14. Jazztopad Festival

PROGRAMME

Wrocław, NFM, Main Hall
 
14th Jazztopad Festival Inauguration
Maciej Obara Quartet – premiere | Terence Blanchard & NFM Filharmonia Wrocławska – premiere
 
part I: Maciej Obara Quartet – premiere of Unloved
Maciej Obara – saxophone                                                                                                   
Dominik Wania – piano
Ole Morten Vågan –  double bass
Gard Nilssen – drums
 
The latest Maciej Obara’s album Unloved is a selection of his most interesting compositions written over the six years of the Maciej Obara Quartet’s work. The album’s premiere is an important moment for Polish jazz: Maciej Obara thus joins the Polish artists releasing their albums on the famous ECM label.
 
part II: Terence Blanchard & NFM Wrocław Philharmonic – premiere
Terence Blanchard – trumpet
Brice Winston – saxophone
Shai Maestro – piano
Tabari Lake – double bass
Kendrick Scott – percussion
 
Radosław Labahua – conductor
NFM Wrocław Philharmonic
 
Terence Blanchard’s appearance in Wrocław will be very special – the European premiere of his Herbie Hancock: By Himself (commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, National Forum of Music/Jazztopad Festival (Wrocław, Poland) and EFG London Jazz Festival with support from Serious Trust). The work will be performed by the Terence Blanchard quartet and the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. Part I features, among others, compositions written to Spike Lee's films.    
 
18.11.2017, Saturday, 6:00 pm
Wrocław, NFM, foyer -1
pre-concert talk with Vijay Iyer
  Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
Vijay Iyer & Lutosławski Quartet – premiere
Vijay Iyer – piano
Lutosławski Quartet:
Bartosz Woroch – 1st violin
Marcin Markowicz – 2nd violin
Artur Rozmysłowicz – viola
Maciej Młodawski –  cello

A scholar holding doctorates in physics and mathematics who fell in love with the violin to next… dump it for the piano. In his work, Vijay Iyer draws inspiration from such jazz classics as Duke Ellington, Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, and Cecil Taylor, also relating to centuries-old traditions of carnatic music. The programme features Vijay’s works for piano quintet, the premiere of a piece commissioned by the festival and Vijay’s solo improvisation. 
   Wrocław, Mleczarnia – festival club
 
Ocean Fanfare
Sven Dam Meinild – saxophones
Tomasz Dąbrowski – trumpet
Richard Andersson – bass
Peter Bruun – drums
 
Ocean Fanfare is an international group founded by Tomasz Dąbrowski and Sven Dam Meinild. The musicians explore the dialogue between steel-strong rhythmic section and abstract yet suggestive melodies. Never do they leave the ‘jazz ocean’ – they are on the edge, showing how contemporary jazz sounds in the new millennium.
   Wrocław, NFM, foyer
 
Melting Pot Made in Wrocław | Watchdog
Watchdog:
Anne Quillier – piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog
Pierre Horckmans – clarinet, bass clarinet
 
Wrocław artists:
Mateusz Rybicki – clarinet
Zbigniew Kozera – double bass
Samuel Hall – drums
 
The Melting Pot series improvisations are now a fixture in Wrocław music life. This year the partner country is France represented by the Watchdog duo. They will be joined by superb improvisers enjoying long-standing collaborations with the festival. This concert is being performed as part of the “Jazz Migration” series established by AJC to support the professional development of new jazz groups.
  Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
Shabaka And The Ancestors
Shabaka Hutchings – tenor saxophone
Mthunzi Mvubu – alto saxophone
Siyabonga Mthembu – voice
Ariel Zamonsky – double bass
Gontse Makhene – percussion
Tumi Mogorosi – drums
 
The latest project of Shabaka Hutchings charms us with its fusion of Afrobeat with Carribean calypso, discreet electronics, repetitive ritual songs and saxophone loops and fleshy grooves as well as… something elusive. A big group consisting of native South African musicians, conjures up the atmosphere of The Sun Ra Arkestra performances. Yet in the group, Shabaka Hutchings  plays a different role than Sun Ra – he is like a decoder intermediary between the listener and the composed matter of the multicultural sound mosaic.
   Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival Presents:
Pugs and Crows and Tony Wilson
Catherine Toren – piano
Meredith Bates – violin
Cole Schmidt – guitar
Russell Sholberg – double bass
Ben Brown – drums
Tony Wilson – guitar
 
