UK Jazz News: What does Stańko’s music mean to you and when did you first encounter his music?

Chris Batchelor: I have been a big fan of Tomasz Stańko ever since I first heard him in the early 1980’s. He was one of those rare musicians with an instantly recognisable and unique sound, smudged and crackling, and an intriguing mix of delicate lyricism and fiery free improvisation. 

There are traces of Miles Davis’ and Ornette Coleman’s approaches in Stańko’s playing, but the moods created by his compositions are distinctly European and lead the listener down an alternative path. Stańko’s influence goes on, with the huge legacy of recordings and writing recently added to by the posthumous release of the excellent September Night on ECM. 

UKJN: You invited some of the greatest British jazz musicians to this project… who exactly, and why?

CB: I have invited Mark Lockheart, Liam Noble, Dave Whitford and Will Glaser to play at this tribute. They are all incredibly talented musicians, sensitive to Stańko’s aesthetic, creative within set structures and also in more open improvisational settings, and are able to spontaneously stretch and develop the material.

Stańko talks about his music using “arched time” – he describes two moving walkways, one going at a constant speed, the other slowing down and speeding up (rubato). He then asks his musicians to imagine moving between the two walkways. These are the kind of refined concepts which these outstanding players are able to work with.

UKJN: What will the group be playing?

CB: The Jazz Café POSK concert will feature a range of his compositions – free ballads, waltzes, grooves, with pieces taken from early albums like “Balladyna” through to later ECM records such as “From the Green Hill”, “Dark Eyes”, “Litania” and “Leosia” – as well as some pieces written for film and theatre. 

Stańko’s music is atmospheric, cinematic, melodic and above all accessible. He said, “to me, the ideal composition is one that speaks to everyone. The sophisticated listener will catch the nuances, while a different listener will come to my concerts because he likes my hat. That’s the ideal of art.”

Line up:

Chris Batchelor – trumpet

Mark Lockheart – tenor sax

Liam Noble – piano

Dave Whitford – double bass

Will Glaser – drums

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK.

The concert ‘Remembering Tomasz Stańko’ by Chris Batchelor Quintet takes place on Friday 1 November 2024 at Jazz Café POSK, 238-246 Kin Street, London W6 0RF.

The post Chris Batchelor Quintet – Remembering Tomasz Stańko first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UKJazz News: We are excited about the Darius Brubeck Quartet’s visit @ Jazz Café POSK! What will you be playing?

Darius Brubeck: The Quartet will play a mix of Dave Brubeck hits, original music, South African jazz and jazz standards. The Polish connection makes it special, as the group had a very successful tour of Poland commemorating my father’s groundbreaking tour there in 1958.

UKJN: The Jazzanians historic album “We Have Waited Too Long” was recorded in 1988 and recently re-released on Ubuntu Music. What is the story of this album, and will you be including include some of the music in your program at POSK?

DB: The Jazzanians were the first multi racial student group to tour outside South Africa during the apartheid era. They were invited to perform at the National Association of Jazz Educators, and they played original music composed by band members. Me (then teaching at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa) and Cathy Brubeck put the band together and later produced the recently re-released CD and vinyl, “We Have Waited Too Long” (*). Yes, we will include some music from this album during the concert at POSK.

UKJN: Your first Ubuntu release was “The Darius Brubeck Quartet: Live in Poland” in 2019. What’s the story?

DB: The concerts were in such good venues with good sound, especially the last one at the Blue Note jazz club in Poznań, so it seemed right to capture this performance.

UKJN: What are your memories from Poland like? What was your impression of the country in which your father’s group, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, played in 1958 for a two-week tour (sponsored by the U.S. State Department) as the first top American group performing behind the “iron curtain”?

DB: So many, and some of these are alluded to in our book “Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road”, as well as the documentary “Playing the Changes” which is currently on the film festival circuit.

We were impressed by how enthusiastic the audiences were about jazz. There were people who had come to Dave’s concerts in 1958. Szczecin was very special because we visited the Solidarity Museum which celebrates the liberation of Poland and there in the first display case was a shortwave radio and a 1958 Dave Brubeck program.

There are many good Polish jazz musicians and one of them, the sax player and band leader, Sylwester Ostrowski, organized our 6-city tour.

