Kraków Jazz Week: Seifert Competition & Jazz Juniors

Kraków Jazz Week
Cricoteka/Hevre
Kraków, Poland
September 26th-October 3rd 2024

This was the second Kraków Jazz Week, but there is a much deeper history unearthed when studying the roots of this new event. Fundamentally, it involves the amalgamation of two long-running festivals: the Seifert Competition and Jazz Juniors, this latter having a history that reaches all the way back to 1976, so now nearing its 40th anniversary. The Seifert event is younger, but can still point to a decade of activity, running six of their biennial competitions. This week-long concept is quite a success, especially now that both previously nomadic festivals have become ensconced in what looks to be their ongoing home, the Cricoteka gallery, museum and concert space, perched in architecturally flamboyant fashion on the bank of the Vistula River. It's a decidedly positive concept to nest these events together, logistically and psychologically speaking. As each festival spans four days, the reality of the 'week' is eight days.

Seifert Competition

The competition is dedicated to the life, work and reputation of the Kraków violinist (and sometime saxophonist) Zbigniew Seifert, who died at an unfortunately youthful age (32 years old) in 1979, but had already gathered a considerable reputation and produced a significant body of compositions. Seifert began his career as a member of trumpeter Tomasz Stańko's quintet in 1970.

Fundamentally a jazz violin competition, the potential has now opened up to the potential presence of viola and cello exponents, although this might not actually happen in this violin-dominant field of entrants. Two of the 2024 judges were, however, cellists of high profile, spanning the jazz, improvisation and classical fields. Anja Lechner (Germany) and Ernst Reijseger (Netherlands) were joined by the Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak to select and subsequently sift through ten international competitors. These would play their showcase sets over two evenings, five apiece, customarily tackling three pieces, one of which would be a Seifert composition. Each entrant (selected by the three judges) is backed by the hard-working and stylistically pliable trio of Dominik Wania (piano), Michal Kapczuk (bass) and Dawid Fortuna (drums). It could be said that Lechner, Reijseger and Urbaniak were judges, jury members and executioners, responsible for whittling down the contestants for the third night's semi-final, and ultimately awarding prize placement for the final session. In 2024, the performing standards were so high that the final actually featured six players rather than the planned five, so tough was the decision-making. Even so, one of your scribe's favoured violinists, Michał Schab, from Poland, failed to make a placement, which came as something of a shock.

Day one of the semi-final featured short sets from Wojtek Maciejowski, João da Silva, Anais Tecla Drago, Hugo van Rechem and Michał Schab. Poland's Maciejowski chose John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" (1958), in traipsing classical guise, flitting and pert, dappling for a while with solely piano accompaniment, injected with a grainy swing. Coltrane was made to sound like Grappelli. This illustrated the point that many entrants are not necessarily rooted in the jazz scene, but just as likely to be classically schooled. Most of the entrants also contributed original material, and "The Gasp" was darker, suffused with melancholia, beginning with solo violin. Maciejowski looped a low riff cycle, still strongly classicist in demeanour, but flipped into flighty mode for Seifert's "City Of Spring," made tougher via its higher-range embellishments. This closer was the jazziest number, as well as being slicker and more forceful in delivery.

Portugal's da Silva opened with a pair of originals, then selected Seifert's "City Of Spring," around ten minutes after its first appearance. Such a repetition was not actually typical of the competition, just unfortunate for da Silva. His own tunes were brightly lyrical, the second flirting with a pizzicato approach, but it was too quiet, too bassy in nature and bordering on the clumsy. This ballad just seemed to peter out, as though da Silva had lost interest, looking fidgety and nervous. The Seifert interpretation was the best part of his set, with its liquid streams of invention, delivered with vigor and increased effort.

Italy's Drago impressed on the audience that it's not just the technique and the practical ability (which she possessed), but also the attitude and personality presentation, revolving around a naturally relaxed and confident nature, heightening her communication with the crowd. Drago sported a skeletal modern design instrument, sleek in its minimalism, and plugged into a spread of effects pedals. She held the violin like an upright bass, with strings seemingly slackened, adding whistling embellishments to Seifert's "Passion." Drago's bouncy nature shoved her music forward, enthusiastically, adding a boxy effect to her violin, as she brought out the dynamics with a lighter touch. She prompted pianist Wania to play his solo in a more angular, aggressive fashion, as they moved into her own tune, with its hovering bow technique adding to the scenic exploration. Then, her radical interpretation of Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" was funked up, as Drago strummed her axe like a ukulele, with a phased tone for her swooning lines, sounding almost like turntable scratching.

