Krakow Concert Schedule 12-18.10 / Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival

It may seem winter has arrived. But make no mistake, it's autumn. More importantly. It's jazz autumn. The season of jazz festivals. Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival. Jazz Jantar in Gdansk. Autumn Jazz in Bielsko Biala. Jazztopad in Wroclaw etc. I'll try to cover closely two festivals both of which start this week. The condensed three-days Ad Libitum in Warsaw (more about which tomorrow) and extended for a few weeks Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz in Krakow. Here's where to be in Krakow this week.

Honestly, the week is full-packed so I'll try to as brief as possibly.

12.10 Aga Derlak Trio at Piec'ART

Aga Derlak's Trio is a young ensemble that nonetheless has quite a few successes under their belt, they're part of the polish jazz offensive in the slovachian label Hevhetia that has recently published their debut cd that presents their personal take on the modern jazz piano trio idiom.

14.10 Angles 9 at Alchemia (Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz)

The band led by Martin Kuchen is among the among the best in modern jazz. Brilliant arrangements, striking melodies and inspiring improvisations - it's definitely among the most well balanced acts of the kind and I can't imagine how one could miss the chance to see them live (incidentally roughly the half of their recorded output is live registered). If you don't know them yet, you should.

14.10 Opalinska & Whates at Piec'ART

I believe this is a classic case of Murphy's law. This piano - bass duo plays wonderfully intimate music, often inspired by classic cinema themes (Preisner, Morricone, Kilar, Komeda) which is always a pleasure to listen to.

15.10 Waclaw Zimpel solo / Zbigniew Chojnacki solo at Alchemia (Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz)

If you're in any way interested in creative music nowadays, you should be familiar with Waclaw Zimpel's name by now who is a wonderful clarinet player, and even more accomplished composer and bandleader. Ever searching for new sounds and inspirations, a wanderer, he will share with the audience the results of his recent musical journeys.

15.10 Festen at Piec'ART

Festen is a quartet comprised of Isak Hedtjarn (soprano sax, clarinet), Elsa Bergman (double bass), Ole Mofjell (drums) and Lisa Ullen (piano) - I admit only the last name sounds familiar. But you can usually trust in the young scandinavian generation to deliver some fierce improvisation (some of the best concerts in Piec'ART I've seen from scandinavian youngsters I'd never heard of before).

18.10 Ida Zalewska & Kuba Pluzek at Piec'ART

With her soulful voice and Kuba Pluzek's on piano by her side, Ida Zalewska can tackle blues, jazz standards and even some Stevie Wonder tunes. Whichever way the go, they can relax you after a long week.

18-21.10 Joelle Leandre / Zlatko Kaucic / Evan Parker / Augusti Fernandez - Masters of Improvisation at Alchemia

Four giants of free improvisation will engage in a multiform conversation over the course of few evenings (with some additional delights in the meantime - we'll delve into more details next week). On the first day we'll listen to de Parker / Fernandez duo, and Parker / Fernandez / Kaucic trio. 

EDITS:
on 18th and 19th Zlatko Kaucic will conduct improvisation workshops.


to confuse you even more there are some last minute additions:

14.10 Michal Dymny - Rafal Mazur at Piekny Pies (Opening of Agata Kus paintings exhibitions).

16.10 Festen at Galeria i! (Xth Krakow Autumn Jazz) additional concert by the group

10-18.10 Unsound Festival - this festival is usually dedicated to electronic/experimental music, the line-up is rather cryptic for me, but there are some incredible intriguing concerts, including the likes of Matana Roberts and Rob Mazurek.