UKJN: One of the tunes on the “Live in Poland” album has a Polish title “Dziękuję” (meaning “thank you” in Polish) – what’s the story behind this song?  

DB: This was written by Dave Brubeck as a thank you to the Polish people for giving him such a wonderful welcome!

UKJN: How much of your father’s music will be included in the program of your Jazz Café POSK concert? Also, please, could you invite our readers to gig in your own words?

DB: At least three or four of his compositions. Everyone expects “Take Five” and we like to play it. (See live video from Jazz Cafe in 2019)

This is the first time we are playing at Jazz Café POSK so do come along and help make this gig a lovely musical experience. The audience matters to us and we like sharing our music…

(*) “Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road” will be published internationally on 9 July 2024 and is already available in South Africa.

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK

The post Darius Brubeck Quartet at Jazz Café POSK, 11 May first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UKJazz News: Tell us about the “Celebrating Herbie Hancock”. What aspects of Herbie’s music will you be focusing on during the show?

Xantoné Blacq: Three world class musicians and I will be performing music that Herbie Hancock created and collaborated on during the 1970s. This includes the music of people like Jaco Pastorius that Herbie performed on. We will focus on the jazz-funk side of Herbie’s creativity. I am a particular fan of this music as it is full of improvisation and the spirit of jazz and funk combined. It feeds the mental and emotional parts of all us listeners and, very importantly, we can dance to it!

UKJN: What do you love most in Herbie Hancock’s music?

XB: Herbie has always been interested in possibilities and this is evident in his music. He searches for and usually uses unusual harmonies, rhythms, textural colours with synthesisers and more. His music also has a very beat and rhythm driven nature which is full of groove and connects to the rhythms of Africa.

UKJN: Who will you be on the Jazz Café POSK stage with, and why those particular musicians?

XB: I am honoured to have three great friends and killer musicians come play with me. Troy Miller on drums has played with so many people, produced many leading artists and remains a monster musician. Ed Riches on guitar and Matheus Nova on bass have both played with top artists in the world and have so much funk and flexibility in their playing. And… we’re all great listeners so things are being created and evolving all the time. We played a New Year’s gig together for fun and it was so funky and fun that I immediately invited the guys to come play with me on this Herbie Celebration. Incredible chemistry.

UKJN: What exactly is the “Free-Range Sunshine Music”?

XB: “Free-Range Sunshine Music” is how I describe what I compose, record and produce. It is the idea of playing music without boundaries/genres and the music always being something that lifts the person listening to it. The sun can be many types of orange, yellow… whether that be dark, moody orange all the way across to blazing, bright yellow. However, no matter which colour it is, it always blesses us with warmth and inspires things to grow. That is what “Free-Range Sunshine Music” is and does.

UKJN: Why should all jazz funk lovers come to Jazz Café POSK on 23 March?

XB: I would like to invite everyone who enjoys inspiration, exploration and joy to come to our performance at Jazz Café POSK on 23 March. Whether you believe that you’re a fan of improvisation/jazz/funk or not, our performance is a human experience that we the band and everybody who attends will create together and share. We will have a wonderful time together and create beautiful memories. That’s the essence of Life! Right?…

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK

Line up:
Xantoné Blacq – keyboards, vocal
Ed Riches – guitar
Matheus Nova – bass
Troy Miller – drums

XANTONE BLACQ AND FRIENDS: CELEBRATING HERBIE HANCOCK! @ Jazz Café POSK

Saturday 23 March 2024 / Bar 7:30 pm / music 8:30 pm. Tickets £20 on the door and Eventbrite (booking link below)

The post Xantoné Blacq and Friends, ‘Celebrating Herbie Hancock’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Wako are described in their press materials as ‘four Norwegian improvisers with an utter disregard for purism, and an almost reckless attitude towards taking musical risks.’ They have just recorded their 7th album. I asked saxophonist Martin Myhre Olsen to talk about their upcoming London concert: “There will be new music! We’re very excited to have the chance to explore material from our upcoming album, that’s going to be released in the fall, together with a selection of ‘hits’ from previous albums.”