France's Van Rechem had the look of an abstractly wandering hippy, this being reflected in his overly casual attitude towards getting set up for action. This soon became a positive quality, as it led to him having an awareness of space and timing, of dramatic pauses and unhurried lines. He opened with Seifert's "Turbulent Plover," adopting a dusty, raw tone, as if his violin had been lying for years in an old wooden cabinet. Van Rechem emphasised certain notes and phrases, changing accents in mid-stream, visibly mulling over what he'd play next, considering carefully before launching into a drum'n'bass-styled funk shuffle, Wania sitting out. A segue into John Scofield's "Over Big Top" saw the return of a calmed piano, with actively scuttling percussion, as the original composition had a more conventionally jazzy aspect.

Poland's Schab had Seifert's "On The Farm" bookended by his own tunes, which had an unusually traditional folk sound not displayed by any of the other entrants. Its strong melody was treated with confident phrasing and a very distinctive tone, with rich sonics, sweeping lines and an advanced construction. Schab's violin was amplified, but still retained its acoustic qualities. For the Seifert, he led the combo's kicking in, with subtle shades of metal in the construction. Schab ended up being rejected from finalist placement, but could easily have been there instead of, for instance, da Silva.

Already, with day one, there were some outstanding challengers, mostly those who had the added advantage of personality projection and conceptual imagination. The second day was set to unveil a similarly high standard of contestants.

Day two of the semi-final featured Aleksandra Kryńska, Andrew Finn Magill, Tomohiro Ishii, Chase Potter and Amalia Obrębowska. Poland's Kryńska had a formal, classically-derived sound on her opening piece, all willowy faintness, and then the second choice of Keith Jarrett's "Personal Mountains" had a bassy amplifier sound, with an up-tempo, lively thrust to the soloing. Oddly, it was back to calmness for the chosen Seifert number of "Song For Christopher," with its singing strings of citrusy highness. Unfortunately, two out of three tunes being very slow and low made Kryńska's set a touch turgid.

The USA's Magill elected not to play any self-penned material, opening with Milton Nascimento's upbeat "Vera Cruz," moving into Seifert's "Quo Vadis," which came with carefree, lightweight touches, with a dignified professionalism, but not much individualist expression. Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" marked another strange repetition, breezin' and swingin,' but made to sound somehow old-fashioned. It was rescued by Wania's spirited and forceful piano solo.

Japan's Ishii began with Seifert's "Man Of The Light," his playing bold, loud and extroverted, full of sliding and skimming embellishments. He urged drummer Fortuna towards harder hits. His original work was softer, then his Wayne Shorter selection was the most obvious "Footprints," although its theme was suited to a compact rendition.

The USA's Potter sported another of those skinny minimalist violins, setting off with Seifert's "Pinocchio," and a flyaway solo, embellished by piano, drums hitting accents. It had an impressively emphatic ending, timed exactly with the sticks. Here was another American with no original selections, moving on to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, with "Isfahan" making its ballad slink, in a complete switch of style. Were they all speeding up as the tune unwound? "Blue In Green" (Miles Davis/Bill Evans) was taken at a fast trot, eventually becoming all but unrecognisable.

Poland's Obrębowska exuded a palpable interest in experimentation, her stage presence advanced, even though she took a long time to tune up and set up her gear. But she crunched into the heaviest number of the competition, her own "Ludziak," chased by Seifert's "Sunrise Music," given an arresting sound and energised delivery, a bitter swirl, impressionistic and abstract. The three pieces were segued, with Krzysztof Komeda's "Kattorna" involving sustained sour scrapes. Obrębowska might have appeared too casual but she clearly operated on a more experienced level than most of the other competitors.

Here's day three, already: the finalists do battle!

