Leszek Możdżer Komeda Album muzyczny - utwory, teksty piosenek, teledyski

International jazz as we know it would be missing something were it not for the influences coming out of Poland. It was musicians like Krzysztof Komeda who confidently ‘translated’ the American sound into their own, European-defined vocabulary. In doing so they captivated not only their homeland’s jazz scene but also served as a great source of inspiration for many other musicians worldwide.

Leszek Możdżer is regarded as the most important discovery in young Polish jazz. The classically trained pianist was born in 1971 and didn’t discover jazz until he was 18 years-old, but he quickly made a name for himself and is today celebrated like a pop star in his homeland. From 1994 until the present day he has been voted, almost without exception, the best pianist in the country by the Polish magazine Jazzforum. He has also distinguished himself internationally, particularly with Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson, and has performed alongside with jazz icons such as Pat Metheny, Lester Bowie and Archie Shepp. Możdżer’s ACT debut solo recording Komeda is an homage to the Polish national hero - among other achievements, the jazz pianist and film music composer, who died in 1969 at the age of just 38, is famed for scoring the soundtracks for almost all of Roman Polanski’s films. Możdżer combines his pioneering style of bridging the gaps between classical music and jazz with his experience of performing film music for 20th Century Fox, and proves himself to be an faithful and empathetic interpreter of the music of Krzysztof Komeda. Whether revealing his romantic spiritual kinship on Ballad For Bernt or his dark side with Komeda’s most well known soundtrack Rosemary's Baby, or when revelling in an offbeat rhythm and jazz harmony on Crazy Girl - the masterpieces created here go far beyond any pigeonholing or conventional manner of thinking.

Once again Możdżer shows himself to be the great romantic amongst contemporary European jazz pianists. He founded his reputation with improvisations on themes from Frederic Chopin and since then his sparkling music, steeped in melody and unrivalled with regard to his technique, clings to themes filled with lyrical emotion.

Możdżer also demonstrates his exceptional improvisational abilities, drawing particularly on a classic canon with regard to chromaticism, harmony and the “ornamentation” of the music.

If jazz is today again recognised as ‘the second classical music’, it is because of artists like Leszek Możdżer. Komeda is impressive evidence of this - a musical romance for jazz fans as well as lovers of classical music.