At that time, two artistic concepts started to surface in the band’s repertoire which resulted in the appearance of two sub-groups of Melomani – one played traditional jazz and the other one played modern jazz. A 1999 album with archive recordings published by Jazz Forum shows us that in this era, the band coped exceptionally well. The oldest works are from 1952 and they prove that Melomani not only circumvented and played jazz music but even managed to record it in Polish Radio’s Kraków studio.
In the mid-1950s, the band played at all the important music events. They took part in the meetings animated by the tireless Leopold Tyrmand which were popular all over Poland: Jam Session no. 1, Turniej Jazzowy (The Jazz Tournament), Studio 55, Seans z Powidłami (‘Jam Séance’, editor’s note: ‘powidła’ translates to ‘jam’, meaning ‘confiture’, in English) and Zimno i Gorąco (Cold & Hot). They performed at the first jazz festivals in Sopot (1956-1967) and were always warmly received (however, one has to recognise that in the mid-1950s, Melomani already had quite a lot of competition which often played better and in a more modern style).
The crowning moment of this breakthrough time in Polish jazz’s history was Melomani’s concert in the National Philharmonic in Warsaw on 1st January 1958. They were the first Polish jazz band to perform in the prestigious venue. Melomani achieved something which, just a few years ago, was unimaginable: they brought jazz into the sanctuary of classical music and sealed jazz’s triumphal return from the cultural catacombs.
Having achieved so much, the band decided to cease their activity, particularly since the musicians already had new concepts in their heads and their realisation collided with Melomani’s operation. At the beginning of 1958, Melomani disbanded.
Jerzy ‘Duduś’ Matuszkiewicz reminisces:
It happened spontaneously. The mission was accomplished, our purposes fulfilled. We moved jazz out of the catacombs and introduced it to the Philharmonic which was a proof that it has been recognised as an art form.