Solo project of Piotr Gwadera – drummer from Kielce and key figure of the Łódź music scene. Known for his versatility and unique artistic voice, Gwadera effortlessly adds surprising character to any musical context, whether it’s rock, punk, experiment, jazz or free improvisation.

In recent years, he has become a leading drummer on the nationwide Polish rural traditional music scene, where he’s famous for his “outstanding freedom in using triple rhythms in jazz playing.” As a true sound connoisseur, he is passionate about vintage drums, cymbals and analog media – VHS tapes and magnetic recordings of all kinds.

Stylistically, Gary Gwadera explores innovative connections between tradition and modernity. His breakthrough album “Far, far in Chicago. Footberk Suite” (2024) is a “musical journey through time and space, where Polish oberek and Chicago footwork find common language in dynamic, triple rhythms.” The “footberk” concept arose from the observation that “syncopated mazurka rhythms can sound as contemporary and challenging as beats created for Chicago dancers.”

Gwadera is the winner of second prize “for magnetic personality, musical imagination and unique combination of avant-garde and sources” and Golden Fiddles for best instrumentalist “for virtuosic treatment of mazurka rhythms on atypical (percussive) instrumentation” in the Polish Radio Folk Music Competition. His main bands are Radical Polish Ansambl, Odpoczno and L.Stadt. He has collaborated with international and Polish artists such as Bernhard Lang, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Steven Bernstein, Marcin Masecki and Antoni Gralak.

Media describe his work as “stunning and captivating” (Nowa Muzyka), where “inspirations from oberek and footwork intertwine to such an extent that sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re driving through a Polish village or you’re on a dance floor in the Windy City” (The Quietus). As the artist himself says: “I try to show that syncopated mazurka rhythms can sound as contemporary and challenging as beats created for Chicago dancers.”