25th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival - 2nd week

And the 2nd week of the festival begins today. Lots and lots of great music awaits you.

Important notes - events at Dajwor are open-air and free admission
Midnite sessions start at midnight, last often till early morning hours, tickets are 10 PLN
All the concerts from Tempel Synagogue are transmitted live via streaming available on festival's website!

29.06. Frank London, Michael Winograd & Yaako Lemmer - Ahava Raba at Synagogue Tempel (8pm)
Gelada DJ Set - Bob Dylan & other jewish hippies  at Dajwor Quarter (8.30pm)
Frank London & La Mar Enfortuna - Midnite Session at Alchemia
We start with some classic sounds by the festival's omnipresent Frank Longon, Michael Winograd and kantor singer Yaako Lemmer. Alternatively you can listen to the dj set by Yaron Mandelovici. The night will end with more of Frank London and the exquisite La Mar Enfortuna.

Krakow Concert Schedule 29.06-05.07 / Krakow Jewish Festival

The Summer has come (although it's a bit rainy at the moment), but the Summer Festivals has come. The main recommendation goes for the Krakow Jewish Festival and I'll outline some of the music schedule tomorrow. Below you can find some recommenations for musical events

01.03 Wójcinski / Szmanda Quartet at Piec'ART.
The Quartet boasts three Wojcinskis and one Szmanda - Szymon on piano, Maurycy on trumpet, Ksawery on bass and Pawel (the only Szmanda) on drums. A dark horse of the week - a concert that should not go unnoticed.



01.07 Elysian Fields at Alchemia
Straight from New York, melancholic rock from the band that started in the legendary Knitting Factory.



02.07 Rotem Sivan Trio at Piec'ART
For jazz guitar fans, Rotem Sivan sounds and his cohorts sound like a treat.



Starting 1st of July - 20th Summer Jazz Festival, with daily concerts in Pod Baranami and Harris Piano Jazz Bar. Of notice this week:

01.07 High Definition Quartet at Harris Piano Jazz Bar
03.07 NSI Quartet at Harris Piano Jazz Bar
04.07 Kuba Płuzet Trio at Harris Piano Jazz Bar

also, there's more for jazz guitar fans, a competition will be held between 01-04.07 (a tribute to late Jarek Smietana) with its grand finale Guitar Summit (featuring Mike Stern, John Abercrombie among others).

25th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival - 1st week

This is the 25th edition of the Festival which has grown to be one of the most important cultural events in Krakow's yearly calendar, one of the biggest events dedicated to jewish culture (battling Jerusalem and New York for the title), is one of the most complex and complete experience, a total immersion into judaic world (concerts, lectures, films, museum tours, food, guests from all over the world) whose rich program fills up 10 days of activities and leads up to the grand finale, the Shalom concert, an multi-hour marathon of joy and music nicknamed Jewish Woodstock.

Ladies and Gentleman, below is a summary of the OFF part of the festival's program (first 4 days only!) which is focused on jewish traditional music in the prism of modern pop/indie/rock/jazz/electronica culture. I wholeheartedly invite the entire program - you'll bound to find something to your particular liking.

Apart from from the traditional main concerts in Tempel Synagogue and the Midnight Jam Sessions at Alchemia there are plenty of open air events (free admission) at new space called Kwartal - Quarter (Dajwor street, on the back fo the Old Synagogue).

25.06. MLDVA at Dajwor Kwartal (8.30 PM)
           Congo Beat The Drum (movie projection) (9.30 PM)
MLDVA is a live dj act the grooves freely mixing ethnic rhythms (klezmer, turkish, chasidic) with modern aesthetics of dub and trip-hop.
Congo Beat the Drum is a move that tells a story of two jewish musicians travelling to Jamaica to record their songs with local musicians. Klezmer meets reggae - sounds like a lot of fun.




