Biography
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Born
27 July 1983 (age 40)
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Born In
Poznań, Wielkopolskie, Poland
Wacław Zimpel is a Polish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is inspired as much by jazz as he is by electronics, minimalism and roots music from across the world.
Born and raised in Poznań, his earliest musical memories are of his father playing the piano. Taking up the violin at the age of six, Zimpel cast aside the frustrations of formal music lessons by finding salvation in jazz, the harmonica and a burning desire to improvise. He is classically educated clarinetist mostly playing his beloved and rare alto clarinet but his mastery of other woodwind instruments including khaen - a proto-harmonica from Laos - has also reached world-class levels.
Zimpel has also made an indelible mark as a collaborator. His Saagara project has seen him bring together the disciplines of western jazz and Indian raga music across two albums, the eponymous debut and its follow-up, ‘2’. Working with drummer Hubert Zemler and pianist Krzysztof Dys, he formed LAM, an improvisational trio whose eponymous debut album successfully bridges the gap between minimalism and trance music.
Wacław Zimpel has also worked closely with contemporary/free jazz players Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Joe PcPhee, composer, clarinetist and Grammy award winner Evan Ziporyn, electronic music visionaries James Holden, Sam Shackelton and Rabih Beaini, drum legend Trilok Gurtu and the master of gnawa music Maallem Mokhtar Gania.
Besides his various collaborations, he has released two solo albums, Lines (2016) and Massive Oscillations (2020), the latter being the result of a residency in a Dutch electronic studio.
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