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Three years ago the festival gained a new face: at its basis there were such assumptions as the ordering of songs for young and established composers, the support of young musicians, inviting the biggest stars of jazz (and convince them to prepare special projects), building a strong international brand through the festival participation on international platforms and projects, organizing workshops with leading jazz musicians and creating unique designs that could be heard only on the festival.
Till now, the festival has hosted Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Kenny Wheeler and Gary Peacock. The songs were written by: John Surman, Terje Rypdal and Kenny Wheeler and by brilliant young Polish musicians – Piotr Damasiewicz and Nikola Kołodziejczyk.
Jazztopad Festival was also a prestigious group of five major European festivals in the project Take Five Europe (addressed to the most talented musicians of the younger generation). For three years, the festival has been also supporting the rising stars of jazz in the international platform JazzPlaysEurope.
This year’s edition is a natural continuation of the process that began three years ago.
The biggest concert event will be of course the concert of legendary Sonny Rollins. This fall, the giant of jazz will play only in four European cities! It is an honour that Jazztopad Wroclaw and the festival belong to this small group.
An eminent American pianist Fred Hersch is going to perform for the first time in Poland. He specially wrote new arrangements for jazz trio and chamber orchestra.
For the third time one can hear a jazz score JazzPlaysEurope laboratory work, which this year will work in Amsterdam. In Poland it will be represented by Michał Bryndal.
One can also see two very intimate evenings: long-term companion duo of Miles Davis – Dave Liebman with Richie Bairachem and an outstanding Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson with Jon Falt. Both concerts will be their only concerts in Europe.
Last weekend there will be a kind of marathon, held as part of the Culture Season of NRW (North Rhine and Westphalia) in Poland 2011/12. The project of 24 Run: what’s in the fridge?” will fill different places in the center of Wroclaw for 24 hours with the jazz from Germany and Poland. Its culmination there will be three concerts in Wroclaw Philharmonic: Invisible Change, Maciej Obara Quartet and the final premiere of the composition of Uri Caine for Lutosławski Quartet.
Source: Jazztopad
The square in front of the city hall is adorned with a 10 meter pillory made of sandstone. This is an accurate copy of the pillory, which had been standing in this place since 1492, but was destroyed in February 1945 and was finally demolished in April 1947. In the thirteenth century the eastern wall of the city hall square was surrounded by a ditch and a wattle fence, where the court cases took place. At the beginning of the fourteenth century it was covered with fine brick and stone paving and a wooden pillory was set. The possession of pillory in Wroclaw was a reason for pride, for the city was testified to grant legal privileges, which let the use of punishment of sword. The same was true with the presence of the executioner and the possession of the gallows. They added prestige to the city, paid attention to the respect of liberties and laws. The first gallows in Wroclaw were in 1370 on site of contemporary Pułaskiego street, the other before Świdnicka gate, and the third on the market about 1515, opposite the house number 19 called “Under the old gallows.”
In the mid-fourteenth century the town hall square was rebuilt and the place of judicial Wójtowską Hall was erected, where a mayor and eleven jurors were working. In 1492 under the windows of the hall, a three-step pedestal, new, stone pillory was built in the workshop of Preusse’a and Gauskego. Paul Preusse was a Saxon architect, stone mason and bricklayer, who, thanks to the identified club character, could be attributed to many works and architectural details including the southern facade and interior of the nave of Wroclaw Town Hall.
The pillory was made of sandstone and had the shape of the pole maintenance trapeziums openwork pentagonal lantern, which passed above the pyramid on the edges of the finished decorated figure. It had seventy centimeters and presented a headman, also known as Roland with a sword and a bunch of rods. On the top there was a metal wind flag with an additionally cut “W”. Some pillar pillory had metal rings to which convicts were tied.
The last public execution in the pillory was probably in the late eighteenth century and the last sentence of flogging in the late nineteenth century. In 1848all the metal parts, brackets and chains for the convicts, were removed, and in 1852 it was decided to destroy the pillory, which was not allowed by Frederick William IV of Hohenzollern a Prussian ruler who had great passion for architecture, art and history.
Between 1947 and 1985 Wroclaw market did not havethe distinctive pillory at the intersection of Oławska and Świdnicka streets. A case of reconstruction of the pillory returned on various occasions. In the 80s a lot of authorities, institutions and media were involved in it. While working at the Laboratory for Conservation of Monuments the creators of the present pillory took into consideration sketches, photographs and drawings of the pillory from 1925. The official unveiling of the pillory took place on 30 December 1985.
Nowadays the pillory is the most popular meeting place for Wroclaw’s residence.
Source: tuwroclaw.com
Stacey Kent is one of the most famous vocalists who has interesting timbre of voice and who sings jazz. With the release of the first solo album “Close Your Eyes” in 1997 critics announced the new jazz star with clear, captivating voice and with the skills of phrasing and unique style that joined sensitivity and sophistication. Her covers of standard songs “Great American Songbook”, Brazilian repertoire and songs of Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Antonio Carlos Jobim all have the characteristic modern contribution made by Stacey Kent.
Real success came with the release of her sixth album “Breakfast On The Morning Tram” (under the name Blue Note label), Autumn 2007, which was sold worldwide in 300 000 copies. France was a special place for Stacey Kent: the sale of her album – 150 000 copies – broke the record. She also went on a tour for which tickets were completely sold out. Moreover, in the spring of 2009 she was awarded an order – the Ordre National des Arts et des Lettres – by the French minister of culture. It was already visible on the album that she loved France as she included few songs from the French repertoire there: “Samba Saravah” and two covers by Serge Gainsbourg.
On the last album “Raconte-moi” Stacey came back to the classics of French music, rediscovering such music artists as Barbara, Paul Misraki, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador, Michel Jonah, Keren Ann and Benjamin Biolay. In addition there are original works of young talented musicians there: Claire Denamur, Pierre-Dominique Emilie Burgaud and Satta, whose debut single is the song “La Vénus du Mélo”.
Time: 24.10.2011 8 p.m.
Place: Sala Koncertowa Radia Wrocław
Source: Ethno Jazz Festival
Enjoy Wroclaw - Local tips for tourists 