5 – 7 December
Various venues accross London
For more information visit: www.deconstructionproject.co.uk
The festival features unique work from groundbreaking musicians and composers. These artists are linked by their sonic experimentation within and beyond a tradition of jazz practice in which improvisation has always played a key role. The festival aims to promote challenging music to new audiences and London's cultural scene. Its ambition is to connect like-minded Polish and British musicians and create a platform for long-lasting collaboration. Forging links between UK and Polish artists and audiences, the festival takes the form of a three-day intensive live music experience.
The festival begins with powerful saxophonist Maciej Obara and his quartet followed by an improvised electroacoustic set by Arszyn/Duda. On Tuesday we present Oleś Duo, which reviewers have called Poland’s 'rhythmic dream team’, performing their latest compositions and Marcin Masecki, who will be deconstructing Scarlatti’s Sonatas. The performances will be followed by a discussion with the artists led by Ed McKeon. The talk will focus on jazz interpretations of classical music; an artistic phenomenon popular among Polish musicians. The last day will be devoted to experimental music and feature a solo performance by Piotr Kurek on electric accordion and modular synthesizer and a live electronic set by local Polish musicians.
Monday, 5 December, 8.30pm
Vortex Jazz Club,
11 Gillett Square
London N16 8AZ
Tickets: £12
Book online
Maciej Obara Quartet
Maciej Obara – alto saxophone
Dominik Wania - piano
Maciej Garbowski - bass
Krzysztof Gradziuk - drum
Maciej Obara Quartet is a new project on the European jazz scene that has received many enthusiastic reviews. Musically unruly and uncontrollable, Obara found a partner in Dominik Wania, who can create musical stories with equal energy and virtuosity. Obara's music comprises rebellious energy and musical insubordination, but this time it is settled within a mature harmonic frame of Dominik Wania's piano.
Maciej Obara is a young Polish composer and alto saxophonist. He has collaborated with many acclaimed musicians including Tomasz Stańko, Atnoine Roney, Alexi Tuomarila, Jakob Bro, Ralph Alessi etc.
"Jazz at its purest: free, rhythmic, lyrical and full of soul and depth. [...] Obara is not a screamer, nor is he a sonic innovator or a musical iconoclast, and he doesn’t need to be. The quality of what he plays brings us so much fun that he should stick to it, taking jazz tradition, with soul and form and interplay to a completely modern environment. No pretense, just great jazz." www.freejazz-stef.blogspot.com
Arszyn/Duda
Krzysztof Topolski (aka Arszyn) - electronics, percussion
Tomasz Duda – saxophones
The duo will perform an improvised electroacoustic music set. Tomasz Duda is one of Poland's finest young saxophonists. He has studied under various legends of improvisational jazz and is a member of bands such as Baaba, Pink Freud, Saksofort, Mitch and Mitch, Tołhaje. He has teamed up with Krzysztof Topolski, an electroacoustic improviser, sound artist, drummer, lecturer and workshop facilitator. Key concepts in Arszyn’s work include noise and soundscape, exploring the area of percussion and live electronic, improvised and electroacoustic music. Together they form a formidable duo which has so far produced on studio album, entitled SE.
"Incredible improvisation and experimentalism reminds me of the Ken Vandermark duo sessions of the last couple of years (especially Complete Friction) or even Sonore (with Peter Brotzmann). [...] a rolling cacophony of sound and tribal drum beats. […] Duda becomes more like Ornette Coleman with some really beautiful tone dialling and phrasing that may stop you in your tracks thinking there's a melody that's about to break out. […] mind blowing soundscape surgery." (www.jazzwrap.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, 6 December, 7.30pm
The Forge,
3-7 Delancey Street
London NW1 7NL
Tickets: £14, (£11)
Book online
Marcin Masecki – solo piano
Masecki will be subjecting a selection of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas to his unique brand of musical deconstruction. Over the years Macecki has acquired an intimate knowledge of the pieces and as an improviser finds them to be an incredibly fertile ground for all kinds of creative alterations.
Marcin Masecki began musical training at an early age with his father and quickly developed a taste for improvisation. In 2000 he received a scholarship to study in Berklee Colege of Music in Boston. After graduation he returned to Warsaw and became an active member of the local improvised/alternative scene. He has worked with many artists including Tomasz Stańko, Pink Freud, Muzykoterapia, Innocent Sorcerers, Wojtek Waglewski, Macio Moretti, Raphael Roginski and Ziv Ravitz. In 2005 he won first prize in the International Jazz Piano Competition in Moscow.
“Marcin Masecki’s music calls on the listener's concentration, imagination, and a break with the received way of listening to jazz. Marcin astonished the audience with his creativity, vitality and technical prowess. He is a talent with a great future." (Jazz Forum)
Oleś Duo
Marcin Oleś – double bass
Bartłomiej Brat Oleś – drums
Oleś Duo – a unique project led by two brothers described as Poland’s 'rhythmic dream-team' by Jazz Zeitung. Virtuoso improvisation that stems from clear compositional structure and form, performed only on double bass and drums. Influenced by jazz tradition, their music brings a whole new spectrum of sounds and explores new ways of approaching composition and improvisation. Oleś Duo have authored many innovative and unconventional projects and have been collaborating with world-renowned jazz musicians such as Kenny Werner, David Murray, Rob Brown, Chris Speed, Erik Friedlander, Theo Jörgensmann, Rudi Mahall, William Parker, Andrzej Przybielski and many others. Extraordinary music not to be missed.
"Each piece is not limited to the exploration of one melody or theme, it contains a wealth of ideas, the opening of new possibilities, going beyond predictability, creating new angles and approaches as you move along." (Free Jazz Blog)
Wednesday, 7 December, 7.30pm
Servant Jazz Quarters
10a Bradbury Street
London N16 8JN
Tickets: £10, (£8)
Book online
Piotr Kurek - solo on electric accordion and modular synthesizer
Piotr Kurek is a composer, musician and sound artist. Kurek has also created pieces for theatre and contemporary dance performances. As the co-founder of Ślepcy, he created one of the pioneering forces in polish experimental electronic music in the late 1990’s. Since 2006 he has been working in collaboration with London’s Unknown Public, Portuguese label Crónica, Lublin Dance Theatre, Crossroads Culture Centre, audio-visual collective kilku.com and musicians, including Arturas Bumšteinas, Peter Votava, Jean-Jacques Palix, Jerzy Kornowicz and Stephan Mathieu.
Live electronic set by local Polish musicians.
The festival will end with series of short sets presenting local experimental scene. Featuring works by: Kacper Ziemianin
Jazz and Experimental Music From Poland gratefully acknowledges financial support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Polish Cultural Institute in London.