According to Olsen, their next album is, in essence, “a follow-up of our previous acclaimed release Ut Av Det Nye, where we wanted to create an album that’s just good, that little gem of an album you could put on at any time. What came out of that was the need to make an intimate acoustic jazz quartet recording that could capture the indefinable spirit of Wako most purely, and at the same time reflect us getting older and maturing as a band.”

Considered by many to be one of the most dynamic and innovative groups on today’s jazz scene, with a solid fan base and recognition from critics near and far, Wako are certainly placed at the forefront of Nordic jazz. I asked Olsen what makes their concerts a special experience: “We’ve been working closely together as a collective for a decade now, developing and exploring our very own language and approach to music, in the studio and on the road. The scope of Wako’s music is always carefully adjusted to the audience, environment, and musical material, which means that the concerts are unique experiences.”

And what are Wako’s main musical influences, if any? “What we treasure in Wako as a group, is that every band member is encouraged to bring their musical influences at the time into the music we play. Whether it be John Coltrane, Rashaan Roland Kirk, The Beatles, or Nick Drake, we’re always going to be inspired by great music and together strive to be ourselves.”

And why should the London jazz audience come to Wako’s concert on 16th of February at Jazz Café POSK? “This band is unlike anything they’ve ever heard, and we always give it our all on stage. We’ve been in London only three times in 10 years… We have very fond memories from our first concert at Jazz Café POSK! The heartwarming welcome from the audience and staff made the evening very special for us, and that’s why we wanted to come back for a 2nd concert… and who knows when we’ll make it back?”

Wako lineup:

Martin Myhre Olsen – saxophones
Kjetil Mulelid – piano
Bárður Reinert Poulsen – double bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums

Wako @ Jazz Café POSK, Friday 16 February 2024, Bar 7:30pm / music 8:30pm.
Tickets £15 on the door and on Eventbrite.

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK

The post Wako at Jazz Café POSK first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UKJazz News: Tell us about your album “Ut av det nye” and your feelings about the Spellemannprisen nomination.

Martin Myhre Olsen: We’re delighted about the nomination, especially since “Ut av det nye” is an album that in several ways sums up our incredible journey as close friends working together last 10 years towards a common goal: making deep and inspiring music together.

With “Ut av det nye” we wanted to create an album that’s just good, that little gem of an album you could put on at any time. So, early in the process we decided to make a playlist of music and records that we really love, and then work out a direction from there by discussing what made that music and these records so great. What came out of that was the need to make an intimate acoustic jazz quartet recording that could capture the indefinable spirit of Wako in the purest way, and at the same time being reflective of us getting older and maturing as a band and how we play music together.

You could say that this new album is an homage to our jazz heroes from the 50s and 60s, and you’ll find it filled with beautiful ballads, pompous stories, as well as playful and virtuosic solo outbursts; all played by an exceptionally well-coordinated collective that have honed their craft by over 150 concerts together. It’s Wako’s sixth album and we feel it’s our best work to date.

UKJN: What music will you play at Jazz Café POSK…tunes from the new album?

MMO: Yes… We’re having a really great time exploring the music live at the moment! Each night feels special and new directions we could go with it seem endless. We’ll also play some brand-new material never recorded, and maybe play one or two hits from our back catalogue.

UKJN: Is the London concert part of a bigger European tour?

MMO: The concert at Jazz Café POSK is part of our spring release tour that will take the band all around Norway, Sweden, The Faroe Islands, The Netherlands, and England. We had such a great time on tour in the UK back in 2020, so we’re really looking forward to this one!

UKJN: How did the band start…. And why these particular musicians?

Simon Olderskog Albertsen: Wako started in 2013 at the NTNU university of music In Trondheim, Norway, when Kjetil asked the other members if we wanted to try and experiment with some complex rhythmical structures together. The complex rhythmical structures didn’t really stay with us for long, but that was the beginning of us playing together. Small gigs and casual opportunities to perform started presenting themselves in Trondheim, and the repertoire and sound of the group developed step by step.

After finishing school together, we decided that we’d like to keep working together, and we recorded our first record in 2015. Since then, we’ve been trying to play as much as we can, running the band collectively and democratically, and making choices based on the four of us as friends and colleagues. That means that the music, and the way we work behind the music is a result of the four of us as individuals – so it really is impossible to imagine the band with a different line up.