Pugs and Crows are a group of instrumentalists from Vancouver, who have played together for over a decade now. They creatively graft elements of classical forms, indie rock and creative music onto the so-called West Coast music. The material from their double album Everyone Knows Everyone is a combination of avant garde improvisation, full of beautiful and sometimes capricious rhythmic figures, and the simplicity of rock’n’roll.
  Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
Scandinavian Day
part I: Maciej Kądziela Kwartet
Maciej Kądziela – saxophone
Artur Tuźnik – piano
Johannes Vaht – double bass
Olle Dernevik – drums
 
part II: Radek Wośko Atlantic Quartet
Brian Massaka – guitar
Søren Gemmer – piano
Mariusz Praśniewski – double bass
Radek Wośko – drums
 
‘Scandinavian sound’ evokes images of vast unpopulated spaces or chilly mountain ranges split with gorges and fiords which here and there splash out into the hypnotising landscape. In jazz, Scandinavians are famous for their uncompromising avant garde activities, but also for atmospheric, quasi-pop tonalities. The Scandinavian day during Wrocław’s Jazztopad will attempt to showcase how Polish life and artistic work have changed, affected by this new ambience. Partner wydarzenia: Duński Instytut Kultury w Polsce / Event partner: Danish Cultural Institute in Poland
   Wrocław, NFM, foyer -1 Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
Tomeka Reid Quartet
Tomeka Reid – cello
Jason Roebke – double bass
Mary Halvorson – guitar
Tomas Fujiwara – drums
 
Cellist Tomeka Reid has so far performed alongside Anthony Braxtone, Roscoe Mitchell, Jeb Bishop, Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed, and Matt Schneider & Joshua Abrams, with whom she has founded a trio. Her work is characterised by a predilection for the classicist trend and a knack for jazz chamber playing. All her pieces sound tremendously intense in live concerts. Wrocław, NFM, foyer -1
pre-concert talk with Kris Davis & Benoît Delbecq Wrocław, NFM, Red Hall
 
Theodosii Spassov solo
Kris Davis & Benoît Delbecq duo – premiere
Theodosii Spassov – kaval
Kris Davis – piano
Benoit Delbecq – piano
 
The kaval is a traditional Bulgarian wind instrument. We will be introduced to its potential in a solo concert of Theodosii Spassov. The duo performance of pianists Kris Davis and Benoît Delbecq will give us an opportunity to hear what fascinating soundscapes can be evoked by two great personalities playing together. Kris Davis, who has recorded nine solo albums, is particularly keen on the prepared piano, whereas the subtle and elegant style of Delbecq is surely known to Jazztopad frequenters as he played in Wrocław in 2012.
   Wrocław, NFM, Main Hall
 
Charles Lloyd – premiere of Red Waters, Black Sky
Charles Lloyd – saxophone
Harish Raghavan – double bass
Kendrick Scott – percussion
Bill Frisell – guitar
Greg Leisz – guitar
 
Lutosławski Quartet:
Bartosz Woroch – 1st violin
Marcin Markowicz – 2nd violin
Artur Rozmysłowicz – viola
Maciej Młodawski – cello
 
NFM Choir
Izabela Polakowska-Rybska – coach to the choir
 
‘I have always heard beautiful sounds in my head therefore I have wanted to be close to them throughout my life,’ confesses the saxophonist whose path has run across all possible territories. Charles Lloyd is one of the greatest personalities in jazz history and one of the last jazz giants, who blazed the trail for music development at the turn of the century. For many generations, he has become a living inspiration and mentor. This is his third visit to Wrocław, and his second premiere performance of a work written specially for the Jazztopad Festival. This engagement is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
  Wrocław, NFM, Sala Główna / Main Hall
 
Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock – piano
James Genus – bass
Trevor Lawrence Jr. – drums
Terrace Martin – saxophone
 
Great courage and a mighty dash of madness have always been harmonised with his immense talent, therefore Herbie Hancock had no choice but to become a music prophet. Even though at 77 the author of Head Hunters is not yet in the circle of jazz doyens, he could now reap the fruits of his work and appear in all-stars events. Yet his never spent energy and desire to share his music live with the audience prevail – Herbie Hancock is ubiquitous nowadays!
 
Exclusive partner: BMW
 
Accompanying events
 
16.11.217, Thursday, 7:00 pm
Wrocław, Kino Nowe Horyzonty
Meeting with Terence Blanchard
Show of Spike Lee’s 25th Hour
Tickets available at the New Horizons Cinema
 
25–26.11.2017, Saturday and Sunday
Concerts in private apartments
 
4.11.2017, 11.11.2017, 18.11.2017, 25.11.2017, Saturdays, 10:00 am
Wrocław, Kino Nowe Horyzonty
Jazz Morning Kids!
Tickets available at the New Horizons Cinema
 
17–19.11 and 21–26.11
Wrocław, Mleczarnia –  festival club
Jam Sessions
 
Meet the festival artists before their concerts. Details to be announced soon / for more details, see www.jazztopad.pl