Cukunft is the name of the musical project, established under the lead of Raphael Rogiński (electric guitar), who is known as “a charismatic and an extraordinarily creative musician” in the Warsaw music scene, aiming to continue the Eastern-European Jewish music tradition in all its richness. Other band members to tour Turkey include Paweł Szpura (drums) , Paweł Szamburski (clarinet) and Kacper Szreoder (trumpet).
As part of this year's 24th Akbank Jazz Festival and "Jazz on Campus" event, Cukunft will be touring nine different campuses throughout Turkey along with Turkish percussionist Ediz Hafizoglu, on the following dates:
3 Nov. 2014 Monday - Gaziantep University
4 Nov. 2014 Tuesday - Adana Çukurova University
5 Nov. 2014 Wednesday - Erciyes University
6 Nov.2014 Thursday - Bilkent University
7 Nov.2014 Friday - Anadolu university
11 Nov.2014 Tuesday - Trakya University
12 Nov.2014 Wednesday - 18 Mart University
13 Nov.2014 Thursday - Ege University
14 Nov. 2014 Friday - Pamukkale University
The word "cukunft" means “future” in the Yiddish language. Jewish musicians blended the Middle and Eastern European folkloric melodies with their own local musical traditions in a very special harmony after the 1850s, and later created the first examples of klezmer music that met jazz in the US. Klezmer music's relationship with jazz has created a new jazz genre that is today called “klez jazz”, and the Polish band Cukunft is one of the most original ensembles in this genre, composed of avant-garde musicians who are crazed architects of the contemporary new-Jewish-music movement.
Along with songs that are melodically based on the dramatic history of the Polish Jews, the band performs very dynamic and entertaining concerts, heavy on dance songs that reveal the joyful side of this unique culture. Another band focusing on klezmer music, Klezmafour, met Turkish audiences at the Bodrum Castle earlier on June 20th, 2014.
The Cukunft concerts in Turkey are organized with the cooperation of Culture.pl, Akbank Sanat and PozitifLive, as part of the 2014 cultural programme, celebrating the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations.
Edited by E.M. 17/07/2014