Polish jazz musicians will perform in China as part of the celebration of the centenary of Poland regaining independence

In September, October and November, five Polish jazz bands of the younger generation will tour Asia as part of the Jazz Po Polsku project. Performances in China feature: Monika Borzym Quintet accompanied by Fusion String Quartet, Tomasz Chyła Quintet, EABS, High Definition Quartet, and Rafał Sarnecki Quintet. The concerts will enrich the world celebrations of the 100^th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence.

The artists will present their own repertoire as well as compositions inspired by the works of Adam Mickiewicz, Krzysztof Komeda, Henryk Wars and Bronisław Kaper. Leading members of the young Polish jazz scene will perform, among other, in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Harbin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The grand finale of the tour will be a a special concert organized to celebrate the visit of the sail training ship „Dar Młodzieży” (Gift of the Youth), which will arrive in Shanghai during her cruise around the world. The concerts will take place as part of the Jazz Po Polsku project promoting independent Polish improvised music abroad. Tournée will last from 15^th September to 4^th November.

The aim of Jazz Po Polsku is to promote Polish improvised music abroad, as a genre in itself of many years of tradition and history. The project also helps in establishing international cultural cooperation and integrates the environment of artists from many countries – says Jakub Krzeszowski, creator of Jazz Po Polsku.

The Jazz Po Polsku tour will begin with Rafał Sarnecki Quintet’s concerts in two cities in Sichuan province: on 15^th September in Chongqing and on 17^th September in Chengdu. The repertoire Sarnecki will present this time to the Chinese audience are original compositions from his latest album „Climbing Trees” as well as Polish jazz standards, including pieces inspired by the works of Bronisław Kaper and Zbigniew Namysłowski. Then, the group consisting of Polish and Chinese musicians, will perform in Beijing, Jincheng, Taizhou and Xi’an. The last concert will take place on 30^th September in Harbin, a city inhabited by a large Polish community whose ancestors helped build it.

Then, on 13^th October, Tomasz Chyła Quintet will perform at Nine Gates Festival in Beijing, promoting his latest album „Circlesongs”. The winners of the 40. Jazz Juniors Grand Prix will perform also in Changchun, Harbin and Xi’an.

High Definition Quartet, will start their tour in Sichuan province, where they play from 13 to 19 of October. The award-winning group from Krakow will present a special program „Dziady” (Forefathers’ Eve), dedicated to the outstanding work of one of the greatest Polish writers of the Romantic era, Adam Mickiewicz. The musicians interpret the Old Slavic rite of communing with the souls of the dead. They will finish the tour at 3. edition of the Jazz Festival in Changchun, North of China.

The Chinese audience already had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Adam Mickiewicz’s „Dziady” (Forefathers’ Eve) – it was the first (written) foreign work, the fragments of which were translated to Chinese after the end of the Cultural Revolution. In 2015, the Beijing audience watched for the first time the theatrical version of „Forefathers’ Eve”, performed by the artists of the Polski Theater in Wrocław. At the same time, the reprint of the Chinese translation of the entire Mickiewicz’s drama appeared in bookshops.

The Wrocław collective Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions (EABS), will perform in China with a repertoire devoted to the works of Krzysztof Komeda. Their debut album „Repetitions (Letters to Krzysztof Komeda)” contains an analysis of the artist’s works dated 1962-1967. The musicians took film music from „Niekochana”, „Bariera”, „Perły i Dukaty” and „Pingwin”, which are unanimously perceived as Polish cinema classics. The band will play from 16th to 20th October in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

The tour will conclude with concerts of Monika Borzym’s quintet accompanied by the Fusion Strings Quartet (Beethoven Academy Orchestra musicians), with the moving lyrics of the Warsaw Uprising poet, Anna Świrszczyńska. „Jestem Przestrzeń” repertoire recorded with John Scofield, Chris Potter and Randy Brecker received Platinum Record status in Poland. The group will be performing between 26th of October to 4 of November in Beijing, Harbin, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Jazz Po Polsku first came to Asia in 2014, when the Warsaw-based Imagination Quartet band performed in three Chinese cities. The number of bands and concerts grew from year to year. Since then, as part of the project, Polish artists have presented their performances over two hundred times in seven Asian countries. In 2018, the bands of Grzegorz Karnas and Stanisław Słowiński appeared on the Asian continent, and Rafał Sarnecki led the workshops as part of the CEEC Summer Jazz Camp.

The concerts are organized by the Plateaux Foundation as part of the “Jazz Po Polsku – Live in China 2018″. The project was financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, within the scope of the Multiannual Program INDEPENDENT 2017-2021, as part of the „Cultural bridges” subsidy program of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The performances are organized in cooperation with the Chinese Association of Jazz Musicians (CJA) and supported by the Polish Institute – Culture Department of the Polish Embassy in Beijing, Consulates General of the Republic of Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

More information about bands

www.monikaborzym.pl

www.rafalsarnecki.com

www.eabs.pl

www.facebook.com/TomaszChylaQuintet

www.facebook.com/highdefinitionquartet

www.fusionstrings.pl

Concert schedule

Rafał Sarnecki Quintet
Rafał Sarnecki – guitar; Gao Taihang – alto saxophone; Michał Ciesielski – piano; Zhang Ke / Wang Chen Huai – double bass; Anthony Vanacore / Xu Zitong – drums

Tomasz Chyła Quintet
Tomasz Chyła – violin; Piotr Chęcki – saxophone; Szymon Burnos – piano; Konrad Żołnierek – bass guitar; Sławek Koryzno – drums

EABS（Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions）
Marek Pędziwiatr – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals; Marcin Rak – drums; Vojto Monteur – electric guitar; Paweł Stachowiak – bass guitar; Spisek Jednego – turntables; Olaf Węgier – saxophone; Jakub Kurek – trumpet

16.10 Xiamen, Real Live Festival | 19:00
17.10 Xiamen, Real Live Festival, workshop | tba
18.10 Guangzhou, JZ Club | 21:00
20.10 Shenzhen, Lavo | 21:00

High Definition Quartet
Piotr Orzechowski – piano; Mateusz Śliwa – tenor saxophone; Alan Wykpisz – double bass; Grzegorz Pałka – drums

Monika Borzym Quintet feat. Fusion Strings Quartet (OAB)
Monika Borzym – vocal; Joanna Duda – piano, electronics; Maksymilian Mucha – bass; Krzysztof Kawałko – guitar; Patryk Dobosz – drums; feat. Paweł Futyma – I violin; Anna Górecka – II violin; Paweł Rychlik – viola; Michał Świstak – cello