UKJN: You’re celebrating 10 years as a band… what are your current plans?

Bárður Reinert Poulsen: This is something of a recurring question for us. We’ve released an album every year or two since 2015, and every time we’ve had a different approach – with regards to line-up, the music we play and how we play it. In fact, this constant change in the way we work has resulted in numerous identity crises through the years. The funny thing is that after we’ve been through an existential period, we’ve come to the same conclusion: Wako isn’t about working in one specific idiom within jazz and trying to perfect it, as much as we’re driven by a common work ethic, and love for playing music together, which necessitates further progress, projects, and plans. It sounds kind of austere, but the outcome is that we get to meet up and work together a lot, both as good friends and colleagues, even though we all lead busy lives.

UKJN: What is the current Norwegian jazz scene like, and how would you compare it to Europe and the UK?

Kjetil Mulelid: A good thing about the Norwegian jazz scene, is that there is a lot of focus on being yourself and finding your own musical expression – especially while improvising, playing jazz, and composing. There’s not that much focus on copying other people’s work, rather than a need to find one’s own path in music. I think this background has been a good thing for us as a band; we haven’t tried to copy anyone else. It’s been more about making music that the four of us like and allowing all of us to be ourselves while playing live.

We are also very lucky that we have some amazing public grants that allow us to make our music. It gives us a lot of freedom not to think that we must make music that sells, but instead make music that can develop us as a band and challenge us as musicians. This in turn affects the audience and their expectation for what jazz is. I think that might be a challenge for many musicians from abroad. Still, it feels like the jazz scene in the UK and Europe is killing, and to be honest, we are mostly looking for what is happening on the music scene in the UK and beyond to get inspired. It often feels like you are a year ahead of us, he-he

UKJN: Why the London jazz audience should come to your concert on 25 March @ Jazz Café POSK?

SOA: People should come hear us because this band is unlike anything they’ve ever heard, and we always give it all on stage. We’ve been in London only twice in 10 years, our records are not in UK record shops, and who knows when we’ll make it back?

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK.

Line up:

Martin Myhre Olsen – saxophones 

Kjetil Mulelid- piano

Bárður Reinert Poulsen – double bass

Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums 

WAKO @ Jazz Café POSK, Saturday 25 March 2023. Bar opens at 7:30 pm, music starts at 8:30pm. Tickets £15 on the door and Eventbrite (link below).

The post Norwegian band WAKO first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Szymon Mika was voted Poland’s Best Guitarist in the 2022 Jazz Top poll, run by Jazz Forum magazine. His competition prizes include the International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition, Grand Prix Jazz and Odrą. Mike Stern and John Abercrombie have singled him out for praise, and Peter Bernstein has said: “Szymon Mika is one of the most musical guitarists I have heard – he plays with a beautiful sense of phrasing and time and has a great melodic sensibility. He is someone to listen for in the future as he has a lot of great music to make!”

Yumi Ito is a musician with Japanese and Polish roots whose music is an amalgam of jazz, art-pop, electronica and neo-classical, which can be flexibly performed solo, duo or with her trio. Yumi plays live extensively and has shared stages with the likes of Al Jarreau, Becca Stevens, Nils Petter Molvaer and Mark Turner. Like a Zen master she observes, classifies, and writes down events from a distance – precise, concentrated and wise.

UKJazz News: How did the musical collaboration with Yumi Ito start?

Szymon Mika: We met in Basel, Switzerland, during the Focusyear programme. Focusyear is a one-year programme for an internationally assembled ensemble of eight individuals who are coached by acknowledged masters of the international jazz scene. We had an opportunity to work on music and play together with masters such as Dave Holland, Joshua Redman, Avishai Cohen, Becca Stevens, Django Bates and Wolfgang Muthspiel. One of the coaches was Steve Swallow – during the concert with him we performed one of his tunes as a duo and after that he really encouraged us to form a project. We also felt a great connection musically. Yumi is a great singer with her own vision – she’s got all the musical qualities that I search for in this art form.

UKJN: Tell us about the Jazz Café POSK concert.

SM: We will perform the music from our latest record “Ekual” and might also include some of mine or Yumi’s other songs. We usually improvise a bit as well and play a couple of covers with our own arrangements. Every concert is a journey for us – it’s a platform to discover something new in our own tunes each time we get to play them for different audiences.