The aim was to select five contenders, but the standards were so high that jury felt compelled to settle on the following six competitors: Obrębowska, Drago, da Silva, Ishii, van Rechem and Krynska. Obrębowska began with a pair of her own tunes, the first sensitive and classically natured, the second beginning softly, with both violin and bass caressing softly, drums brushed sensitively, piano interior probed. She vocalised while playing pizzicato, then opened Seifert's "Way To Oasis" on her own, seemingly a preferred stance. This set was more conventional than Obrębowska's first, with all three of its selections being quite tranquil.

Drago continued this softness with her own composition, her bow striking lightly in cahoots with the piano, the band mournfully strolling, but working up to a fast, vigorous and detailed conclusion, with singing bow-work underlaid with fluid loop-layer ambiance. Drago also added vocals, though unfortunately of the classically-trained kind. "Lennie's Pennies," by Lennie Tristano, was hyperactive with a fidgety swing, as Drago revealed her bebop-dancing skills. The whole band quickly ran through their solos, spurred on by the fuller finals crowd, who inhabited almost all of the seats.

Portugal's da Silva was the player who should have been culled, taking the quota down to the intended five. It was bewildering why he was in place instead of the Polish Schab. He too began with two originals, the first breezy, the second a ballad, neither of them very distinctive. He played a lot of notes efficiently, but the result was still tedious and non-communicative.

Ishii delivered an anthemic original, "Prophet," that's designed as a rock number, although the band soon calmed it down with some sauntering piano. Ishii reiterated its force by taking it up again with a searing solo. This set was far superior to the one Ishii played in the semi-finals, getting restful with the obscure choice (outside Poland) of pianist Leszek Mozdzer 's "It's Easy With You," then dropping in Seifert via "On The Farm," becoming almost a boogie woogie vehicle, and a haven for stirring solos.

Van Rechem started with "McCoy's Nightmare," by Seifert, which did indeed possess a Coltrane aura, the violin soloing sounding a lot more densely conventional, less exploratory and spaced-out than his preceding performance. Van Rechem made the winning choice of "The Wind-Up" (Keith Jarrett), which few folks dare to cover, aside from Rudresh Mahanthappa. Then he moved into his own structured improvisation, sending hand signals to his colleagues, clicking fingers to launch a springy rhythm. This piece was good, but way overlong considering that the finals sets were already longer than the previous semi-final brevity. This was heavy going, even for the enthusiast, as we hit the three-and-a-half-hours mark.

Just one last set, though. Kryńska's run was quite anti-climactic, opening with a slow and thoughtful Seifert selection ("Quo Vadis"), its intensity growing. It was her pair of originals that brought the levels down, slow and mournful, with such an introverted flow not being ideal for the end of a very long evening's music. Thankfully, the last run operated at a healthier pace, with clipped bow punctuations, eventually becoming quite animated.

The jury convened to award the three cash prizes, electing Anais Tecla Drago for first place, followed by Hugo van Rechem (second) and Tomohiro Ishii (third), seemingly emphasising the boon of players possessing some conceptual abilities, as well as an outwards-directed ability to entertain. There is always a huge mass of technically gifted players around, particularly due to the increased prevalence of academic training choices, but beyond such expertise, an artist will hopefully address ideas, presentation, communication and personality projection. Besides the exclusion of the Polish Schab, this was an astute representation of the talents involved in this competition.

Ishii revisited his own anthemic number, but it wasn't as powered up as the night before, and it was as if all three winners had their nervous energy defused, collectively choosing to pick up a reflective mood, bathing in their competition placements. We could collectively relax, as the competition concluded with a concert by the duo of Lechner and her regular pianist Francois Couturier, although this was nevertheless a quite formal set of classical and moderne interpretations, combining established works with original compositions, delivered in near darkness and with hardly any visual backdrop content. There were virtually zero verbals, and no programme notes, so the audience were forced to exist nakedly with the selections, although at one point Lechner moved her music stand away, presumably set on either improvisation or deep familiarity. Couturier removed his spectacles. This pair have collaborated for around two decades, so have developed a substantial rapport. There were pieces by Frederic Mompou and Anouar Brahem, with an encore penned by Couturier.

