Mikołaj Trzaska, John Edwards, Mark Sanders - Because It Happens [vinyl 180g + download code]

Release date: 12.06.2026

„Not So Late / Because it Happens“ on CD and „Because it Happens“ on LP is the material recorded live on August 5th 2025 in London at legendary Cafe OTO.
Three masters of improvisation: Mikołaj Trzaska on saxophone, John Edwards on double bass and Mark Sanders on drums.
They don't use the term "improvisation," preferring instead to speak of "live composition" and the audience, who are an essential component of the concert ritual. The community created by the performers and the audience's attention influence the shape and form of the event. A concert recording can therefore be a special experience, its value often surpassing studio sterility. The meeting of these three experienced musicians seems to be the next stage in which awareness begins to reach beyond purely technical skills. It becomes a bridge where music transforms into storytelling, a stage of breaking out of old ruts in favor of a more intimate, personal, magical image. This material encompasses diverse emotions, and beyond the shockwaves, elements of lyrical reflection emerge. It's not too late for surprises, which still occur. The artists appear in different constellations, each time daring to embark on a journey, abandoning comfort zones to rediscover themselves in the wilderness. If they discover new lands during their journey, their music will be captivating. Is that really the case? Listen for yourself.

Mikołaj Trzaska - saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer of film music,

Studied fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. He grew up on the grounds of yass - an artistic and social movement. He co-founded the most important yass formation - the legendary Love, and was also the leader of the famous Łoskot. When the momentum of yass faded, he became a leading figure in the domestic avant-garde. His presence in the international world of improvised music began in the early 2000s, when he began his musical travels to Scandinavia, Ukraine, Western Europe and the United States. While touring, he learned the art of music alongside some of the world's most prominent artists in this direction, such as Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee and many others. These collaborations as well as his authorial achievements have been documented by dozens of record albums. For years he has been creating projects related to literature. The basis of Trzaska's creative search is the construction of a personal language and individual means of expression. He asks himself the question. “What do we create for? And what do we want to convey? He is known to a wider audience as a composer of film music, permanently cooperating with Wojciech Smarzowski, composing music for films: The House of Evil, The Rose, Wolyn, Under the Strong Angel, The Cleric, The Wedding 2. His latest work can be heard in the music track of Paweł Maślona film KOS.

“Mikolaj's sound on alto is mesmerizing, even at his most lyrical there's the inner tension in the timbre, you could hide entire planets in there, even at his most expansive and screaming, there's something intimate and emotional to what he plays.” – (Free) Jazz Alchemist

Mark Sanders has worked with many greats of the British, European and American free jazz improvised music scene including Roscoe Mitchell, Roswell Rudd, Evan Parker, John Butcher, Henry Grimes, Elaine Mitchener, Wadada Leo Smith, Myra Melford, Charles Gayle , Sirone and William Parker.
He has also played with Jah Wobble, Harold Budd, Bill Laswell, Christian Marclay, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ilan Volkov and The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.He is a member of many working groups including duos with Nicole Mitchell and Rhodri Davies, Neil Charles' 'Dark Days' with Cleveland Watkiss & Pat Thomas, 'Last Dream of the Morning' with John Butcher & John Edwards, 'Shifa' with Rachel Musson and Pat Thomas and 'Sarost' with Larry Stabbins & Paul Rogers. As an educator he has taught improvisation at many universities around the country as a lecturer and guest tutor.
Mark has played concerts and festivals around the world and appears on over 220 CD and Vinyl releases. Mark was a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists 2024

"Drop the needle on the first track — or any track for that matter — and the first thing one is bound to notice is the amazing percussion skills of Mark Sanders" – Peter Thelen... Exposé
"Mark is just incredible and immensely diverse, he is at the center of "Kwingyaw" and it is difficult to tell what he is doing to get some of these sounds." – Bruce L Gallenter, Downtown Music Gallery, NY

John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. 
Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Louis Moholo, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke, Jonny Greenwood and countless others.

"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment

Tracklisting:

1. running loose

2. creator of creatures

3. written by

4. torn flag

5. lowercase conversation

6. just before the end

7. you, the shore and the boat

8. because it happened *

9. light inches *

* - CD-only tracks, also released on limited 10“ EP „Not So Late“

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