photo Bartek Barczyk
Leszek Możdżer & Adam Pierończyk
Leszek Możdżer – klavir
Pianist and composer Leszek Możdżer (1971) is one of the most outstanding Polish jazz artists today. He has been playing the piano since age five, graduating in 1996 from the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. He became interested in jazz only at 18 in the band of clarinetist Emil Kowalewski, but his rite of passage in the genre was at the first rehearsal with the band Miłość in 1991. A year later, he won a prize at the Jazz Juniors competition in Krakow and became a member of Zbigniew Namisłowski's quartet. Twice in a row, in 1993 and 1994, he was voted the greatest hope in the Jazz Forum magazine poll, and the same magazine awarded him the title of best pianist since 1994. He was also jazz musician of the year (absolute category) four times. Since 2011, he has been the artistic director of the Enter Music Festival in Poznań.
He recorded compositions by Zbigniew Preisner ("Requiem for my friend", "10 easy pieces for piano"), as well as film music by Jan Kaczmarek. However, he achieved world fame with the original deconstruction of Frederic Chopin's work. He recorded over a hundred albums, over a dozen as a leader. He debuted at the Belgrade Jazz Festival in 2013, when, after his solo performance, he held an unforgettable jam session with Lars Danielson in the Youth Center Great Hall.
Collaborations (selected): Tomasz Stańko, Michał Urbaniak, Anna Maria Jopek, Pat Metheny, Arthur Blythe, Buster Williams, Billy Harper, Joe Lovano, Archie Shepp, David Liebman, Lester Bowie, Marcus Miller, John Scofield, Steve Swallow, Lars Danielsson.
Adam Pierończyk – saxophones
Saxophonist and composer Adam Pierończyk (1970) is one of the most creative artists on the European jazz scene. He began his academic education in Germany, and, upon his return to Poland in the mid-1990s, immediately established himself as one of the most innovative musicians of his generation. In 1996, he took part in the album Talk to Jesus by Leszek Możdżer, a prelude to their work as a duo. They held numerous impressive concerts and recorded the albums 19-9-1999 (live in Ukraine) and Live in Sofia, voted the album of the year in the Jazz Forum magazine poll. The Belgrade Jazz Festival gig is the organizer's idea, an exclusive concert by the famous duo following a long hiatus.
Pierończyk recorded close to thirty albums as a leader. Eighteen times, he was the best soprano saxophonist and several times second or third among tenor saxophonists in the annual Jazz Forum magazine polls. He was nominated twenty times for the Fryderyk Award (the Polish equivalent of the Grammy) in four categories (best musician - absolute category, album, soloist and composer), winning the two most prestigious awards for musician and album of the year. He was the artistic director of Rabat (Morocco) and Sopot (Poland) festivals. Since 2019, he has been the artistic director of the Jazz Juniors Festival in Krakow. He writes music for the theater, gives lectures and workshops around the world.
Collaborations (selected): Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Miroslav Vitouš, Greg Osby, Gary Thomas, Bobby McFerrin, Jeff Tain Watts, Tomasz Stańko, Trilok Gurtu, Majid Bekkas, Wolfgang Puschnig, Lars Danielsson, Joy Calderazzo, Marcin Wasilewski Trio.
Support: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund - a state special purpose fund and Zbigniew Seifert Foundation
