Piotr Damasiewicz - Hadrons (Ars Cameralis, 2011)

Piotr Damasiewicz – trumpet

Maciej Obara – alto saxophone
Gerard Lebik – tenor saxophone, contra-alto clarinet
Maciej Garbowski – double bass
Wojciech Romanowski – drums
Orchestra Aukso under the direction of Marek Moś

Hadrons (Ars Cameralis, 2011)

(Editor) Recorded with creme-de-creme of young Polish jazz men and very ambitious in scope, this debut disc by Piotr Damasiewicz annouces arrival of very talented player to Polish jazz scene. 

"The idea of joining a chamber orchestra with a jazz rhythm section and three wind instruments was to create a coherent form – both in terms of expression and sound, within the fixed compositional structure of the orchestra and the improvised layer of the jazz band.

Through the title, I referred to the recent research in the area of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). I have noticed some analogy between the behaviour of hadrons in particular reactions and the progression in the sound layer of my piece inspired by the contemporary new music (especially by free jazz masters’ activity). I also became interested in antimatter viewed in the context of myself as an artist, but also in the context of consciousness of a contemporary human.

Hadrons are particles held together by the strong interaction and made of quarks. In quantum chromodynamics, quarks may exist in asymptotic freedom, interacting with each other through the so called force of strong interaction. One of the particular features of the interacting quarks is the correlation between them. The closer they get, the weaker is their interaction, while it increases with increasing the distance. In search for the analogies between the quarks’ behaviour and the musicians’ improvisation, I referred to the free jazz masters’ achievements from the 1960s. By gradually moving away from the pre-established tonal and rhythmic structure, they increased the degree of expressiveness to its peak. In order to do it, they often used counterpoints as opposite forces constructing the new dimension of a musical utterance, oscillating between a dialogue and a fight.

Physicists assigned to the particles three arbitrary colours which – according to the well established colour symbolism – are not insignificant for me. They are a reflection of character within the context of creating tensions in the composition structure. These colours are blue, red and green – from which the composition derives its three-piece order, preceded by an open, improvised introduction of the soloists. Those parts follow themselves attacca.

The orchestra performs here a form-creating role but it is not limited to this function – it has a vital impact on building and relieving the tensions, entering by turns into dialogue and fight with the soloists. According to the strong interactions theory, at times the orchestra is a strong counterpoint, and at times a background for the improvisation, providing in the meantime specific basis and direction for the shape of improvisation, the tone, and the sonic structure of the composition.

The symbolic meaning of fundamental particles emphasizes as well the importance of fundamental essence in my life. I consider it to be the spiritual way I try to follow not only in the context of my development as an artist, but above all as a man.

My music, as far as it is possible today, aspires to be an autonomous creation that works as an individual expression of what I identify with as it comes to my perception of reality, which also means art and its role in my life. Some of my suggestions related to the explanation of the composition form, its origins, as well as the analogies (also those regarding the musical content) I used here, have mainly a symbolic dimension. These inspirations and issues that are important to me show to a large degree the ideas that influenced not only the significant part of my creation process, but also me personally."

(Editor) This video comes from different project by Damasiewicz called Damas Ensemble Power of the Horns. But it shows what kind of talent this young man possesses:

Source: from liner notes attached to "Hadrons"