Seifert Nights

For lovers of the midnight hour, each day of the competition had closed with Seifert Nights performances in the basement music room of the Hevre café and bar, just across the river. The Eduardo Borlotti Quintet opened these proceedings, led by the Mexican violinist who won the previous competition in 2022. Borlotti brought together this Mexican/Colombian/Polish crew, joined by Nord keyboards, congas, bass and drums. The leader leaned over a wealth of pedal effects, but his sunglasses-in-the-cellar percussionist had the effective primitivist weapon of an old jawbone, its teeth rattling sweetly. He also brandished the biggest ocarina we've ever witnessed. Borlotti loaded up the chorus effects, opting for a mellow, organic slink-funk with Latinised streaks. The Quintet didn't seem too well rehearsed, but got by via charm, cruisin' above hard drums, shakers and cocktail piano, slipping in some tequila-flavoured improvisation.

The following night offered the best music of the entire Seifert sessions, with a trio of Gabriel Viera, Jaroslaw Bester and Mikolaj Sikora, featuring the Brazilian violinist with a Polish pair on accordion and upright bass. Much of their material was original, from the southern Brasil rhythmic tradition, gentle, spacious and very well played. Oddly, they included Seifert's "Turbulent Plover," but Viera did come second in the '22 competition. He managed to make Seifert sound Brazilian. This refreshing line-up also breezed through numbers by Luis Bonfa (a slowie, and maybe a weepie, with high sensitivity on an open plain), Egberto Gismonti (a fluttery fleetness), and then Astor Piazzolla, his "Libertango" completing a stirring sequence of sounds. Astoundingly, they'd only had one rehearsal, just that afternoon.

Jazz Club Muniaka

Your scribe also ran off to Muniaka again, that key Kraków jazz lair, down in another cellar, of course, just off the city's main square. Their third (or even fourth) sets tend to begin after midnite, and not only on weekends. The Red Baron Quartet were visiting from Hungary, an unusual crew, despite playing in an approachable, commercial fashion. They had a soprano saxophone, piano, bass and drums line-up, working through "Stolen Moments" (Oliver Nelson), saying goodnight but then steaming back with Kenny Garrett's "Sing A Song Of Song," the soprano seeking high vaults from down in this underground haunt. An electric bass came out, and then they played a Till Bronner tune, extremely unusual for a cover from this trumpeter, at least outside Germany. Funking up further, the saxophonist graduated to slink-throat tenor, the pianist sporting an attractively light touch, trilling and skipping around his upright keys. This was easy rather than sleazy, for almost 1am. Garrett was back, his "Spanish Go-Around" taking the Latin shuffle route, back with soprano. They concluded at one-on-the-dot, but an encore was desired on this Saturday night, so it had to be some Herbie Hancock to salve the still-substantial audience.

Jazz Juniors

After four evenings of Seifert, we now looked forward to the same dose of Jazz Juniors (JJ), which involves much greater variety and less likelihood of violin encounters. The game-plan here is to open with the competition on the first night, and then move on to individual grown-up concerts on the next three evenings. For JJ, the judges get together straight away, and their results are announced later that first night, so we have virtually immediate gratification.

This was a new dawn for the festival-competition (another old-timer, operating since 1976), with the Norwegian trumpeter and electronicist Nils Petter Molvaer taking over the artistic director chair from the Polish saxophonist Adam Pieronczyk. Like his predecessor, Molvær's term will be for five years. He is likely to inch the orientation further towards electronic sounds, and this tendency already became evident during his debut edition. Nevertheless, Molvær and his two co-judges are also well-attuned to mainline jazz and free acoustic improvisation. These co-voters are the Belgian singer Lynn Cassiers and the Norwegian trumpeter Hilde Marie Holsen (both of these using ample amounts of electronics in their music).

The competition involved an extended evening of varied performances, in terms of line-ups, styles and quality of execution. It provided a rush of dynamism, with its contrasts and its contestant- striving, hurtling towards the late night results revelation. This year's presentation seemed more streamlined, nowhere near as laborious as the Seifert sets. Of course, this meant that sometimes it felt like merely 15 minutes to absorb an act.

