July

Kraków’s biggest jazz festival started on the last day of June and, as its name suggests, will fill almost the entire summer, with special emphasis on July. After the inaugural concert by Leszek Możdżer and Adam Makowicz at the Kijów Cinema, we will hear more world stars. Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling and his Californian band The Yellowjackets will focus on the works of fusion genre giants The Weather Report (4 July). Versatile guitarist John Scofield has invited his long-time companion, keyboardist John Medeski, as well as bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Ted Poor to perform premiere compositions and classic pieces in refreshed arrangements (25 July). Shortly afterwards (26 July), virtuoso electric bass player Marcus Miller, who gained his experience in Miles Davis’s band in the 1980s, will perform at ICE Kraków.

One of the most distinctive moments of the first part of the festival will be the New Orleans Sunday with concerts in  gardens around the Main Market Square, a traditional parade and the final programme with an international line-up in on Szczepański Square. During the final, the Jazz Lamb Award will be granted. Altogether, dozens of concerts will take place in the welcoming premises of jazz clubs. Piwnica pod Baranami and Harris Piano Jazz Bar will host daily meetings with artists from Poland and abroad (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Netherlands, France, Italy, UK, Cyprus, Israel, USA, Cuba, Brazil). Every weekend in July (Thursday to Saturday), jazz will also make its home at the Globus club in the Podgórze district. Promising artists can be heard during meetings of the Young Scene at the Potocki Palace (Thursdays), and intimate encounters with jazz will take place in the Secret Garden at Wszystkich Świętych Square (Tuesdays). Concerts as part of the festival will also be held in Studio S5 of Radio Kraków (Lora Szafran), the Manggha Museum (Namysłowski and the Highlanders) and at Tenczyn Castle (Mili Morena Cuban Show), while accompanying events are planned in the Radisson Blu Hotel and Sheraton Grand. (Karnet 7/2025)

August

The vast majority of the August’s summer jazz festival attractions will be concentrated in the last days of the month and grouped in two series: Solo Piano Week and Kraków Spiritual Music Days.

The sounds of the piano will fill the Kraków Philharmonic’s Blue Hall on August 25–29. The concert series will be inaugurated by Dominik Wania, a musician who records for the prestigious German label ECM. Subsequent evenings will be spent in the company of Michał Wierba, known as the leader of Wierba & Schmidt Quintet and Michał Wierba Doppelganger Project, Piotr ‘Pianohooligan’ Orzechowski, who last year released the album Critique of Swing in Two Parts, and Mateusz Pałka, a pianist and improviser associated with the Kraków jazz scene. The week will conclude with a performance by the legendary Adam Makowicz, who, together with Leszek Możdżer, headlined the opening night of the SJFK in June.

Concerts of Kraków Spiritual Music Days (August 24–30) will take place in several venues of the city. The first three meetings will take place at the Nowy Square, where the Alchemia club will host a project by saxophonist Adam Pierończyk, the oriental ethno-jazz Ibrahim Trio comprising Wassim Ibrahim (oud, vocals), Joachim Mencel (hurdy-gurdy, piano) and Szymon Madej (percussion), as well as the début material of the band Horntet, nominee for the Fryderyk 2024 award. In Radio Kraków’s S5 studio, we will celebrate the 75th birthday of Jorgos Skolias, and in the Pauline Church “On the Rock” we will hear the duo of singer Grażyna Auguścik and accordionist Jarosław Bester, who refer to jazz, folk, as well as classical and avant-garde music. Another anniversary will be celebrated at the Manggha Museum, where the Kraków formation Laboratorium will celebrate its 55th anniversary. The final concert will feature violinist Adam Bałdych with his quartet and special guest, Italian bandeonist Daniele di Bonaventura.

In addition, the August programme includes a concert by singer Grzegorz Karnas and cellist Adam Oleś (August 10, Alchemia), a programme entitled Młynarski. By No Means performed by, among others, Wojciech Myrczek, Krzysztof Herdzin and Piotr Schmidt (August 16, Manggha Museum), and a performance by guitarist Maciej Kłecz and friends (also August 16, Tenczyn Castle in Rudno). (Karnet 8/2025)

Concert schedule

Main concerts

• 30.06 – Kijów Cinema – Adam Makowicz & Leszek Możdżer
  
• 4.07 – Kraków Opera – Kurt Elling celebrating the music of Weather Report featuring the Yellowjackets
  
• 25.07 – Kijów Cinema – John Scofield Quartet
  
• 26.07 – ICE Kraków – Marcus Miller
• 7.09 – Auditorium Maximum UJ – Nigel Kennedy feat. Cleveland Watkiss, Cosmic Brothers

Full programme (click to enlarge)

Source: press release