Tashi Dorji [US, Drag City] i djLenar [Marcin Lenarczyk]

U–jazdowski / Program / Music programme / Tashi Dorji [US, Drag City] i

13/10/2025

concert

Join us on 13 October 2025 at the Ujazdowski Castle Laboratory for a concert by Tashi Dorji and DJ Lenar! Brought to you by Svmerki and Pocztówka dźwiękowa – we’d love to see you there!
- Tashi Dorji is a Bhutanese improvisational guitarist who deconstructs the tradition of guitar music through a radically personal approach, using dense textures and fluid manual techniques. His distinctive style, marked by constant movement, can be understood in postcolonial terms as an attempt to break away from local guitar traditions and to situate himself within the aesthetic landscape shaped by such figures as Derek Bailey, John Fahey, and Bill Orcutt. Born in Bhutan and now based in North Carolina, Dorji shifted from early fascinations with metal, punk, and rock to free improvisation and American jazz after encountering Bailey’s unique approach to the guitar. Since the release of his debut Solo Improvisations in 2009 (later reissued by Drag City as Guitar Improvisations), he has continued to refine his musical language and distinctive phrasing. Dorji has collaborated with labels such as Ben Chasney’s Hermit Hut Records, Bill Orcutt’s Palilalia Records, Feeding Tube Records, and Astral Spirits, and has recorded with renowned artists including drummer Susie Ibarra, saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, and improviser Tyler Damon. As Dorji himself puts it, “strumming in opposition to the towers” is part of an existence that is always political, even in its most abstract forms – a truth revealed in his deep, raw performances.
- DJ Lenar (Marcin Lenarczyk) is not a DJ in the conventional sense, but a sound artist who has long been active on Warsaw’s alternative and experimental music scene. Closely connected with the Lado ABC community as well as the city’s independent and jazz circuits, he works with turntables and a looper, moving fluidly across musical genres: from the klezmer band Meritum, through reinterpretations of Witold Lutosławski’s recordings, to Irish folk songs and free improvisation. Lenar has also composed music for theatre, film, and radio plays.