Adam Baran & Helicopets hail from Warsaw, their name slightly puzzling. Baran is a guitarist, his roster holding further interest with its inclusion of bass clarinet, besides bass and drums, with the players of these last two also using electronics and Moog. They have a debut album promised for 2025. Heavily into atmospheric mood-shaping, the Helicopets moved gradually, leaving different colored trails that mixed, allying float and pulse. Their second number took a stomping direction, with bass clarinet lines recurring, the whole disturbed by mangling effects and electronic-fed guitar abstraction. A drum solo breakdown was a minimalist choice, given that the Helicopets had so little time to prove themselves,

Reboot The Mood emerged from Dresden, Germany, but later moved to Leipzig. The quintet is much better than their name-choice. They've already released a debut album, and have been touring regularly around Europe. Reboot's line-up includes flugelhorn, guitar, laptop, keyboards, bass and drums. This too is a painterly outfit, attuned to aura-bending, with lyrical horn-work that's mirrored by the guitar. A funk skip encroached, wth mild shades of clavinet in the keyboard sound, this element way too high and hard in the ensemble mix. A busy theme switched to trumpet slickness and a less mechanical guitar solo, topped by an extended drum solo (again).

The Cyryl Lewczuk Quartet were simultaneously advertised as having a residency at the Muniaka club, although surely they couldn't have made all of those sets, being involved in JJ. They came from the closer Katowice, bringing original compositions that nevertheless sound like old-time jazz numbers. Lewczuk led on tenor saxophone, joined by piano, bass and drums. A piano solo injected some abstract imagination into the classic mainline heart, adopting a faint Latin quality. The second tune was more thoughtful, veering towards the ballad-scape, before growing a smoother shape, a pillow on which the leader rested his tenor solo.

The name chosen by Blu/Bry (formed in 2019) is not exactly imaginative either, but this Polish quintet excelled musically. Like many other young Polish players, they've been studying in Copenhagen. Trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums were lined up for a very sparse opening, with effects coating the first horn, constructing an ECM-like sonic-scape, increasing pace, and paying attention to sensitive tonal shading. A delicate theme billowed under an echo-lofting trumpet solo, undertowed by tumbling drums, with piano and bass united in vamp. The tenor ended up alone, but the furred electric bass soon squatted at the tune's core.

The Vincent Meissner Trio were another entrant from Germany, already more prolific on the recording front than their fellow contenders, with their work for the ACT label. There's a GoGo Penguin affinity in sound, containing density and momentum, driving, clapping and cracking. Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" probably distracted from the piano trio's own personalities, but was at least tackled from a sideways direction.

Given that solo accordionist Zbigniew Chojnacki played neither jazz or (seemingly) improvised music, he marked out the most peripheral zone possible during this competition. Even so, most exploratory jazzers would appreciate his expansive electronic industrial landscapes, dramatic and stern. Although theoretically concerned with improvisation, Chojnacki may well be so skilled in this area that he manages to make his music sound composed.

As he regularly covers JJ over the years, your scribe is accustomed to being opposed to jury prize- giving decisions, almost every year. In 2024, he stood in perfect judging alignment, and would himself have chosen the winning Blu/Bry for first position. Meissner came second, and Chojnacki was awarded third place. Blu/Bry will also be appearing at 2025's Jazzahead! showcase-festival-trade fair. Most of the entrants were also offered club or festival gigs for 2025 by the various European promoter partners who regularly attend JJ.

Phew, when the competition's already out of the way on the first evening, the path is cleared for grown-up gigs in the 7pm double bill slots over the next three nights. Although, as JJ contestants can almost reach their mid-30s to qualify for competition entry, age-lines are clearly flexible.

Hinode Tapes selected low activity levels, this improvising trio beavering darkly at their consoles, trundling out of deep Poland. All three are multi-instrumentalists, but saxophone, guitar and drums could be considered their core tools. They forged a supreme ambient atmosphere, with tenor and guitar not necessarily sounding like those actual instruments. Jacek Prościński's drums scampered lightly, with maximum detail and accuracy, while Piotr Chęcki's horn became jazzier as the set progressed, as he probed his deep tubing, cosseting with organic warmth. Piotr Kaliński's guitar weaving was paused in favour of electronic tinkering, as an active intensity bloomed in a rising curve.