UKJN: Whom do you count as musical influences and inspirations?

SM: I never have one clear answer for that. I’ve had so many inspirations over the years. But since I was drawn to jazz some names stand out – Keith Jarrett, Miles, Trane, Jim Hall, John Scofield, Ralph Towner, John Taylor. The list is very long. I’m also inspired by people I get to work with. I always search for beauty in many forms, for emotion, depth, surprise. You might find it in Derek Bailey’s music and in Michael Jackson’s tunes. Probably what I love the most about music is how diverse it can get in every aspect of every genre. Genius and a great artist can find its place in many musical fields these days.

UKJN: Tell us a few words about the Szymon Mika Trio.

SM: My trio started in 2015 when I recorded my first album (“Unseen”) under my name only – before that I was making some co-leader projects. I feel super privileged that I could form the band exactly how I imagined it with the great Polish bass player Max Mucha and fantastic Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz. We’ve recorded two albums and played quite a few concerts together around Europe. Over the last few years this project had been on hold because of the pandemic and my involvement in many other projects, but I’m hoping to bring it back to life soon.

UKJN: You recorded an album with the great jazz singer Aga Zaryan – what was it like working with her? Will it be a continued collaboration?

SM: I’ve been playing with Aga in her various formations over the last couple of years. It’s always great fun to make music with her – she’s a very strong leader and a great singer. I was more than happy when she came up with an idea of making a two-guitar album with me and a great guitarist from Czech Republic David Dorůžka. Both me and David wrote most of the songs using poems by the great American poet Sara Teasdale. Now the album “Sara” is out, and I really love this project – it’s super unique.

UKJN: You were named Poland’s Best Guitarist in the 2022 Jazz Top poll. How did that feel?

SM: I’m very happy to be appreciated for my work as an artist. Making music for a living as a freelance musician does come with a price so every recognition helps you keep going and believing in what you do. On the other hand, I’m trying not to treat music in any competitive terms – on a certain level there is no such thing as “the best” in any art form. It’s rather subjective.

UKJN: Plans for the future?

SM: I want to focus a bit more on my own music and projects that feel like home to me. I want to be as honest and authentic with all the music I play as possible.

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK

The post Szymon Mika & Yumi Ito first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Vocalist with The Cinematic Orchestra since 2006, Vogel has opened for Erykah Badu in Dubai, performed at Montreux Jazz festival for Quincy Jones and appeared live on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on ABC, as well as performed at The Sydney Opera House and with The Heritage Orchestra and The London Metropolitan Orchestra. As a soloist, she performed at the 2019 BBC Proms in a much-acclaimed performance of The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington. With her on stage at Jazz Café POSK on Saturday 23 November will be Ivo Neame on piano, Larry Bartley on bass and Rod Youngs on drums.

UKJazz News: We’re really looking forward to “Heidi Vogel sings Sarah Vaughan” at Jazz Café POSK; it promises to be a special evening.

Heidi Vogel: Firstly, I love Jazz Cafe POSK. We always get a wonderful audience there with such a great feeling for the music. As this is a tribute to Sarah Vaughan, it will be something elegant, yet also organic, and “rootsy” too. 

UKJN: Why is Sarah Vaughan so special to you? 

HV: She is absolutely the best there ever was. I can’t really say more. It’s always a challenge and the material she chose coupled with her interpretations make for a cracker of a combination. Sarah Vaughan – she’s a heavenly entity. 

UKJN: Who else do you admire in the world of jazz?

HV: Betty Carter – an inspiration for the amount of freedom in the music she displayed. It really is a level of fluidity I strive towards every day, a standard that is very hard to follow in the steps of. It’s not easy at all. She keeps us all on our toes. Other jazz artists I love and admire are Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea and Cécile McLorin Salvant. 

UKJN: Any further plans related to Sarah Vaughan songs? Will there be an album perhaps? 

HV: I hope so… maybe this concert will lead to something special like that. 

UKJN: Ivo Neame is the artistic director for this special night at JCP. Why did you choose to collaborate with him on this project? 

