Gary Gwadera is a solo project of Piotr Gwadera, the boss-drummer of Łódź musical scene, himself being from Kielce, Poland.
He has the ability to add a unique, surprising character to any type of music. He is known for his rock, punk, experimental, jazz and freely improvised projects. For quite a few years now, he has also been a leading percussionist on the nation-wide rural traditional music scene, on which he is famous for his outstanding freedom in the use of triple rhythms in his jaz playing. Gwadera has a passion for vintage drums and cymbals, and heappreciates VHS, and other magnetic tapes of all kinds.
His main bands are: Radical Polish Ansambl, Odpoczno, L.Stadt. He has collaborated with Bernhard Lang, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Steven Bernstein, Marcin Masecki and Antoni Gralak, among others.
Piotr Gwadera received the second prize ‘for his magnetic personality, musical imagination and unique combination of roots andavant-garde elements’", as well as the 'Golden Goose' prize granted for the best instrumentalist ‘for his virtuoso approach to mazurka rhythms on an unusual (percussion) instrument’ at the Polish Radio Folk Music Competition -New Tradition 2024.
*jaz (pol, “Dżaz”) not jazz. A minimalistic drum set that appeared in Europe after WWI along with American jazz artists. It became popular in the Polish rural music scene after WWII. (source: Bieńkowski/RadioweCentrum Kultury Ludowej)