Lynn Cassiers and Hilde Marie Holsen happen to be a regular performing duo as well as a jury-pair. Both stood at large tables that housed their wares, like a small market for unexpected oddments. Cassiers vocalises and Holsen peppers trumpet, but this is only an aspect (if major) of their full usage of small objects, laptop, effects units and metallic detritus. A bewitching aura vibrated at length, holding the audience in its spell-cast thrall, assisted by the wondrous mood lighting and films sent out from behind the mixing desk by Ada Bystrzycka (in place for the entire festival). Halo mists surrounded, vista-video scrolled past horizons on the rear screen matrix, static landscapes belied the oft-times trend towards road or rail journeys of accelerated filming. Inset live boxes of performer video-feeds also informed the panorama. The duo commanded with great restraint, making each sonic gesture stand firm in its significance. Washes buoyed up the extreme distortion of Cassiers, few vocalists hitting such peaks of violently disintegrated rupture. Shockingly, she cut to a "conventional" singing voice, effects shorn sharply. Holsen tried her horn with and without its mouthpiece, laptop issuing a bass pulse as Cassiers sampled metal bowl scrapes, with a perfectly formed development of the overall sound painting. This set remained on a steady level, but never relinquished its firm grip on the audience attention.

The second night of the double bills moved towards a more openly jazzed zone, although still featuring abstract freedom, as well as vocal song-forms. A new trio was formed, featuring Marta Wajdzik (alto saxophone), Szymon Mika (guitar) and Arthur Hnatek (drums), their approach quite straightforward compared to the previous evening's magical encounters. They gradually built up from introversion, unveiling original works, with a melodic smoothness. Somewhat characterless, the wash-guitarist had a habit of stroking strings below the pick- ups, as an unvarying pace coasted towards a stylistically barren island. Towards set's end Hnatek set up a tonally low, muted drum-pummel, entering his best stretch, alto responding with shaped squeals. This was their first gig together in this particular combination, and the set was way too long.

The Anna Anderluh Trio are led by the Austrian singer and keyboardist, who opened with a low vocal drone, moving into a song, with shades of throat-singing delivery. Anderluh's keys were small, with a select plug-in of effects, but she also played autoharp, bringing in a folk influence. Electronic chirps ranged around as overlays, as Anderluh sang in English and then gibberish, bass and drums entering, with metal clackers marking a shift to German language lines. Judith Schwarz was at the drumkit, but she was operating on a much less extroverted level than usual. Some of the songs were mainstream, while others moved further to the perimeter. There was a severe loss of momentum when a melodica appeared, but overall, Anderluh benefitted from a generally adventurous approach. Even so, this second night was a lulling before the closing storm.

The Natalia Kordiak Quintet is led by an improvising singer, although she still sits on a song-form for majority-time, rarely heading towards the completely free-form. There was the effect of a mainline jazz gig being heavily subverted by alternative scatting. Kordiak's timing and phrasing was always hitting 'correctly,' or at wayward angles, according to her mood. Her band of trumpet, piano, bass and drums also conveyed a jazz traditional stance, although Kordiak herself employed electronic embellishments, sometimes capturing her own voice, which was interfered with via effects, sliced and fragmented. The vocals were strong on rhythmic structure and repeats, prompting trumpet and then piano solos, adding further color. Kordiak had precise timing in her veering trajectory, in her angles of approach. She was inventive, resourceful and ever-changing, as the bass switched from acoustic to electric, the band operating with a melodic abstraction. Crackling trumpet joined a drum- chase, as Kordiak kept pushing closer to scat, but never quite becoming that conventional.

The Nils-Petter Molvær Trio provided one of the week's highlights, as perhaps expected. The laptopped trumpeter was joined by longtime percussionist Erland Dahlen, with his gigantically detailed set-up, and by bassist Jo Berger Myhre, empathy assured between the three. Molvær's set-length was finely-judged, producing a cinematic journey that sounded suite-like in its explorations, and in its curves and dips in dynamism. Dahlen's large, dangling bells are a crucial part of his sound, used sparingly, but with great sonic weight. Molvær deliberately dispersed his trumpet tendrils around the room, pursuing spatial awareness, as Myhre coaxed out a slow-strummed line, bells multiplying. The trumpet misted over, pompadour-ing its spread, then Dahlen kicked in tough, and the leader upped his surrounding spangle-effects, creating a thickly-harmonised billow. "Amed" closed up the set, softness and darkness pervading, tenderness lying underneath an extended percussion solo, before crumpling into a heavy modal expression to climax. May Molvær's next four years continue to be as vital as this debut showing in 2024...

Comments