Thomas Agergaard - Cascades (2022)

Thomas Agergaard - saxophones
Artur Tuźnik - piano

CASCADES is the first album to document several years of collaboration between the Danish saxophone veteran Thomas Agergaard and the Polish pianist Artur Tuźnik. A meeting between 2 artists from different generations and musical worlds, but with a clear artistic approach to explore the sound together.

The album consists of 10 works both improvised and partly spontaneously composed by the duo. From the strong melodies, abstract structures, impressionistic harmonies, to modal sound and minimalism, the musicians move around the borderland of what is known as a classical, jazz and folk music. The material was recorded in the DKDM Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the former Danish Radio, which became a significant factor in the process of shaping the music. The incredible history and acoustics of the room definitely played the role in defining the sound of CASCADES.

Thomas says: 
Artur and I have been developing our communication by working with fixed forms and then moving to completely open processes - where stylistic directions can change suddenly and at any time - but I feel it is somehow always an organic musical transformation. 
I remember this session as incredibly intense and I was completely exhausted the day after. Improvising everything is very demanding, constantly opening your senses to where your colleagues are in the musical universe. To step forward or back in the music, to go with or against, to change style, or to take a break - it is a dynamic space where one's role changes from soloist to the one forming a background. When listening to CASCADES today, I know it will never be repeated, that music will never be played again the same way. But new things will arise and our collaboration is developing constantly.

Artur says: You could feel right from the start that the music was already in the room. It was just about being honest and true to each other and our inner musical radar. I have very rarely experienced a feeling of sharing the same intuition and approach to music as we do with Thomas, on a rather mystical level. And to be able to capture the abstract so naturally in a recording situation.

Thomas Agergaard's unique saxophone sound has for almost 40 years helped to define Danish jazz through bands such as Ok Nok Congo or his collaborations with Marylin Mazur, Miroslav Vitous or John Tchicai, among many others. Known for being musically versatile, he works in parallel with artists from the classical world such as Tobias van der Pals.

Artur Tuznik has been active as a bandleader and sideman since 2008, when he moved to Denmark and got enrolled in education on both jazz and classical music conservatories in Copenhagen. This is clearly reflected in his music and newest albums such as The Space Above or Artur Tuznik TRIO, which have been praised in, among others, danish daily POLITIKEN. In the past, Artur won many international jazz competitions in Europe and has recently worked with his own projects and music in Denmark, also collaborated with Thomas Blachman, Anders Christensen, Thommy Andersson, DR BigBand among many others, as well as internationally such as Tomasz Stanko and Maciej Obara. Artur is now nominated for the Danish Music Awards 2022 in category Jazz Composer of the Year for his newest album "SPRING".