challenging setting I could think of. I decided to give myself a present and celebrate my 'getting older' state of mind, with 30 solo concerts in 30 cities in various countries. There were no other musicians on the bandstand, no electronics or amps, only the trumpet and the mutes. It's just me dealing with myself, ideas, directions and doubts.”

A documentary film S-O-L-O: “30th Birthday/30 Concerts/30 Cities”, directed by Kristoffer Juel - the winner of the Award of Excellence, Multimedia Issue Reporting Story, 73rd annual Pictures of the Year International (POYi). The movie includes interviews, footage from the recording sessions and the concerts. It will be available online along with the album.

Tomasz Dąbrowski FREE4ARTS

Tomasz Dabrowski - trumpet, balkan-horn
Sven Dam Meinild - baritone sax
Simon Krebs - guitar
Kasper Tom Christiansen - drums

Melodic and multidimentional music, inspired by Polish folk music, slavic heritage and European third stream jazz and avant garde scene, with personal touch and scandinavian sence of space. Compositions written specifically for this lineup, musicians in the group, with one idea - to underline their unique voice and create a band, where sound of one individual looses it's meaning without a context. Group features some of the most exciting players on Scandinavian scene 

"HBP"

 

Ocean Fanfare

Sven Dam Meinild - alto saxophone
Tomasz Dabrowski - balkan horn
Richard Andersson - double bass
Peter Bruun - drums

Ocean Fanfare is the name of an international quartet consisting of Tomasz Dąbrowski (trp), Sven Dam Meinild (sax), Richard Andersson (bs) and Peter Bruun (drm). Together they created the record "Imagine Sound Imagine Silence", which is released on Barefoot Records March 30. On the record they explore the interaction between the rock solid rhythm section and abstract and evocative melodies. Without ever completely leaving the jazz ocean they set to the edge of what modern jazz sounds like in the new millennium.

The Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski, who already have many albums as bandleader on his conscience, has developed his own personal sound on the trumpet. In Ocean Fanfare he creates, with Sven Dam Meinild on saxophone, a horn section that alternates from the euphoric to the dark melancholy. Danish Richard Andersson is known as a bass player with a solid grip on the jazz tradition, but also the will and the courage to point forward. Along with Peter Bruun on drums, they create both a raw swing and a free energetic drive.

"4 is 2 tight"

TOM TRIO +

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, balkan horn, mutes
Irek Wojtczak - tenor sax
Nils Bo Davidsen - double bass
Anders Mogensen - drums

“TOM TRIO” is the title of Tomasz Dąbrowski’s first album as a leader and the name of his international group.  Featuring double bassist Nils Bo Davidsen, drummer Anders Mogensen and saxophonist Irek Wojtczak, the music of “TOM TRIO” expresses an extraordinary blend of Slavic and Scandinavian personalities through long melodic lines, rough sound textures, and a precise sense of time. Group released two studio albums: "TOM TRIO" [ILK 2012] and "Radical Moves" [For Tune 2014].

Both Anders Mogensen and Nils Bo Davidsen are major players on the Scandinavian scene, known for their personal sounds and approaches to music.  Through the years they have collaborated with artists such as Han Bennink, Bunky Green, John Tchicai, Marc Ducret, Tom Rainey, Chris Speed, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Peter Brötzman, Evan Parker, Herb Robertson, Tim Berne, and many more.

"When We Were Young"

 

Tomasz Stańko Experience

Tomasz Stańko - trumpet
Artur Tuźnik - piano
Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet
Martin Fabricius - vibrafon
Johanna Sulkunen - vocal
Stian Swensson - guitar
Richard Anderson - double bass
Radek Wośko - drums
Snorri Sigurdarsson - trumpet
Thomas Hass - tenor sax

  

Tomasz Dąbrowski & Tyshawn Sorey

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, balkan horn, mutes
Tyshawn Sorey - drums

"STEPS" EPK

3D [DĄBROWSKI / DAVIS / DRURY]

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet
Kris Davis - piano
Andrew Drury - drums

"Unlike other instruments the trumpet does not contain a generator of sound within itself. The human body of the trumpet player generates the sound, and this is merely amplified by the trumpet. In this way the trumpet becomes something like an extension of the body—which leads to many difficulties in mastering the instrument, but also to many possibilities for producing sounds with the most direct kind of musical expression. This can be heard in the playing of Tomasz Dabrowski on this recording. (...)"
[Axel Dörner]

EPK

HUNGER PANGS

Marek Kądziela - guitar
Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, microKORG
Kasper Tom Christiansen - drums

"Meet Meat" promo

 

Live

Tully Boris III

Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, mutes
Søren Gemmer - synthesizers
Anders Vestergaard - drums

Based in Copenhagen, ‘Tully Boris III’ is a trio that sounds like six brain halves trying to come together around fretless Moog bass, Polish trumpet legacy and ant farm drumming in a meeting between heavy beats, abstract bop and modern compositional aesthetics.

It all comes across somewhat as homespun philosophy uttered in the Copenhagen Metro as a sixth grader would interpret it.’

Søren Gemmer on the Moog and Prophet synthesizers as well as trumpet magician Tomasz Dabrowski and ace drummer Anders Vestergaard.

"Live at KoncertKirken"

 

OFF QUAR TET

Marek Kądziela - guitar
Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet, balkan horn
Morten Jensen - double bass
Rasmus Schmidt - drums

"Eleven"