HV: Yes, he will be the musical director of the band. He writes arrangements, is a huge fan of Sarah Vaughan himself and he directs the band and our interpretations and pushes for something fresh yet true to the traditions. He is also one of the most exciting artists in the jazz world today and hearing him live on this material will be quite spellbinding. 

UKJN: What do you consider as the most important moments in your career so far?

HV: It must be performing live at The Royal Albert Hall. Three times, each time a milestone. The first two times with The Cinematic Orchestra. The first time was a live album. The third time performing for the Proms – Come Sunday with Monty Alexander for the Duke Ellington prom. It was a total honour of a lifetime. 

UKJN: You are best known as the soloist with The Cinematic Orchestra. What does your involvement in this band mean to you? Are there any further plans to collaborate? 

HV: It means the world to me. We have been touring and recording for 15 years now. We continue to collaborate and our concerts and recordings are literally my life. 

UKJN: You‘ve visited Poland and performed there numerous times, any special memories? 

HV: Playing with The Cinematic Orchestra and Sinfonietta Cracovia in Krakow in 2009 was really special. I have so many emotional memories, wonderful stories and life snapshots from Poland, ones that I’ll never ever forget. I find the people there to be so beautifully warm and kind, and spiritual. 

UKJN: Why should people make sure to come to the “Vogel sings Vaughan” concert?

HV: Sarah Vaughan is to me the most impacting artist in the jazz tradition and beyond. We will approach the interpretations of her recordings with a lot of reverence and creative input. I have hand-picked a band that I know can give the right amount of importance to every piece. I look forward to sharing that evening with you.

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Café POSK.

The post Heidi Vogel sings Sarah Vaughan first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UKJazz News: What inspired you to create “Sariani”?

Jerzy Mączyński: The very title of “Sariani” was born during my travels around India. It is the name of an invented Indian superhero who fights for women’s rights.

All the compositions on the album were inspired by my reflections on Indian culture, my adventures, and conversations with people I met. It is also the result of my study of Carnatic music and my friendship with the outstanding violinist Apoorva Krishna.

I was in India for 3 months; it was an amazing time for me, and I am very happy that I was able to create a record of these emotions in the form of a beautifully released vinyl thanks to the Dutch label Yeyeh.

UKJN: What about the music itself …

JM: It’s a fusion of many genres, but my adventure with Carnatic music definitely had a big influence on this music, like using different scales (rag), polyrhythm, different approach to composition. More trance, longer forms. You can hear it all on “Sariani”.

Certainly the term ambient / jazz comes to the fore somewhere. But I don’t want to label it that way. It is a very polished material for me. I have been creating it for three years, and there is a lot of my musical inspiration there. Starting from free-jazz music to Indian music and ending with club music.

UKJN: What will your performance be like at Jazz Cafe POSK on Saturday 2 July?

JM: “Sariani” is my electronic solo material. Each track from the album is roughly one concert. Thanks to this, I have a wider range of colours within this material. Each of these six compositions was inspired by a different mix of styles and has its own unique character. I will definitely play one of the compositions from the album in an extended concert version, but there will also be a lot of new stuff. I already have a lot of new ideas for my next solo album!

UKJN: Plans for the near future?

JM: Big. A huge publishing matter is coming up at the beginning of 2023. But before that, I play a concert during the Off Festival, which is one of the most important festivals in Poland, where I have always dreamed of playing, and it just so happens that my first time there will be a solo performance!

Jerry & The Pelican System will perform at Jazz Café POSK on Saturday 2 July 2022. Tickets are £15 on the door or Eventbrite. 

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Cafe POSK

The post Jerry & The Pelican System – ‘Sariani’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

UKJazz News: Tell us about your new project “Jakub Klimiuk Quintet”…

Jakub Klimiuk: The quintet is a project focused on exploring my original compositions, experimenting with musical forms and combining distant, as it might seem, inspirations. I’ve been planning to create a band for a long time; I’ve been composing for several years, collecting ideas for my own project. The quintet’s music is a mix of scripted forms and free improvisation. We derive our inspirations from different musical worlds, including hip-hop and rock but the compositions are also deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. The sound of modern, New-York jazz and also ECM records can be recognised in our music.

UKJN: Who else is in the quintet?

