At the turn of April and May, Grzegorz Karnas Formula will give another concert tour in Asia. This time the band will perform in 6 countries. First in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, then in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The tour is a part of the Jazz Po Polsku project, promoting improvised Polish music abroad.
Grzegorz Karnas Formula will start the tour on April 13th at the Bishkek Jazz Festival. Then a performance at the Uzbekistan Jazz Festival in Tashkent and Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China. Grzegorz Karnas Formula will also participate in the „International Jazz Day” established by UNESCO, followed by the appearance at the Crossborder Festival Batam in Indonesia. The band will complete their monthly tour by performing at World Youth Jazz Festival, No Black Tie and the Borneo Jazz Festival in Malaysia.
Jazz Po Polsku, a music platform presenting a wide spectrum of young Polish musicians from the improvised scene. It also helps in establishing cultural cooperation and integrates artists from many countries. This year’s tour of Grzegorz Karnas Formula will be their fourth in Asia – says Jakub Krzeszowski, founder of the Jazz Po Polsku.
Grzegorz Karnas Formula is far removed from the classical jazz paradigm. The group likes drawing on the trance-like nature of ostinatos and the abstraction of modal playing, developed on the basis of simple melodic themes. The band has been performing in over 20 countries, just to mention Algeria, Azerbaijan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Marocco, Vietnam and almost all EU countries, including appearances at major jazz events such as London Jazz Festival. Current tour promotes the latest band’s CD/DVD called “Power Kiss” (Hevhetia, 2017).
Musicians will also conduct workshops at local universities: The workshop is for everyone who is interested in discovering what the „backstage” of interaction in making music is all about. It is open to anyone who wants to use their voice in a manner that doesn’t stay in the way of expressing whatever they want to express. It is open to non musicians or amateurs who are interested in the nature of their own voice. It is open to working singers who would rather try to establish how they really sound in order to make sure they can use that sound in music. It is open to instrumentalists who are interested in the nature of creativity and the obstacles on the way to it – says Grzegorz.
The band will perform in the following line up: Grzegorz Karnas (vocal), Mateusz Szweczyk (bass guitar) and Grzegorz Masłowski (drums). They will be accompanied by Saidmurat Muratov (saxophone, in Uzbekistan), and Sri Hanuraga (piano, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore).
The tour is organized by Plateaux Foundation in collaboration with UNESCO, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Don’t Panic. We’re from Poland) and Embassies of Poland in Astana, Kuala Lumpur and Taszkient.
JAZZ PO POLSKU ON TOUR: GRZEGORZ KARNAS FORMULA LIVE IN ASIA 2018
13.04 KYRGYZSTAN, Bishkek, Studio 247
14.04 KYRGYZSTAN, Bishkek, Kyrgyz State Musical School, workshop
14.04 KYRGYZSTAN, Bishkek, International Jazz Festival, National Philharmonic
18.04 UZBEKISTAN, Fargana, tba
23.04 UZBEKISTAN, Samarkand, tba
25.04 UZBEKISTAN, Tashkent, Uzbekistan Jazz Festival, State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, Grand Hall
26.04 UZBEKISTAN, Tashkent, State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, worksop
29.04 INDONESIA, Batam, Border Stage Fesival
30.04 INDONESIA, Batam, International Jazz Day Celebration, workshop
03.05 CHINA, Chengdu, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, F. Chopin Auditorium, workshop
03.05 CHINA, Chengdu, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Grand Hall
04.05 SINGAPORE, Victoria Bar
05.05 SINGAPORE, Victoria Bar
06.05 MALAYSIA, Kuala Lumpur, World Youth Jazz Festival
09.05 MALAYSIA, Kuala Lumpur, No Black Tie
10.05 MALAYSIA, Kuala Lumpur, No Black Tie
12.05 MALAYSIA, Borneo Jazz Festival
Grzegorz Karnas Formula „Power Kiss” (Hevhetia, 2017)
video; Maciej Głowiński
audio recordings: Krzysztof Podsiadło