Pianist Dominik Wania has joined the elite group of artists recording for ECM Records. “Lonely Shadows” is the first ever solo album of a Polish musician released by this most prestigious jazz label in the world.
In Autumn 2019, during a two-day recording session in Lugano, Dominik Wania decided to go for full improvisation. He arrived at the concert hall of the Swiss radio without any previously prepared works or even sketches of the compositions. While listening to his album “Lonely Shadows” we therefore witness a process of creation that is completely unique.

Dominik Wania’s fans had to wait seven years for his second album. So much time has passed since his famous debut – the album “Ravel” recorded with Max Mucha (bass) and Dawid Fortuna (drums), which was showered with awards, including two Fryderyk statuettes (in the Jazz Album of the Year and Jazz Debut of the Year categories) and the TVP Kultura “Gwarancje Kultury” award. This time as well the leading Polish jazz pianist does not give up on the clear influence of classical composers such as Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, Aleksandr Scriabin or Erik Satie. Wania’s music is a bridge between pure freedom of improvisation, derived from jazz music, and pianism permeated with European classical music. Just like his new album, his solo concerts are an invitation to discover the world of sounds built on the “here and now” principle.

Dominik Wania has begun to gain recognition by playing alongside Tomasz Stańko. He received an invitation from the legendary jazzman immediately after graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. During his four-year collaboration with the trumpeter, Wania met his next musical partner – saxophonist Maciej Obara, whom the quartet he has been co-creating to this day. Undeniably one of the most important Polish formations in recent years has allowed the pianist to develop his talent and begin his international career. Together with the Obara’s band he visited the best jazz halls and festivals in the world and recorded six albums, the last two of which are also included in the ECM Records catalogue. Apart from performing and recording in numerous jazz constellations, he also devotes himself to teaching at the Music Academy in Krakow and Katowice, as well as recording film music in cooperation with Zbigniew Preisner.