Explorations in sound
Tarwid's first solo album was released in 2020. Plays was composed as a result of his master's thesis, as part of which the musician tried to use the problems in piano technique as a source of artistic expression. The artist explains:
I noticed that the phenomenon of recurrence of the same motifs, passages, exercises coincides with repetition characteristic of minimalism and many contemporary trends in improvisation […]. So I used the themes that I usually perform when practising to explore the minimalist form.
The nature of these explorations was also influenced by electronic music, which Tarwid began to listen to passionately at that time. Accustomed to an acoustic instrument, he automatically searched for the characteristics of this genre. Electronic music left an even more significant mark on the 2021 album Ay. The track Nyege alludes by its title to an iconic Ugandan label specialising in modern dance music (Nyege Nyege Tapes). Nevertheless, whilst working on his second solo album, Tarwid drew primarily on the work of Brian Eno. The pianist focused much more on exploring his sound, and in this respect, there is no greater visionary than the godfather of ambient music. 'Exploring the sound and production techniques is becoming more and more central to music-making', says the composer.
Not only in my case, but I think for most artists, it has become the crucial element of creation. It's getting harder and harder to get people interested in new music, especially since the attention span is getting shorter. Therefore, the more interesting the sound, the bigger the chance that the listener will stay with the song for longer. It is why even artists from the improvised scene have started to pay much attention to the sound.
For this purpose, Tarwid uses synthesisers more and more willingly. With them, he develops his language and experiments with the tone colour of his pieces. Ultimately, he wants to achieve the same fluency in handling the Nord or Moog as he has with acoustic instruments.
Amongst the various bands co-created by Tarwid, the duo Diomede, which he forms together with the saxophonist Tomasz Markanicz, holds an important place. On their second album entitled Przyśpiewki, the drummer Hubert Zemler joined the line-up. Jakub Krukowski wrote about it in the pages of JazzPress:
The trio took an uncompromising approach to create elaborate melodies that, despite their avant-garde nature, remain accessible and engaging.
Other groups Tarwid is involved in include the humorous, multi-style duo Alfons Slik, which he co-founded with drummer and composer Szymon Gąsiorek. The pianist is also a member of the band Jantar. The quartet, which also includes Jakub Ziołek (vocals, guitar), Krzysztof Kaliski (guitar) and Tomasz Popowski (drums), draws on the great traditions of Brazilian song.
Written by Jan Błaszczak Oct 2021, edited by AZ.