When it comes to jazz, Marek Winiarski has never worried about the odds. In 1982, in a Kraków still recovering from the trauma of Martial Law, the devoted fan opened a record shop. As he later put it, the difficulty was never selling the music — it was getting hold of anything to sell at all. Addicted to jazz since attending the Warsaw Jazz Jamboree in 1972, he had quietly built an international web of contacts, and through them stocked his shelves with records that had never before been available in Poland.
As the years passed and the communist “paradise” faded into oblivion, Poland grew into a free and increasingly prosperous nation — today widely acknowledged as one of Europe’s fastest‑growing major economies. But the economics of jazz remain stubbornly unsentimental — avant‑garde records earn admiration, not income. Yet out of that contradiction, Not Two emerged as one of the most adventurous and dependable outlets for creative music anywhere in the world — from American artists like Ken Vandermark, Steve Swell, and Joe McPhee; to European improvisers such as Barry Guy, Joëlle Léandre, Agustí Fernández, Mats Gustafsson, Rafał Mazur, Gebhard Ullmann, Rodrigo Amado, Zlatko Kaučič, and the legendary Peter Brötzmann; and even further afield, from Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii to Brazilian free-jazz saxophonist Ivo Perelman — among hundreds of others.
"If one doesn't have ambitions to be a millionaire running an avant-garde label, everything is much easier. You lose money with one title, earn some with another, but all of the time you're just trying to follow your passion. As long as nobody subsidizes you, nobody can press you. That's freedom." — Marek Winiarski
From GOWI to Not Two
Winiarski — a jazz aficionado with a degree in metallurgical engineering and an entrepreneurial streak — started his first label, GOWI Records, in 1988 with his friend, the jazz drummer Zdzisław Gogulski. They licensed an Art Blakey recording to get going, and before long were producing new albums by visiting artists such as David Murray, Chick Corea, and Joey Calderazzo backed by Polish bands. The young label’s greatest success, however, came from the band Miłość (“Love” in Polish), which revolutionized the Polish jazz scene of the 1990s, breaking established taboos and conventions. Their artistic rebellion aligned perfectly with Winiarski’s philosophy of uncompromising creativity and radical openness. Miłość even called their music “jass,” in opposition to what they saw as the corrupted term “jazz.” No wonder they found their natural home at Winiarski’s first label.
The artistic and commercial success of GOWI, however, did not keep Winiarski from exploring new avenues. Before long, he struck out on his own. He took the name for his new imprint from a Miłość album recorded with Lester Bowie — and the title carried a second meaning, marking the end of a partnership and the beginning of something answerable to no one but himself. After declining an offer from a major international label to run their Polish operations, he chose the name "Not Two" to emphasize exactly that: independence, and reliance on his own aesthetic and free choices.
Finding the Edge
Early Not Two releases captured a wide cross-section of the Polish scene at the turn of the century — mainstream and swing, bop and jazz-rock, traditional vocal jazz and more adventurous fare. Among them were two albums by the Simple Acoustic Trio, the group now known worldwide as ECM's Marcin Wasilewski Trio. But around 2002 the label's focus sharpened to match its founder's deepest instincts, and from then on Not Two devoted itself almost exclusively to avant-garde and freely improvised music.
The roster widened far beyond Poland — North and South American musicians, leading European improvisers, and some of the most progressive figures in Japanese avant-garde all found a home in the catalogue. The most fruitful of these relationships was with the Chicago reedist Ken Vandermark. Working with the Kraków jazz club Alchemia, Winiarski proposed something audacious: that a five-night residency by the Vandermark 5 be recorded in its entirety and issued as a boxed set.
"When I first talked to Ken about releasing all of the material in a 12-CD box, he said I was totally crazy. My idea was to show the band rehearsing, playing, jamming — ten sets plus some jam sessions." — Marek Winiarski
The resulting Alchemia set, released in 2005, documented the entire arc of the band's creative process in real time — testing material, experimenting with rhythm and arrangement, connecting ideas through collective improvisation, and finally combining everything into performance. Vandermark, skeptical at the outset, came to see it differently: he has called the five-night stand at Alchemia, March 15–19, 2004, one of the highlights of his career.
That residency model became a signature. Not Two has since released box sets and extended documents from Ken Vandermark, Steve Swell, Joe McPhee, Barry Guy, Mats Gustafsson, and many more — each one an attempt to capture not just a performance but the living process of creation itself.
"Working with Marek is a pleasure because he puts the music and the musicians first. Any time I've indicated what I want to do artistically, he has backed my decisions without hesitating, and his trust in me has made it easy to trust him." — Ken Vandermark
The Object as Art
Beyond the music, the physical object has always mattered to Not Two. Every release carries distinctive artwork — progressive, modern designs that complement and amplify the sound. Longtime fans cherish the label's CD packaging for its echo of mid-1960s gatefold vinyl, with room for additional artwork, liner notes, and detail that standard CD sleeves could never hold. In the first decade of the 21st century, the label embraced digital distribution while deepening its commitment to elaborate, artwork‑rich physical editions, paying particular attention to the revived vinyl market.
The Trail Ahead
After nearly three decades rooted in Kraków, and with Winiarski passing the torch to Cezary L. Lerski, Not Two Records relocated to the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California. The distance is vast, but the mission travels intact. The complete archive — almost 350 releases from the Kraków years — is preserved and accessible through this website, and the label continues to do what it has always done: open doors to new sounds and new artists, and document the most fearless edges of improvised music.
The geography changes; the principle does not. As Winiarski has always insisted, music is what matters, and artistic freedom is non-negotiable. From Poland to Northern California, the signal carries on.
"Music is all that matters. It's a musician who is in charge — it's not my business to interfere or fix anything. All I like to do is help create new musical outlets for different artists, big and small. It doesn't always pay off, but it is always a risk worth taking." — Marek Winiarski
A new custodian of Not Two’s legacy, Cezary Lerski has spent two decades managing the label’s online operations, international distribution, and e‑commerce, while also serving as an executive producer on numerous projects across its catalogue — including the legendary Alchemia 12‑CD box set by Ken Vandermark.
He is also the creator and editor of PolishJazz.com, the longest‑running website devoted to Polish jazz, online continuously since 2001. Over the years, he has collaborated with a wide range of labels, artists, and publishers, including initiatives promoting lesser‑known — yet richly deserving — Polish classical music. Cezary is also an active blogger, podcaster, and contributor to respected publications such as All About Jazz, Culture.pl, Jazz Forum, Motorcycle World, and others. Beyond music, Cezary — who holds an MBA in accounting — supports Polish entrepreneurs as they navigate the U.S. market.
An avid hiker, he now makes his home in the mountains of Northern California — fitting terrain for a label whose next chapter has taken root in the Sierra Nevada.
Portions of this history adapted from "Polish Not Two Label Ignores Tides to Steer Avant-Garde Course" by Peter Margasak, DownBeat Magazine, October 2009.
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