JK: I have the great pleasure to play with brilliant musicians who, although at the beginning of their careers, have developed their own styles and collaborated with artists / in projects such as Martin Speake, Tom Challenger or NYJO. We met at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Each of us has a strong individuality, but we were immediately connected by common inspirations. The combination of different characters has a huge impact on our overall sound, it inspires me and drives my creativity. Our double bass player Harry Pearce, drummer Adam Merrell and saxophonist Simeon May have been creating joint projects for many years, playing together in a trio performing improvised music that goes beyond the framework of jazz. The youngest member of the band, Cody Moss, is an outstanding pianist who finds himself in every style, from stride to modern jazz.

UKJN: How and when did jazz come into your life?

JK: Ever since I started my adventure with the electric guitar, preceded by the classical guitar, one of my most important inspirations has been blues. It was a natural step to become interested in jazz, which is after all derived from blues. You could say that my beginning was very typical; at the age of 13-14 I heard classic Miles Davis recordings. I was extremely interested in the complex harmony that I didn’t understand at the time, and the freedom associated with improvisation. One of the first jazz concerts I went to was a concert by John Scofield, playing material from the album “Überjam Deux”. Scofield’s music turned out to be the perfect bridge between jazz and blues; it inspired me to further explore the secrets of jazz. My fascination with jazz made me decide to study at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, where I finished my undergraduate studies in the jazz guitar class.

UKJN: Who are your current musical inspirations and influences?

JK: Although trad jazz or bebop are an important element of my musical identity, among my greatest inspirations are contemporary musicians and composers, such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Aaron Parks, Jonathan Kreisberg, and Robert Glasper, whose music got me interested in hip-hop. The sophisticated compositions and unique style of brilliant guitar player Rafał Sarnecki, who I first met during the International Jazz Workshop in Puławy years ago, has also been very influential. One of my favourite composers and musicians is the Dutch guitarist Reinier Baas, who is exceptionally distinguished by his style and approach to the instrument. Currently, I often reach for recordings of musicians related to the Scandinavian and German scene, in particular the double bass player Petter Eldh.

UKJN: What brought you to London?

JK: I moved to London permanently in September last year for my MA studies at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. The London music scene has always been fascinating to me. The mix of cultures, different styles and musical genres inspires me, and the really high level of musicianship motivates me to develop my skills. London has a variety of music scenes compared to other European cities, which is why I decided to come here and am looking forward to my ongoing time here. Later this year, I plan to record an album with a quintet, and am also starting a project in a trio, which, apart from original material, will also focus on playing arrangements of standards.

UKJN: Why did you name your debut mini-album “Reluctance”?

JK: The title “Reluctance” is largely related to the lockdown period, during which composing helped me deal with the surrounding pandemic reality a lot. The feeling of reluctance relates to both my opposition to worrying social changes, the advancing radicalisation in the political world, and my own concerns about moving to the UK in such a troubled time. Pandemic considerations translated into the nature of the composition. I decided to use dissonances in harmony or themes, and to juxtapose parts of the pieces on the basis of contrast.

UKJN: What will you play at Jazz Cafe POSK on 25 June?

JK: We’ll play material from the recently released mini-album as well as new, unreleased tunes. Part of the gig will be a tribute to Geri Allen and Abdullah Ibrahim. We’ll perform my reworkings of tunes written by those artists, which will combine the character of the original compositions with my own approach. Our music is based largely on free improvisation, so each concert is unique and significantly different from the previous one. I’d like to invite every jazz enthusiast!

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Cafe Posk

The post Jakub Klimiuk Quintet – Jazz Cafe POSK, 25 June first appeared on UK Jazz News.

With her on stage at Jazz Cafe POSK on Saturday 23 April will be a top-flight UK trio: James Pearson on piano, Jeremy Brown on double bass, and Ed Richardson on drums.

Śmietana has been a member of some of the top chamber orchestras in Europe: the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Kremerata Baltica. She was a founder-member and co-instigator with Nigel Kennedy of the Orchestra of Life. In 2010 she founded the Extra Sounds Ensemble, bringing together young talents from Poland, England and Australia.

Also a fine improviser, she performs in a wide range of jazz and contemporary music contexts, including the Quincy Jones Orchestra with Quincy himself, and with many other jazz artists: Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Wojciech Karolak, Gwilym Simcock, Krzesimir Dębski, Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Darek Oleś…

UKJazz News: What is the story of your father Jarek Śmietana’s “Jazz Suites”?

