HoTS on tour within JAZZ PO POLSKU “Around the World” project – destination China.

The turn of June and July will see the Warsaw-based HoTS quintet for the first time on tour in China. The band will start the tour at the Make Music Festival in Hong Kong, followed by another 10 live club shows in Chongqing, Nanjing, Hefei, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen among others. The tour is scheduled from June 21 until July 7 and is organized as part of the JAZZ PO POLSKU “Around the World” project.

June 21 will see the first ever concert tour in China by the Warsaw-based quintet – HoTS. The band that was founded over a decade ago by their guitarist/composer Mikołaj Poncyliusz will start its tour at the Make Music Festival in Hong Kong, where they are scheduled for 2 live shows – on June 21 at the Wantch club and a day later at the legendary Fringe club.

„HoTS concert tour is organized as part of the JAZZ PO POLSKU “Around the World” project but it is also a sort of coronation of the 10-year-long presence of the Foundation on the Chinese market. Mikołaj Poncyliusz quintet is the 20th band to play in China and the one marking the plunge into over 300 live shows in China. We will play in both, famous places like the punk club NUTS Live House in Chongqing, considered the World’s largest city, as well as clubs like Real Live House at the marine Xiamen and Lavo in Shenzhen – China’s silicon valley. All these clubs have hosted Polish artists for many years. This time, however, the concert tour will kick-off at a special place – The Fringe Club in Hong Kong, the only club in the World that for over 40 years has allowed artists present their own music. It is a unique place on the map of China as it has already held over 3000 live shows” – says Jakub Krzeszowski, founder of JAZZ PO POLSKU.

Next, HoTS ride to the continental part of China where they will play at Peny Black in Shenzhen (June 23), NUTS Live House in Chongqing ( June 26), 1701 Live House in Nanjing (June 27), Lincoln Center in Shanghai (June 28-29), Real Live House in Xiamen ( July 4-5) and Lavo (July 6-7), among others. The band will feature at a total of 12 live shows between June 21 and July 7.

Since its conception HoTS has been looking for its unique voice and elaborating original sound referring to the European tradition of modern jazz. The band has so far recorded 3 very well received albums: Harmony of the Spheres (2015), Numbers (2016) and Live in Trójka (2019). Its newly assembled squad, after quite some time of hiatus includes: Mikołaj Poncyliusz (guitar), Wojciech Jachna (trumpet), Jakub Łępa (tenor sax), Tymon Trąbczyński (double bass) and Maks Olszewski (drums). During the concert tour in China the band will be promoting their latest single „#36” and a live album recorded as part of the „JAZZ PO POLSKU Live Sessions for China & Korea 2022” at a Warsaw club, Jassmine, issued on Asian streaming platforms.

The JAZZ PO POLSKU „Around the World” project, being the platform for HoTS concert tour in China, is inspired by the feats of Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, a traveler who was the first Pole to circumnavigate the World out of his own initiative. Strzelecki went on a remarkable journey in the years 1834-1843, during which he conducted vast geological and geographical research, contributing to the development of knowledge about the modern world.

The JAZZ PO POLSKU „Around the World” Project is carried out by the JAZZ PO POLSKU Foundation in collaboration with Polish diplomatic missions around the World, as well as with a number of local partners. Partners to the Chinese edition of the project include the Polish Institute in Beijing and Poland’s General Consulates in Chengdu, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The honorary patronage over the project has been taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its partners include: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Airlines – LOT, the Industrial Development Agency Foundation and the Institute of Economic Diplomacy Foundation. Media patrons: Polish Press Agency, Polish Radio Program 3 (Trójka), Jazz Forum and Chiny24.com.

HoTS Live in China 2024
Mikołaj Poncyljusz – guitar; Jakub Łępa – sax, Wojciech Jachna –  trumpet, Tymon Trąbczyński – double bass, Maksymilian Olszewski – drums

21.06, Hong Kong, Make Music Festival, The Wanch
22.06, Hong Kong, Make Music Festival, Fringe Club
23.06, Shenzhen, Penny Black Jazz Club
26.06, Chongqing, NUTS Live House
27.06, Nanjing, 1701 Live House
28.06, Shanghai, Lincoln Center
29.06, Shanghai, Lincoln Center
30.06, Hefei, J&Z Cottage
04.07, Xiamen, Real Live House
05.07, Xiamen, Real Live House
06.07, Shenzhen, Lavo
07.07, Shenzhen, Lavo

JAZZ PO POLSKU „Around the Wolrd” has taken the form of an international concert tour that has Polish jazz bands play live on 4 continents within a 3-year period. The project kicked off in May 2023 and will last until the end of 2025. It has so far included  more than 100 events in 17 countries, involving 16 bands. Live shows were organized in: Albania, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Croatia, India, Israel, Japan, Canada, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Taiwan, Hungary and Vietnam. The following bands have contributed so far: Confusion Project, JAH Trio, Mateusz Gawęda Trio, Michał Ciesielski Band, Paweł Kaczmarczyk Trio, Piotr Damasiewicz Into The Roots, , Damasiewicz-Kryńska, Damasiewicz-Wójcik, Piotr Krępeć, Piotr Lemańczyk Electric Band, Rafał Sarnecki-Adam Zagórski-Ehud Ettun, Rafał Sarnecki Quintet, Simona De Rosa feat. Confusion Project, The Flash!, Tomasz Chyła Quintet, Unleashed Cooperation, ZIEMIA.