Rock'n'roll memoirs of a jazzman
"These memories are very personal. What's precious about them is that [Karewicz] talks about these people with no phony affectation. My sister, the first editor of the book, commented that his sayings sound like that of an old teacher who had to substitute in a younger class. It's a man whose heart and soul are devoted to jazz, and who looks down on rock 'n' roll with good-natured mockery. Hence, the touch of sarcasm", says Jacobson.
- My name is Karewicz, Marek Karewicz. I am a photographer. I photographed jazz and that's what I am mostly known for. I took hundreds of thousands of photographs and I also designed some album covers. They travelled to exhibitions on every continent. A few years ago, some of my friends prepared a photo album of my works called This Is Jazz. Now, they have decided to publish a collection of my photos and memories of big beat musicians. I have many friends among these musicians, but, to be honest, I was never too crazy about this kind of music, so I don't really know how to approach this. So first, I will talk about how I became a fan of jazz and a photographer, and then I will remember what I can about the protagonists of this album, and we will see what comes out of it. " - this is how the memoirs begin.
Niemen at Rod Stewart's?
One of Jacobson's favourite stories from Karewicz is about Niemen and the time when he was recording his very first album in London. The musician was taken care of by Rosław Szaybo, the artistic director of CBS, a designer who had created album covers for The Clash, Elton John, Janis Joplin, and Judas Priest, and he also designed the covers for Niemen's records.
Szaybo complained that during his stay in the British capital, Niemen was interested in everything except music. Thanks to his efforts, Niemen was invited to an exclusive banquet at Rod Stewart's. Karewicz recalls "The entire creme de la creme of the industry was supposed to be there, and Szaybo decided this was a perfect occasion to introduce the company's latest discovery - Czesław Niemen. He put a lot of effort into the thing, and Czesław simply didn't appear. He later explained that he spotted some kind of a great promotion on car tires in the paper and went to the outskirts of London in order to buy them, and didn't make it back on time"
Karol Wojtyła and the kosher vodka
Another anecdote which interested Jacobson was the unusual meeting with Karol Wojtyła, the future pope John Paul II, which took place in Kraków. Karewicz was together with a group of friends, and we wandered about town at night after a party at the famous Piwnica pod Baranami, in search of alcohol. One of the party-goers, who once intended to be a priest, had the idea of asking the bishop curia of the priest Franciszek Macharski (whose lectures he attended at the seminary). After a brief exchange, the priest said that they could count on the help of father Karol in the matter.
"Gentlement, I do have vodka, but I don't know if you drink this kind" "We drink every kind of vodka", we responded in chorus. "That's good", was Father Karol's response, and he told us to follow him. We went into a small room, stacked with books all the way up to the ceiling. There was a bed there, a simple desk, some chairs, and shelves. We seated ourselves not without some trouble, and the priest pulled a bottle out from behind the books. "This is pejsachówka", he declared "Have you ever had anything like this?", the future pope asked.
Karewicz reminds the reader that pejsachówka is a very strong kosher plum vodka, which used to be quite popular in a pre-war Poland, and which was only available in Pewex [hard currency stores in the communist People's Republic].
"Father Karol pulled out a small silver tray from somewhere. He placed four little glasses on it and poured - three full and one only half full. 'And who is this half for?' I asked impertinently. "For me", he replied. "So, father doesn't want to drink with us?" "I do, but I have confessions at noon, so I cannot take the risk." We made an ecumenical toast, we took another round and left the place on 3 Franciszkańska street in truly blissful mood. A few years later, white smoke flew out of the known Roman chimney, and this whole visit took on an entirely different dimension."
The Jazzman photographer
Marek Andrzej Karewicz was born on the 28th of January, 1938 in Warsaw. As a young boy, he played the trumpet and bass in jazz ensembles. He started to take photographs in the late 1950s, following the advice of Leopold Tyrmand. He graduated from a photographic high school, and also studied at the Cinematographic Department of the Film School in Łódź.
For more than fifty years, Karewicz has worked as a music journalist, a radio man, and the organiser of the jazz scene, as well as a commentator and presenter of jazz music. He has collected an archive which encompasses some two million negatives. He is the author of 1500 album covers, including the Polish Jazz series, and the Blues Breakout album cover (considered the best of the past 50 years). Karewicz also created the covers for albums by other stars of the Polish music scene, such as Ewa Demarczyk, Niebiesko-Czarni, Czerwone Gitary, Irena Santor, Sława Przybylska Maryla Rodowicz, Stan Borys and Jerzy Połomski.
Marcin Jacobson, who recorded Karewicz's memoirs, is an active participant of the musical milieu. He is a producer, acoustic engineer and an impresario. He has made his debut as a presenter in 1970, at the very first Polish disco club called "Musicorama" in the northern coastal city of Sopot. He was a co-organiser of the Jarocin festival and also managed various Polish bands and artists.
The Big Beat album is released by the SQN publishing house from Kraków.
Source: PAP, 27.3.2014
Translated with edits by Paulina Schlosser, 27/03/2014