Alicja Śmietana: The suites are unbelievably unique pieces of work by my father. They consist of a beautiful collage of some of his early individual pieces (some dating back to the early 70s) and some more recent ones, but in this instance, they have been rearranged to form a type of symphonic poem. They were carefully picked by my father to form this unique set of compositions, and what’s fabulous about them is that they are incredibly flexible. They offer an infinite number of possibilities in terms of the way they can be performed which is why I have picked them for this particular concert.

Each suite (autumn and spring) has been arranged for a jazz combo (with different “star” instrumentalists in mind as special guests for the recordings and concerts) and a string orchestra. The original recording of the autumn suite has a phenomenal line up of jazz stars like Eddie Henderson, Ed Schuler, Bennie Maupin, Dave Liebman, Nigel Kennedy, along with Polish heroes such as my father and Krzesimir Dębski.

UKJN: Do these pieces have a personal significance for you?

AŚ: This particular combination of classically written strings accompanied by a jazz ensemble is something I have always felt particularly comfortable with which is probably why these pieces have an even deeper meaning for me on both musical and emotional levels.

UKJN: Have you played these suites before?

AŚ: I have performed them several times. And in fact, it was one of my first “jazz records”, as the first recording of the suite was created at the time of my life when my father thought it was appropriate to ask me to create an orchestra for him. So, this fact also has a strong meaning for me as it was practically the first professional project we ever did together on stage.

UKJN: Is playing in a jazz quartet format something rather new to you or was it happening before?

AŚ: Jazz quartet is something that I’ve been involved with on and off for many years now, but which never really settled as a particular full time existing group. I think this particular line up is the beginning of something that will stay with us and the dear audience for a long time.

UKJN: What is the story of your working with James Pearson?

AŚ: I’m so unbelievably lucky to have met James through some friends in common (my dear friends Nigel Kennedy and Lizzie Ball) and my religious visits to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz club where James has been artistic director for many years.

What immediately charmed me was his ability to switch from one genre to another within the same musical phrase and I immediately thought this is someone I can do so much with. James is an incredible instrumentalist and a fascinating person both on and off stage which I suppose is the key to a fruitful collaboration.

We are now beginning to work on our first album together which will consist of our favourite material of American composers who felt equally comfortable with jazz and classical music. So just like us.

UKJN: Is jazz becoming more of a focus?

AŚ: Naturally yes, though I will never try to pretend I am a full-on jazz violinist. I certainly cannot imagine my life without this as a part of my career. I have been incredibly lucky to be able to collaborate with some incredible jazz musicians over the years and invite some of them to collaborate on my own projects. Perfect example of that was my “lockdown” split screen series which involved people like Larry Goldings, Darek Oleś, Peter Bernstein and many others.

UKJN: What have you been doing musically lately, what are your plans?

AŚ: The whole period of lockdown was of course extremely difficult for almost all performers around the world. But it was a good opportunity to do something outside of the regular touring life.

Part of my career has always been devoted to arranging and during that whole period I managed to create quite a few unique arrangements which have recently premiered live at concerts in Poland and the UK.

I have also been lucky to have my first “official” composition for chamber orchestra and jazz combo called “Impressions on HMG” (based on themes by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki) premiered by the wonderful Silesia Philharmonic in December last year. So, I guess this whole period was devoted to developing all these skills that have been sizzling under the surface of never-ending touring and performing.

UKJN: Please could you invite the audience for the Jazz Café POSK concert in your own words?

AŚ: It would be a great honour to see you all at JCP for a wonderful concert celebrating the life and music of my dearest father Jarek Śmietana. The star line up of my quartet with James Pearson, Jeremy Brown and Ed Richardson is an incredibly exciting perspective as we are about to offer you not only music by my father, but also music that inspired him and inspired me during my time with him, as the music in our house was always present day and night. All, including the arrangements of his music, will be unique and it would be wonderful to finally play live for you all.

Tomasz Furmanek is Artistic Manager at Jazz Cafe Posk.

The post Jazz Suites by Jarek Śmietana first appeared on UK Jazz News.