Highlines 2008

Jazz Night

Dziennik Polski, Kraków, 20 July 2008

For the second time Summer Jazz Festival at Piwnica pod Baranami moved on Saturday to Szczepański Square to show to a wider audience a concert organized as one of cultural nights and is called Krakow's Jazz Night.

Just after 6 pm on the stage Norwegian - Swedish quartet the Core. Jazz from Scandinavia is almost every time connected with quiet and reflective music of Jan Garbarek and Jan Johanson this time presented its energetic face. Young musicians led by uncompromised but precise double bass player Steinar Raknes took gathered on the square, but actually on still oil stinking ex parking lot audience out. It was decently performed program in modern jazz of Coltrane's type.

Austria was represented by a trio of a drummer Alex Deutsch, who invited to the project Barbara Paierl saxophonist and Walsh bassist David Bell and they played a set of pieces - charming melodies although minimalist banal. Promised sound freshness appears to be empty Austrian ya-ta-ta. Alex Deutsch is a laureate of Hans Koller Preis in category Musician of the year 2006 and nothing comes of it.

After the intermission on the stage show up two directors; of the Festival- Witold Wnuk and the Piwnica - Piotr Ferster to hand over annual prize of the Jazz Lamb. The year posthumous laureate is one of Polish jazz giants Andrzej Trzaskowski. A son - Rafał Trzaskowski, who in his thanks presented next artists of French quartet with Bertrand Ravalard, received the prize - a statuette made by Marian Gołogórski according sketches of prof. Jerzy Skarżyński. The French are for many years fascinated in music of Polish composers Krzysztof Komeda and Andrzej Trzaskowski and they show a new and different outlook on Polish jazz. European academicism of the piano player recalls a lot Trzaskowski's play. In the program were "Chmielu" and "Hej tam u boru" as well as "Requiem dla Scotta la Faro" and Komeda's melody from a movie "Two men with a wardrobe". This was a fantastic show and improvisations were delicious and full of fantasy. It is worth to mention that the group cut in Poland a documentary on A.Trzaskowki's life and music.

Tango is not a jazz dance, although it belongs to improvised music, that's why it is fascinated for jazzmen.

The guests from Italy - Nuevo Tango Ensamble with a soloist outstanding clarinetist Gabrielle Mirabassi played a program comprised mostly of Pasquale Stafano - a pianist's compositions, but also tango icon Astor Piazzolla. In one piece Katarzyna Stolarczyk presented ballet impressions on tango. Gabriele Mirabassi - a soloist is active on jazz and contemporary music stage. He plays with own quartet as well as in many international combinations. In 1996 he got a young talent prize, but on Saturday we saw his tango face only. The Italians show was all about dancing, so in this moment overcrowded Szczepański square was dancing and on the outer places even with figures. But everybody waited for pop jazz mega star Urszula Dudziak show.

Unexpected and hysterical Far East popularity of Papaya gathered crowds. Ula's show was filled with stories and anecdotes about Michael Urbaniak, daughters Kasia and Nika, New York, hills over Straconka, lyrical subject Again.

In the program were compositions of Urbaniak: Krakowiak , New York Baca. The crowds waited for Papaya. So it started. Two dancers heating the boiling joined Ula.

Enthusiasm was everywhere!!

by Grzegorz Tusiewicz