JazzKLUB / Monk’s Casino / How to love Monk? Unorthodoxically!

A homage to love

A homage to love

A homage to love

JazzKLUB / Gombrowicz-style irony

Bands such as the Transatlantyk are the ultimate proof of the existence of a wave of creators integrating Polish folk music with various forms of improvised music. The power of this current lies in its diversity, which is why Michał Żak’s ensemble can be deemed its part, even though it sounds like no other. The band’s leader inherited the old dulcimer, made from a grand piano lid and saved from the whirlwinds and turmoil of the war, from his grandfather, a folk musician from the Vilnius region. He found a fitting repertoire and – most importantly – had an ingenious idea for its interpretation. One can hear a little nostalgia for a bygone world, as well as echoes of cheesy village-hall discos, some free jazz from underground clubs, and sometimes a bit of America and Africa, i.e. everything that musical Polishness has met while travelling the world – both literally and metaphorically. And all this is spiced up with irony straight from Gombrowicz’ novels. There was no better companion Michał Żak could invite to join him in the concert than Piotr Damasiewicz, who also blazes new trails for the folk-free-jazz current in his own band, Into the Roots. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 70 minutes

JazzKLUB / Fire, heat, wildness

When the cicadas start their evening concert, the world is filled with sound, and so it is with the British band. They are masters of arranging space, centred around bass guitar, drums and keyboards combined with electronics, creators of a dense but not overpowering sound, enthusiasts of musical ideas from which fire, heat, and, as they claim, wildness emanate. They are said to be the new wave of jazz-rock as they return to Jamaican rhythms, electronic soundscapes, the groove of hip-hop and the danceable beat of the drums. At times, Cykada can be raw, but on the other hand, it combines dance with the improvisation and freedom typical of jazz. It is a fusion unique in its league, balancing on the edge of genres. Maria Wilczek-Krupa Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

JazzKLUB / Wonderfully swinging / Kresten Osgood Quintet

It is difficult to overestimate Kresten Osgood’s significance for the Danish scene. There is nothing he would not play, no challenge he would not accept. And even when he wants to pay tribute to the jazz tradition in the iconic formula of a quintet with the trumpet and the saxophone, he does it on his own terms – alongside the immortal standards by Monk and Dolphy, he reaches for contemporary musicians (such as Kirk Knuffke), ones who have not found a wide recognition (such as Elmo Hope and Randy Weston) and those who have found some, but only in their own country (such as the Austrian Harry Pepl or the Danish Leo Mathisen). For reasons unknown, returns to jazz classics are best done by musicians who have tried their hand at numerous avant-garde ventures. Osgood’s quintet performs the wonderfully swinging pieces in a slightly frolicsome manner, as it would have been put years ago, or totally chilled out, as it would be put today. They smile, find joy in their playing and never miss any chance to have fun with the material to be performed. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

JazzKLUB / Theo Croker Quartet / The Visionary Trumpet

It is not easy to live up to the legend and bear the legacy of your grandfather – a trumpet player who was a favourite of Armstrong and toured with Goodman. The grandfather was an icon of New Orleans jazz who had little to do with New Orleans itself but went down in history as a significant genre representative. From Doc Cheatham, Croker inherited determination and a propensity for titanic work. He was exposed to jazz as a child, although at the time, he didn't understand what heritage was, and he wanted to play the trumpet because it sounded majestic and loud. His music has a lot of elegance and a willingness to experiment with style. You can hear soul music, R&B, or hip-hop there, and Croker does not shy away from electronic music either. His artistic emploi can be summed up in two words: ambition and vision. A quote could also be used: 'The world is constantly changing. It was fought differently by my grandfather; it is fought differently by me.' Maria Wilczek-Krupa Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

JazzKLUB / Jazzy Oberek / Jose Manuel Albán-Juárez

The oberek has already been paired with jazz, both classical and free, but a combination like this is a true innovation. In José Manuel Albán-Juárez’ music, the triple-step dance of the Polish lowlands meets Afroamerican music, and precisely that of Peru, the homeland of the Szczecin-born artist’s father. “Why so late!” – is what one feels like shouting out loud. The artist’s 25 years on stage – from Maanam, through Łona and Radzimir Dębski, to symphony orchestras – are crowned in the best way possible: presenting his most personal vision to the world. Albán-Juárez would spend his childhood holidays in the Mazovian countryside and in Peru – he quickly observed a correspondence between the musical traditions of those distant places. Musica negra y blanca is a realisation of those childhood observations – moving and natural, as if Poland and Peru were not over 11 thousand kilometres and several time zones away. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

JazzKLUB / Marcin Masecki Trio / Thelonious Monk’s New Incarnation

„He’s got time!” is what Tomasz Stańko used to say about Thelonious Monk, but he could just as well say the same about Marcin Masecki. „He has time” – meaning that he is its master, stretching it or condensing it, with disregard for any rules whatsoever, except those he created himself. Monk felt the basic dimension of reality and expressed it in his music unlike anyone else – so it is with Masecki. The artistic kinship between the two artists is striking, with their special sense for timing enhanced by the propensity for dissonance, so characteristic for both. They could not meet – Monk passed away in February of 1982 and Masecki was born in September the same year. In the concert, however, the Polish pianist is going to converse with his American predecessor. And there is so much they have to say to one another. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

JazzKLUB / Myra Melford Splash Trio / Juicy Boogie Woogie

She debuted in the early 90s, in the golden era of New York’s Downtown. Since the beginnings of her collaboration with such musicians as Dave Douglas or Chris Speed, her further projects have constantly confirmed her status as a pianist at the forefront of modern unorthodox jazz. Melford’s openness to the world is unparallelled – she finds artistic inspiration in a journey to India, the ceremonies of the Mexican Huichol tribe, poetry by the Sufi mystic Rumi, as well as in the story of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The music of her newest trio is inspired by the paintings of the American abstractionist Cy Twombly. The fact that each member of the trio can boast impressive skill while simultaneously keeping their minds open, enables the group to fluently meander between the abstract and the concrete, between a delicateness of mood and pure expressiveness. With years of experience behind her, Melford’s music today is as refined as it has never been before, and yet not devoid of wildness and unpredictability. There are few pianists capable of transitioning between clusters in then vein of Cecil Taylor and a juicy boogie woogie with such elan. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes