A few years ago, a very interesting relationship began to develop. A bridge was built out of Jaubi’s releases on Astigmatic Records and the increasingly frequent collaborations between musicians from Europe and Asia – out of Latarnik’s trip to Pakistan resulting in the widely acclaimed album Nafs at Peace and Zohaib, Dhani and Ali’s revisit to Poland, which has been recorded as the EABS meets Jaubi In Search of a Better Tomorrow longplay.

Wrocław and Lahore are almost 7,000 kilometers apart. And despite this immense distance that separates the EABS and Jaubi musicians, the two bands find a surprising amount of common ground that determines their musical explorations. These include both a strong attachment to locality and respect for tradition, a penchant for weaving in some hip-hop elements, and the basis of a love of improvisation and spiritual jazz. It was therefore only a matter of time before they joined forces. And so, they proceeded to build a (cross)cultural bridge between Poland and Pakistan. A bridge whose pillars are Hindustani ragas, polish jazz understood in a variety of ways, and brotherhood in sound. This merger’s finale is surprising to such an extent that it is difficult to pigeonhole this collaboration in any way.

They met through the Get Your Jazz Together programme, which was launched by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute to help build such bridges. The following day after Jaubi’s premiere concert at the OFF Festival in Katowice, the musicians went to Monochrom Studio in Kłodzko Valley, where they spent a week making music together, exchanging ideas and compositions. The outcome of the collaboration surprised them all, materializing in rather dark shades. So how did this happen, given that the recordings were realized in picturesque natural circumstances mid-summer? It was only yesterday that the pandemic restrictions were lifted, the inflation is raging, Russia has invaded Ukraine and no one in our region can be sure of peace anymore, while Pakistan has faced the worst floods in years. So much upheaval has been delivered by the world in recent times that the experience of the past has left its mark even on a sunny present day. Against all odds, however, the musicians are seeking solace, hoping that the tomorrow that is yet to come will finally bring something better.

Even after the darkest night, however, comes day. It is known to the group from Lahore, who, often challenged by life, have already sent prayers for peace through their previous album. This is also known to the band from Wrocław, whose musical paths are inextricably bound up with the difficult and painful history of their homeland, and who have already experienced the era of unearthing their foundations and cosmic escapism in the spirit of Sun Ra. Today, they are walking swiftly towards the sun, all together, a group of eight artists whose lives are separated by their place of birth – the cultural education they received and the musical tradition they grew up in – but who are united by that one phrase, melody or emotion which gave origin to each of the compositions collected on the album titled In Search of a Better Tomorrow.