This year’s anniversary edition of the Jazz on the Odra Festival, curated by Leszek Możdżer for the fifth time, offers a diverse programme for jazz enthusiasts, including dozens of concerts by Polish and international artists, album premières, outdoor performances, as well as exhibitions and happenings in urban space.
In April, Wrocław will see the performances of strong women from the world of music, including Jazzmeia Horn, dubbed the jazz voice of her generation and Kandace Springs, an outstanding singer and an excellent pianist from Nashville. Polish jazzmen, Adam Bałdych and Kuba Więcek, will première the songs from their new releases, and the artistic director will perform in two projects prepared with the festival in mind – together with American saxophonist Tia Fuller and Swedish double bass player – Lars Danielsson and with the winners of the Grand Prix 2018 – Weezdob Collective, who will be accompanied by an orchestra.
To celebrate the UNESCO Year of Krzysztof Komeda, the programme will also include two concerts with new arrangements of works by this outstanding musician and composer. Tribute to Komeda is a project by Andrzej Jagodziński, who decided to collaborate with two excellent jazz singers: Grażyna Auguścik and Agnieszka Wilczyńska. Sławek Jaskułke Sextet will present Komeda Recomposed, an album, which serves as an interpretation and reference to the work of Krzysztof Komeda. “Every year we receive a lot of offers and we look at them with great attention, but this year’s programme comprises performances by artists, whose concerts on the Odra River we – together with the Jazz Council – have dreamed about,” says Leszek Możdzer, the festival’s artistic director.
Once again, the festival will be accompanied by an outdoor zone, but this time it will be more extensive than before. “Last year the jazz picnic in front of Impart lasted three days and it was very well-received, which is why we made the decision to carry on with this tradition. This year we are going to play outdoors throughout the entire festival,” says Krzysztof Maj, General Director of the Wrocław Culture Zone.
Among the accompanying events, we are going to see the first edition of the Marek Karewicz Photo Contest organised by the International Jazz on the Odra Foundation in cooperation with Jazz Forum and the Wrocław Culture Zone. The jury will select 33 photographs from among the submitted works (three jazz photos taken using any technique), which will be presented at the exhibition in the festival spaces. The renowned Wrocław-based photographer Lech Basel was appointed the curator of the competition.
Tickets will be available for purchase from the 21st of January at noon. You can find more information about the programme at www.strefakultury.pl.
Programme:
26th of APRIL
Impart, theatre hall, 7:00 p.m.
Jazzmeia Horn
Tribute to Komeda (arr. Andrzej Jagodziński)
Impart, chamber hall, 10:30 p.m.
Tubis Trio
Outdoors, in front of Impart
5:00 p.m.
Participants of the 2019 Jazz Personality Contest
9:00 p.m.
Sun Ra Arkestra
27th of APRIL
Impart, theatre hall, 7:00 p.m.
Poznań Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra (PJPO) plays Weezdob Collective & Leszek Możdżer
Keyon Harrold
Impart, chamber hall, 10:30 p.m.
Jaskułke Sextet: “Komeda Recomposed”
Outdoors, in front of Impart, 4:00 p.m.
Participants of the 2019 Jazz Personality Contest
28th of APRIL
Impart, theatre hall, 7:00 p.m.
2019 Grand Prix Laureate
Kandace Springs
Darek “Oles” Oleszkiewicz & Los Angeles Jazz Quartet
Impart, chamber hall, 10:30 p.m.
Andrei Kondakov Trio
Outdoors, in front of Impart, 7:00 p.m.
Marcin Pater Trio (Jazz Juniors laureate)
29th of APRIL
Impart, theatre hall, 7:00 p.m.
Rymden (Bugge Wesseltoft, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström)
Leszek Możdzer special project with Tia Fuller, Lars Danielsson and Santander Orchestra
Impart, chamber hall, 10:30 p.m.
Kuba Więcek Trio
Outdoors, in front of Impart
4:00 p.m.
Jose Torres & Havana Dreams
6:00 p.m.
Algorhythm
30th of APRIL
Impart, theatre hall, 7:00 p.m.
Adam Bałdych Quartet
Tia Fuller Quartet
Impart, chamber hall, 10:30 p.m.
Kuba Stankiewicz: The Music of Roman Statkowski
Piotr Wojtasik: “To Whom It May Concern”
Outdoors, in front of Impart
4:00 p.m.
CRAH i Natalia Lubrano
10:00 p.m.
SKICKI-SKIUK
During each day of the festival, traditional jam sessions will take place at the festival club (starting at 11:00 p.m.)
The organisers reserve the right to change the event programme.