26.06. Ori at Cheder Cafe (8 PM)
           OFF Radio Krakow - Only Vinyl Set with Daniel Drumz and Good Paul at Dajwor Quarter (8.30 PM)
           Teder Presents a night in Tel Aviv at Barka (10 PM)
Ori is an original songwriter, born in Jerusalem, living and working in Berlin. Eclectic and unorthodox, his music shows influences of folk, neo-soul, trip-hop and minimalism. Music for a peaceful dream.
For something slightly different and more upbeat you have two DJ events. Firstly a double set curated by OFF Radio Krakow, secondly a whole night party with some of Tel Aviv's greatest.

Krakow Concert Schedule 22-28.06 / 25th Krakow Jewish Festival

The 25th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival starts this thurdsay, to which I'll dedicate a separate post tomorrow. Accordingly to one of the Murphy's laws, if there are two good parties this week they'll definitely be on the same day. Which is why you'll have to make some hard choices. Below the concert proposals for the upcoming days which are not festival-related.

23.06. King Ayisoba & Band at Klub RE
Straight from Ghana, King Ayisoba and his crew, with traditional rhythms and some modern twists. A must-see to anyone interested in world / roots music.

Mike Parker Unified Theory - Embrace The Wild

Mike Parker's Unified Theory
Mike Parker - double bass
Dawid Fortuna - drums
Bartek Prucnal - alto saxophone
Slawek Pezda - tenor saxophone
Cyprian Baszczynski - trumpet

self-release 2014




New York is (supposedly) the jazz capital of the world. Krakow is (allegedly) the jazz capital of Poland. I won't discuss that now, just wanted to establish some connection :)

Mike Parker is a New Yorker who has been living in Krakow city for quite a while now and became a well-known and regular presence on jam sessions and variety of projects happening on the stages of city's few but active jazz clubs. 

"Embrace The Wild" is the second release under "Unified Theory" name, but the first one recorded in Krakow and it finds Mike teaming up with some of the young talents of Krakow/Poland jazz scene, to play a set of compositions that balance diversity of styles with the harmony of beautifully crafted melodic layers. 

Double Bass player usually hides somewhere in the back of the sound mix and stage. It takes discipline to be a bass player and lead the group. Now, this is a bass player's album, and bass stays often in the front, thankfully much in the way of Dave Holland or Charles Mingus, none of the flashy MM or SC stuff (you know who I mean). Mike Parker can keep the time in check with funky riffs and fill the bottom with the big sound or play the most melodic base in the 4 voice harmony, with trumpet and two saxes above. Parker's clearly well skilled on the instrument. But for me this is an album of Mike Parker - the composer.

Krakow Concert Schedule 15-21.06

Brace yourself. Summer is coming. Which means there will be a plenty of open air concerts, festivals and other stuff around. We countdown till the next Krakow Jewish Culture Festival begins and right after that Warsaw Summer Jazz Days start with an very intriguing line-up. In the meantime...

18.06 Hot Tamales at Tak Było
For something completely/slightly different. A bluesy acoustic trio with soothing vocals, guitar and harp that has found much appreciation on a variety of blues festivals (including recent Bluesroads in Krakow) will meet you this thursday in Tak Bylo.

Krakow Concert Schedule 08-14.06

Summer is coming. In the meantime...:)

09.06. Buka & Gase / Kubaterra at Betel Klub (GREEN ZOO Festival)
Green Zoo is possible one of the most intriguing musical events taking place in Krakow. Festival dedicated to the often unconventional, unnamed, underground, impossible to classify musical projects from the realms of indie electronica, rock, folk and more. BTW if you haven't done it yet - dig through Tiny Desk Concerts, there's some amazing crazy stuff there.

Krakow Concert Schedule 1-7.06 Krakow Film Festival

In Poland 1st June is Child's Day so you better celebrate your inner child today or else... For example you can treat yourself to some live music this week. Or go see a movie during the Krakow Film Festival (which as usual has also the DocMusic section along with open-air cinema musical screenings and more!) (some updates added)

03.06. Mitch & Mitch with their Incredible Combo at Rotunda Plac Nowy (Krakow Film Festival).
A crazy cartoon band with Mitchy nicknames invented covers repertoire that plays some of the funniest concerts around. A mix of great musicianship with a abstract humour.