In connection with the 80th anniversary of Tomasz Stańko's birth, musicians representing the forefront of the contemporary jazz scene return with a special project, Euforila, led by Maciej Obara. The music performed by the band stems from inspirations drawn from many meetings (both artistic and private) with Tomasz Stańko. The sextet is composed of Polish and Scandinavian stars, for whom the work of Poland's most famous trumpeter played an important role in shaping their musical sensibilities and career path. The core of the repertoire performed by the sextet are works by Tomasz Stańko, as well as, written especially for this line-up, compositions by Maciej Obara.

“The compositions I wrote embrace what I valued Tomasz for, they directly correspond with his free-jazz expression, which did not exclude the immense lyricism of his music," says Maciej Obara, "When I was asked by Ania Stańko to prepare the premiere material for the festival in Bielsko, I decided to refer to a lesser-known band in Tomek's career. There were two pianists in it – Craig Taborn and Dominik Wania. Unfortunately, he never recorded an album with this lineup, but I was lucky enough to hear this music live. The combination of piano and electronics is extremely inspiring. This was a starting point for me - both in terms of creating compositions and inviting specific musicians to collaborate.”

Maciej Obara has set his sights on the most interesting artists of the contemporary scene. The choice of Dominik Wania - a long-time collaborator in bands signed to the saxophonist's name - was therefore a natural one. Wania joined the elite group of artists recording for ECM two years ago, and his first auteur album ("Lonely Shadows") in this catalog, is also the first ever solo album by a Polish musician released by the Munich-based label.

The second keyboard will be handled by Grzegorz Tarwid. He is one of the most interesting Polish musicians of the younger generation. An exploratory pianist who more often draws on what lies between genres than on specific styles and conventions. In the numerous artistic initiatives in which he participates, he is always able to clearly mark his unmistakable musical personality.

Euforila sextet also reaches for the composition "Old Habits" by Tomasz Dabrowski - a leading trumpeter on the European scene, who dedicated his last authorial album entirely to Tomasz Stańko. “What I took from meeting and working with Tomasz Stańko is that one should cultivate one's individuality, form ensembles, search and add skillfully to one's language on the instrument so that it becomes strong and independent - regardless of the circumstances”, says Tomasz Dabrowski.

The project was commissioned by the Tomasz Stańko Jazz Autumn Festival in 2021.