Polish Jazz - Freedom at Last
From catacombs to the free society - the Story of Polish Jazz

Chapter 6: Polish Jazz in 1990's

Milestones:

Yass and Milosc

Mozg

In November 1990, Poland held its second post-war free presidential elections and Solidarnosc leader and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa became the president of Poland. The new chapter - the democratic one - was open in history of Poland and continues.

At about same time, the whole new chapter in story of Polish Jazz began. It was jump started by band Milosc (Love), a band created in Trojmiasto (an aggregate of the three neighboring towns of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot) in April 1988, and soon became a leading theme of Polish Jazz of 1990s. Ryszard Tymon Tymanski (guitar) was the leader of Milosc. The band dropped the name "Jazz" when referring to its music, preferring to call it "yass" instead, referring in this way to the original roots of Jazz music. Yass was intended to be fusion of post punk, free Jazz, modern rock, surrealistic instrumental theatre and poetry. The lineup of Milosc included Tymanski, remarkably talented pianist Leszek Mozdzer, a more "conservative" saxophonists Maciej Sikala and more "freer" horn player Mikolaj Trzaska, and very talented drummer Jacek Olter. Although not always fully satisfying musically, Milosc was instrumental in the creation of a new stream in Polish Jazz.

The club Mozg (the Brain) in the city of Bydgoszcz, envisioned and created by two musicians and entrepreneurs Slawek Janicki and Jacek Majewski, established itself as a center of this new universe. Beside members of Milosc, Mozg soon attracted many most talented new musicians: Tomasz Gwincinski (guitar and drums), Mazzoll (clarinet), Janusz Zdunek (trumpet), Tomek Pawlicki (kb), Rafal Gorzycki (drums), Tomasz Hasse (bass guitar), and Polish alternative-punk superstar Kazik (vocal). Mozg"s leading bands included Kury, Loskot, Arhythmic Perfection, Trytony, Maestro Trytony, and Syfon.

Despite its rhetoric, the message of Yass, which had more to do with personalities of its leading figures them with artistic principles, remained an improvised music communication, based on the same doctrine and conventions essential to Jazz. Yass followed the steps of 1980s Young Power movement and incorporated itself into he main stream of Polish Jazz.

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The Origins  ‡  1918-1939  ‡  1940's-1950's  ‡  1960's  ‡  1970's  ‡  1980's  ‡  1990's  ‡  2000's