Rays of Hope

This year’s spring was marred by the pandemic, early summer was drenched in rainfall, and here we are awaiting jazz…

As we were getting ready for the bleakest of all scenarios – an entire summer devoid of festivals – a light shone at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to the incredible dedication and energy of the organisers, the 25th Summer Jazz Festival Kraków is going ahead, and the extraordinary circumstances mean it will run for longer than usual (3 July – 15 August). The event, dating back to 1996, has always embraced openness; however, for obvious reasons this year’s festival will see many restrictions: attendance at all concerts, whether held at clubs or outdoors, will be strictly limited, so book your tickets early!

As usual, the heart of the festival will be the Pod Baranami Palace – its courtyard and cellars host dozens of performances. July also abounds with gigs at other clubs: Harris Piano Jazz Club, Piec Art and U Muniaka Jazz Club in the Old Town, and of course Alchemia in Kazimierz.

The summer gets off to a jazzy start on 3 July: the courtyard of the Pod Baranami Palace welcomes the Aga Zaryan and Szymon Mika duo. The latter, winner of the International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition, appears again on 8 July, this time accompanying Yumi Ito, winner of the Montreux Jazz Festival, at Piwnica pod Baranami. Throughout July, we will see leading musicians from Poland and abroad. The weekend concerts held in the open air in the courtyard of the Pod Baranami Palace aim to reach broad audiences. After the inaugural concert, we will hear Marek Napiórkowski with his ensemble (11 July) and in a duet with Dorota Miśkiewicz (12 July), recitals by Stanisław Sojka (17 July) and Krystyna Prońko (18 July), Adam Bałdych on violin with Italian virtuosos Pasquale Stafano and Gianni Iorio (24 July) and in a duet with Paweł Kaczmarczyk (25 July), and the Laboratorium ensemble celebrating their 50th anniversary (31 July).

Concerts will be held daily, mainly at Piwnica pod Baranami and Harris Piano Jazz Club where we will see ensembles of all sizes and some of the best-known artists performing in myriad configurations. There will also be special programmes paying homage to legendary saxophonists Janusz Muniak and “Cannonball” Adderley. As part of the Solo Piano Week (6-12 July) at Piec Art, we will hear Paweł Kaczmarczyk, Kuba Stankiewicz, Bogdan Hołownia, Mateusz Pałka, Joachim Mencel, Dominik Wania and Kasia Pietrzko. On Thursdays (9, 16, 23 and 30 July), Pracownia pod Baranami presents the Young Stage with Jazzbaja, Kamila Drabek and Miłosz Bazarnik’s ensembles and the Niedbała/Sikora/Przewoźnik trio. The Summer Jazz Festival also appears at the U Muniaka Jazz Club with performances by Przemek Dyakowski (8 July), Andrzej Olejniczak (16 and 17 July) and Krzesimir Dębski (31 July), while Alchemia at Nowy Square in Kazimierz hosts the Adam Pierończyk trio (8 July) and the Oleś Brothers duo (20 July).

And that’s not all! In August, we can expect special concerts featuring world-class stars, the finale of the club section of the festival and of course the traditional New Orleans Sunday. More in the next edition of “Karnet”. (Bartosz Suchecki, “Karnet”)

Special concerts

Ula Dudziak Show
02.08.2020 | 20:00 | 120zł
Manggha Museum

Friends & Karen Edwards
07.08.2020 | 20:00 | 100 zł
Manggha Museum

Fusion Night – Billy Cobham, Adam Bałdych, Vladislav Sendecki
08.08.2020 | 20:00 | 130 zł
Kijów Cinema

Adam Makowicz & Leszek Możdżer
15.08.2020 | 20:00 | 120-180 zł

New Orleans Sunday

Main Market Square | 09.08.2020 | 12:00-16:00

Pod Baranami Palace – Courtyard

03.07 Aga Zaryan & Szymon Mika
11.07 Marek Napiórkowski Band
12.07 Dorota Miśkiewicz & Marek Napiórkowski
17.07 Stanisław Sojka recital
18.07 Krystyna Prońko recital
24.07 Adam Bałdych - Pasquale Stafano - Gianni Iorio
25.07 Adam Bałdych & Paweł Kaczmarczyk
31.07 Laboratorium
01.08 Spektakl muzyczny Dziady, High Definition feat. Igor Boxx
02.08 Grażyna Auguścik & Jarosław Bester

Piwnica pod Baranami / The Cellars under the Rams

04.07 Kajetan Galas Hammond Quartet
05.07 Henryk Miśkiewicz Quartet
06.07 Old Metropolita Band
07.07 Jazz Band Ball Orchestra
08.07 Yumi Ito & Szymon Mika
09.07 Krzysztof Ścierański Band
10.07 Little Egoists
13.07 Lora Szafran
14.07 New Bone
15.07 Andrzej Olejniczak & Dominik Wania Trio
16.07 Adam Kawończyk Kwartet
19.07 Jorgos Skolias & Dominik Wania
20.07 Bernard Maseli
21.07 Mariusz Bogdanowicz Sekstet
22.07 Trio Włodzimierza Nahornego
23.07 Marek Bałata & Dominik Wania
26.07 Piotr Orzechowski & Kuba Więcek
27.07 Ewa Uryga & band
28.07 Boba Jazz Band
29.07 Wojciech Myrczek & Paweł Tomaszewski
30.07 Krzesimir Dębski & Tadeusz Sudnik    

Harris Piano Jazz Bar

03.07 Escaubei & Tomasz Nowak Quartet
04.07 Hot Swing
05.07 Mirosław Sitkowski Quintet
06.07 jam session
07.07 Marian Pawlik Quartet
08.07 Yarosh Organ Trio & Dominik Wania
09.07 Jacek Chruściński Quartet
10.07 Ireneusz Pałac Sekstet
11.07 Jakub Mizeracki Trio
12.07 Noise Trio
13.07 jam session
14.07 Andrzej Olejniczak & Organ Spot Trio
15.07 Ilona Damięcka Trio
16.07 Karol Dobrowolski Trio - Django Tribute
17.07 Funk de Nite
18.07 Soul Finger
19.07 Adam Szabas Kowalewski Trio
20.07 jam session
21.07 Tribute to Aderlay Quartet
22.07 Mateusz Gawęda Trio
23.07 Pasquale Stafano-Gianni Iorio
24.07 Szymon Mika Trio
25.07 Patrycjusz Gruszecki Trio
26.07 Tribute to Muniak Quartet
27.07 jam session
28.07 Silvan Joray Trio
29.07 Orchestra Dedicated Groborz&Cronies
30.07 Electric Shepard
31.07 Kuba Płużek Kwartet
01.08 Max Klezmer Band
02.08 AMC Trio
04.08 Mateusz Pałka Trio

Piec Art

06.07 Paweł Kaczmarczyk
07.07 Kuba Stankiewicz
08.07 Bogdan Hołownia
09.07 Mateusz Pałka
10.07 Joachim Mencel
11.07 Dominik Wania
12.07 Kasia Pietrzko

Pracownia pod Baranami

09.07 Jazzbaja
16.07 Kamila Drabek Tercet
23.07 Miłosz Bazranik Trio
30.07 Niedbała/Sikora/Przewoźnik Trio

Source: press release