Marek Śmietański's Favorite Polish Jazz Albums Of 2025

As part of Year in Review series, I've already highlighted my favorite albums of 2025 (you can view the list here). While I included artists from around the world, intentionally leaving out my own Poland. And yet Polish jazz has a remarkably strong and distinctive identity. It emerged from a deep craving for freedom and a dialogue with the West, serving for decades as a subtle form of artistic resistance. After many years of searching for its own voice, it has begun to shape a confident, self-contained narrative—one rooted in improvisation, formal freedom, and an ongoing, fearless conversation with sound, where experimentation feels like a natural state of mind. The albums released in 2025 show that Polish jazz, while cherishing the freedom it has earned, continues to evolve in fresh and unexpected directions. Here are my picks—my favorite albums and honorable mentions.

Safe Space
Arek Czernysz Quartet
Self Produced

Intriguing compositions seem to carry the listener into the quiet corners of jazz with a subtle yet hypnotic sound. However if you listen closely enough, you can sense the sophistication, notice the discreet experiments, and appreciate the improvisations. The combination of accordion, trumpet and traditional rhythm section reveals a refined, discerning taste.

From Sound to Silence. Nowosielski Live
Artur Dutkiewicz Trio
Soliton

The result of pianist Artur Dutkiewicz's fascination with the paintings of renowned Polish iconographer Jerzy Nowosielski. The album features five meditations, recorded live during concerts of the Nowosielski Audiovisual project, where the music served as an integral counterpart to the projected abstract image collages. These meditations form the foundation of contemplation, awakening in the listener a different way of experiencing visual art.

white in blue
Cezariusz Gadzina
TAK Records

A sensational collaboration between a Polish classical and jazz saxophonist and young Japanese musicians, born from a concert tour in Japan. Recorded live in a Tokyo studio, the album features original compositions by the leader as well as three improvisations based on Fryderyk Chopin's works. Polish classics blend remarkably coherently with Japanese culture here, and there is nothing accidental in this music.

the song of a JUBJUB
Irka Zapolska Quartet
Self Produced

An improvised tale for listeners who also appreciate the grotesque or the absurd, since the leader's original compositions were inspired by Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem "The Hunting of the Snark." A moody narrative performed by a piano trio with a vocalist who at times sings, speaks or whispers is a sonic poem full of improvisation and multilayered, elusive textures.

Well, actually...
O.N.E.
April Records

Apparently a traditional acoustic quartet, though playing improvised jazz with elements of free jazz and avant-garde, as well as modal jazz. The four great female instrumentalists impress with both the sincerity of their expression and the mutual trust among themselves, resulting in complete cohesion amid captivating diversity.

Ether
Piotr Schmidt / Andrzej Swies / Sebastian Frankiewicz
SJRecords

An excellent set of improvised recordings by three instrumentalists who approached the concept of collective improvisation in a creative way. The trio builds moods that balance on the border between subtle experimental jazz and impressionistic ephemerality.

Sea Poetry
Rafał Jackiewicz Quartet
Self Produced

The quartet recorded 6 compositions by the leader in the aesthetic of ECM Records. The melancholic moodiness is complemented here by illustrative spaces in which the saxophone does not dominate over the other instruments but rather enters into dialogue with them. The title perfectly captures not only the atmosphere of the music but also its landscape-like and panoramic quality.

Planet Lem
RGG & Robert Więckiewicz
Music Corner Records

A feast not only musical, but also literary and theatrical. The album contains pieces during which the outstanding actor Robert Więckiewicz does not merely read but performs excerpts from Stanisław Lem's novel "Solaris"—speaking, whispering, sometimes even shouting. Subtle double bass, colorful keys, and surprising percussion come together to form long improvised structures.

Agma
Szymon Mika
Music Corner Records

A coherent collection of original compositions by a Polish guitarist, recorded with musicians from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and South Korea. Shifting moods of multicultural melodies, thoughtful timbres, and graceful improvisations...
) Agma is an ancient Slavic word of power that activates a mechanism conducive to energetic transformation on the level of body or mind.

Ad Astra
Wojciech Jachna Squad
Audio Cave

The third album by Wojciech Jachna Squad, recorded by the group reduced to a quartet without a double bassist. Contrary to appearances, this actually benefited the sound, as the musicians were in a way compelled to play in a more mature and creative manner. As a result, they focused on building an impressionistic mood at the expense of expressiveness.

SOLO
Wojtek Mazolewski
WMQ RECORDS

An album is filled with atmospheric, almost meditative compositions created during the process of making music for a theater performance. The double bassist skillfully plays with silence and subtle additions using electronics, percussion, and even harp. An excellent example of the multi-dimensionality of solo jazz.

Honorable Mention

• Adam Bałdych Portraits, ACT Music
• Alan Balcerowski Quintet Looking Ahead, Multikulti
• Paweł Biliński / Krzysztof Maciejowski Self-portraits: live impressions (EP), Soliton
• Czarakcziew and the Jazz Cats A Tribute To Fred Katz, Hen House Studios
• Grzech Piotrowski / Eivind Aarset / Terje Isungset Horizon, Self Produced
• Scandinavian Art Ensemble with Tomasz Stańko The Copenhagen Session Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, April Records
• Snyder x Dudar Quartet (Russell Snyder / Slawek Dudar) Into The Blue, Self Produced

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