Aiskander

AISKANDER is a Polish jazz composer, arranger, reharmonizer, guitarist, improviser, and music producer. He is the founder of the Wrocław-based vocal and instrumental ensemble Mistrz Allegro and the creator and owner of the independent Polish record label illumination Music. His artistic activity focuses primarily on instrumental jazz-funk, jazz fusion, and world music.

Driven by a constant desire to refine and expand his creative process, Aiskander began developing original material early in his career. In mid-2009, he released his debut solo album Tysięczna część radości. The opening tracks—Róża wiatrów, Fantazja, along with twelve other compositions built around the melodic sound of the classical guitar—outlined a musical direction he would continue to explore in subsequent releases.

His later albums, including Idylla, Furta, and Nostalgia, are particularly notable for their rich and unconventional instrumentation. Alongside traditional instruments, these recordings feature marimba, English horn, the Chinese erhu, and the Persian santur. According to the artist, incorporating non-standard instruments stimulates creativity and significantly deepens the listener’s experience.

The diversity of compositional techniques and formal solutions present in Aiskander’s recent works aligns his music with avant-garde and pop-art aesthetics. He consciously moves beyond traditional tonal systems, which—by his own account—allows for greater expressive freedom. He views strict tonality and repetitive musical forms as limitations that restrict emotional depth and imagination, both for the composer and the audience.

Reflecting on his earlier albums, Aiskander considers them preparatory studies for his current artistic direction. A return to irregular compound meters, strong grooves, and syncopated rhythms has played a crucial role in shaping the contemporary character of his recent compositions. Today, his work is rooted primarily in instrumental jazz-funk, enriched by advanced techniques such as harmonization and reharmonization, complex voicings, harmonic alterations, close and open textures, polymeter, and asymmetrical rhythmic structures.

Each composition is meticulously crafted, with carefully planned layers forming cohesive and compact arrangements. A central and enduring goal of Aiskander’s work is the continuous pursuit of artistic depth and a connection to high culture. His musical language draws inspiration from the folk traditions of diverse cultures, modern classical music, avant-garde jazz, jazz fusion, and progressive rock—elements that together define his distinctive and evolving artistic identity.

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