“One thing that sticks in my mind is that jazz means freedom and openness (…).
It’s not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.”
Herbie Hancock

It’s difficult to call Jazztopad strictly a jazz festival, because jazz cannot be condensed down to one genre. Jazz is in fact a contemporary language of communication, which in my opinion contains many “genres” of music and is a mixture of cultures from all over the world. This is the theme of this year’s Jazztopad, which I have divided in two parts.

The first weekend features a juxtaposition of a legend with the freshest and (in my opinion and that of many critics) most interesting of today’s jazz scene. On the one hand there is a rare chance to listen to a recital by Chick Corea, and on the other an opportunity to get to know two ensembles who have developed incredible careers more recently: Sons of Kemet, under the direction of Shabaka Hutchings, and the band led by Jaimie Branch, whose latest album was at the top of almost all the charts looking back over the musical events of 2017. The festival’s concerts by these ensembles will be the only ones they give in Poland this year.

The second part of the festival is, above all, about projects created especially for Jazztopad and musical discoveries following on from those we have presented in past festivals. We will witness premiere performances by such artists as Brad Mehldau, Avishai Cohen and Amir ElSaffar, and the first performance of a new composition by Australian Art Orchestra. It will be also the first time performing together for two outstanding drummers: the legendary Hamid Drake and the master of Australian/Korean improvisation Simon Barker. We also take a peek into the musical melting pot of Vancouver and the increasingly interesting Italian and French music scenes.

The finale features Esperanza Spalding, who will appear in Wrocław for the first time with a repertoire specially prepared for Jazztopad.

Of course, as usual there will also be a series of concerts at private apartments, artist meetings, projects for children and workshops.

See you at Jazztopad Festival!
Piotr Turkiewicz