The musicians will appear on stages in Asia’s largest agglomerations. The tour includes Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, Incheon, Busan and Seoul in the Republic of Korea, as well as Darkhan, Erdenet and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. The concerts will be part of the JAZZ PO POLSKU project promoting Polish improvised music abroad. The tour comprising 50 shows will last from 25th August until 27th October 2019. It will celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and China, and the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Republic of Korea.
The JAZZ PO POLSKU LIVE IN ASIA 2019 tour started on 25th August with live shows of Stanisław Słowiński’s band in Mongolia. The Cracow-based ensemble played at the 13th Giant Steppes of Jazz festival in the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. In the following days they visited Darkhan and Erdenet to lead workshops at the local universities and take part in jam sessions with artists from China, Japan, Cuba, Russia and Switzerland. From 1st to 15th September the group will be performing in China, visiting cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nankin and Xi’an.
During their shows in China and Mongolia Stanisław Słowński and his band will present their latest live album Visions Violin Concerto, which will be released shortly by the InfraArt Record Label.
I’m inspired by classical works, as well as romantic concertos and contemporary music, in particular by such Polish composers as Karol Szymanowski and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. Combining all these influences within one composition makes a great conclusion to my artistic way so far – said Słowiński describing his upcoming tour’s repertoire.
In the previous years the band toured China promoting their two albums: Landscapes Too Easy To Explain and Visions | Between Love and Death, well received by Chinese audiences and critics alike. They took part in several large-scale projects and events, including China’s major jazz festival Nine Gates (2016), Season of Culture promoting the idea of the ‘New Silk Road’ (2017) and the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA celebrating the centenary of Poland regaining independence (2018). During the 2019 tour the band will perform in the following lineup: Stanisław Słowiński (violin), Rafał Sarnecki (guitar), Michał Ciesielski (piano), Justyn Małodobry (double bass), Adam Stępniowski (drums).
Rafał Sarnecki will start his concerts in Beijing on 30th August. The guitarist’s international quintet, including American and Chinese musicians, will perform in multiple clubs, such as East Gate, East Shore, DDC and Bricks. Sarnecki will also conduct improvisation workshops at the Western Academy of Beijing. The tour is the musician’s 10th visit to China. The group’s lineup includes: Rafał Sarnecki (guitar), Nathaniel Gao (saxophone), Michał Ciesielski (piano), Wang Chen Huai (double bass) and Alex Morris (drums). Late September will see Sarnecki’s band touring South Korea, although in a slightly different ensemble. On 25th September they will take part in the Forest Jazz Festival in Seoul, followed by club shows in Busan, Daegu and Incheon. Sarnecki’s band in Korea will be joined by Kuba Cichocki (piano), Wojciech Pulcyn (double bass), Piotr Pawlak (drums) and Korean musicians Sunjae Lee (saxophone) and MinJin Seo (vocals). The repertoire for Chinese and Korean audience will be made of Sarnecki’s own compositions from his latest album Climbing Trees released by the New York-based Outside in Music company in July 2018.
This year’s JAZZ PO POLSKU tour will be concluded by the Marcin Pater Trio, the winner of 2018 Jazz Juniors festival. The group will make their debut in Asia with main shows at the Taichung Jazz Taiwan on 12th October and the Oct-Loft Shenzhen on 16th October, accompanied by a series of club gigs. The musicians will also give lectures for students of China’s largest music conservatory, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou. The band’s lineup includes: Marcin Pater (vibraphone), Mateusz Szewczyk (double bass) and Tomasz Machański (drums). They will present material from their debut album Nothing But Trouble, which is coming out early November courtesy of the Italian Emme Records.
2019 JAZZ PO POLSKU LIVE IN ASIA tour is organised in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Institute in Beijing and Plateaux Foundation. The concerts are organised under the honorary auspices of the Consulates General of the Republic of Poland in Chengdu and Guangzhou and the Polish Office in Taipei.
2019 has already seen successful JAZZ PO POLSKU tours in Asia. In Spring Michał Martyniuk Quartet toured South East Asia, followed by Michał Milczarek Trio and Confusion Project who performed in China, giving a total of 50 concerts in 5 different Asian countries.
JAZZ PO POLSKU is a music platform presenting a wide spectrum of young Polish musicians from the jazz/improvised/avantgarde scene. It aims at refreshing the image of Polish jazz music on the international arena through presenting the most prospective bands from Poland. It also helps establish cultural collaboration and integrates artists from many countries. JPP has so far organised over 300 Polish events all over the world, including regular tours in Asia. JPP has been founded and coordinated by Jakub Krzeszowski and supported by the Plateaux Founda-tion.
For more information on JAZZ PO POLSKU please visit: www.jazzpopolsku.pl
Source: JAZZ PO POLSKU promotional materials, edited by AW, 31 Aug 2019