Untitled Document
Lars Danielsson & Leszek Możdżer
Sweden, Poland
Lars Danielsson – db
Leszek Możdżer – p
“We are from the same music planet. To play like Leszek does—is my dream. We can twist music in any direction”, “When Lars is by my side, I don’t have to think about music, I just feel it,” this is how passionately Danielsson and Możdżer, guests of European jazz festival this year, speak about each other. The inspiring cooperation between the Swedish bassist and cello player Lars Danielsson and the Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer is aptly called a musical marriage.
People from different countries and music cultures meet at a concert and before long they come to feel that they understand each other through the music. The story of Danielsson and Możdżer is like that. Since 2005, when they met in Warsaw, Lars and Leszek have recorded with the Israeli percussionist Zoharu Fresco, released two albums as a duo, gave numerous performances, and established a music partnership that presents new opportunities every year.
In 2007, upon the invitation of the famous European record company ACT, the duo released their first album Pasodoble. American critics said that the album’s music is for those who are tired of chaos—it is melodic, subtle and stylish. This spring, fans of the duo received the next instalment of their experiments, the album Tarantella, which will be featured at the European Jazz project presented by Vilnius-European Capital of Culture.
The two have won great acclaim in the jazz world. Danielsson, called one of the world’s most poetic bassists by the US magazine, Jazz Times, has been well known to music fans for two decades. Back in 1985, he established a quartet that included former Miles Davis-group saxophonist, Dave Liebman, pianist Bob Stenson and drummer Jon Christensen, whose recordings are in the collections of jazz fans all over Europe.
Lars, who is happily involved in various types of musical activities, is known as a composer and arranger. His career includes collaborations with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, managing the ensemble Jazz Baltica for two years, and playing with the famous percussionist Trilok Gurt’s group. Such jazz celebrities as Kenny Wheeler, Bill Evans, and John Abercrombie have assisted Danielsson in recording his albums; whereas Danielsson has guested in recording studios and on stage with John Scofield, Randy and Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Jack DeJohnette, and other jazz stars. His 2006 album, Melange Bleu, recorded with the crème a la crème of Scandinavian jazz, including the talented Norwegians Nils Petter Molvaer and Bugge Wesseltoft, was particularly well received.
At the presentation of Melange Bleu on stage Danielsson teamed up with Leszek Możdżer, the most popular jazz pianist in Poland. Możdżer started playing piano at the age of five, only discovering jazz at the age of eighteen when he began to connect jazz and classical music. He is known for his jazz improvisations on the music of Chopin, which laid the foundation for his successful jazz career.
Możdżer has won many musical awards and has recorded and appeared with many famous musicians, including collaborations with Pat Metheny, Archie Shepp, Joe Lovano, Tomasz Stanko and Lester Bowie among others. However, Możdżer’s repertoire is not limited to jazz; last year he assisted in recording an album for famous rock guitarist Phil Manzanera, a member of Roxy Music. He has also played with the black metal group Behemoth, well known to the fans of that genre, and has established a regular partnership with the famous Polish film composers Zbigniew Preisner and the Oscar winning Jan Kaczmarek. A few years ago Możdżer gained the recognition that many rock musicians dream of—he was invited by David Gilmour, voice of the legendary group Pink Floyd, to record two tracks on the album On An Island, and in 2006, he played with Gilmour at a concert in Gdansk.
