The new concert series “Jazz Lounge – Toms Rudzinskis Residency” at Cēsis Concert Hall will present four carefully curated jazz evenings in 2026. During the residency, the acclaimed Latvian jazz saxophonist and composer Toms Rudzinskis invites his closest musical companions from across Europe to Cēsis – each bringing a distinct ensemble, artistic voice, and approach to improvisation.

The opening concert of the series on February 7 will feature Polish trumpeter and composer Tomasz Dąbrowski, described by DownBeat magazine as “one of Europe’s most versatile and inquisitive musicians.” In 2025, Dąbrowski received two Fryderyk Awards – Poland’s highest music honor – for Musician of the Year and Album of the Year for Better, confirming his position at the forefront of contemporary jazz and improvised music.

Born in Poland and currently based in Scandinavia, Dąbrowski’s music blends Eastern European melodic roots with contemporary jazz and avant-garde freedom. His tone is clear and restrained, his phrasing focused, while the dramaturgy of his music lies in the ability to create tension between silence and explosive improvisation – music that, as critics have noted, “first whispers, then screams.”

In Cēsis, Tomasz will perform with an international quintet assembled especially for this evening, featuring musicians from the Latvian and European jazz scenes, including Toms Rudzinskis himself. The programme is designed specifically for the intimate close-up atmosphere of the Cinema Hall – approximately one hundred listeners seated within arm’s reach of the musicians.

“Tomasz is a musician who senses sound and silence with equal precision – the boundary where music begins and ends. For this evening, we are creating a programme that lives in the close-up space of the cinema hall and allows the audience to hear music in all its layers,” says jazz saxophonist Toms Rudzinskis.

After the concert, audiences and young musicians from Cēsis are invited to a jam session, continuing the jazz conversation in a freer format in collaboration with Alfrēds Kalniņš Cēsis Secondary School of Music.

Preschool-age children will not be admitted to the concert.

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