Adam Pieronczyk and Leszek Mozdzer - 19-9-1999

Leszek Mozdzer
Adam Pieronczyk
19 | 9 | 1999

There is God, Demiurge, The Craftsman, Something. If one has any doubts listen up to this record. I do know one thing - this SOMETHING was there on September 19, 1999 in Ukraine. In Vinnitsa. On the stage. Somewhere between those two musicians. Or inside one of them. (Pawel Baranowski)

Label: GOWI Records, Poland (2000)
Catalogue No: CDG 57
Format: CD

Tracks:

1. Song Of The Sunken Town [19:32]
2. Biali [15:26]
3. Level 700 [09:49]
4. Tell Me Anything About Your Life, Mr. Buk! [13:42]
5. For Walter [11:45]

Performed by:

Leszek Mozdzer - acoustic piano
Adam Pieronczyk - tenor and soprano saxophones, zoucca


Recorded:

Recorded live in Vinnitsa, Ukraine on September 19, 1999

Leszek Mozdzer (pronounced Mozhdzher) is one of the greatest keyboard talents on the Polish music scene today. Born in 1971, he has been playing the piano since he was five. He graduated from the Stanislaw Moniuszko Conservatory in Gdansk in 1996, having developed his interest in jazz at the age of 18 at high school. He started his jazz career by joining the band of clarinet player Emil Kowalski, but he considers that his true development began with the Milosc Band in 1991. A year later, he received an individual citation from the Jazz Junior ‘92 International Competition in Krakow, followed immediately by many other prizes, including the Krzysztof Komeda Prize 1992 from the Polish Culture Foundation, the First Prize of the International Jazz Improvisation Competition in Katowice in 1994, the Mateusz Swiecicki Prize from Polish Radio 3, the Mayor of Gdansk’s medal for outstanding artistic achievements, and the Fryderyk Prize for Jazz Musician of 1998, as well as many citations in the magazine Jazz Forum, including being nominated six times as Best Pianist between 1993 and 1998.

During the six years in which Mozdzer led Milosc, it became the most popular jazz group in Poland. He recorded six albums with the group, including two with the American trumpeter, Lester Bowie. At the same time, he was a star attraction of the Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet. Mozdzer has performed with many outstanding Polish jazz musicians, including Tomasz Stanko (Farewell to Mary), Janusz Muniak (One and Four), Michael Urbaniak ( Live in Holy City), and Piotr Wojtasik (Lonely Town, Quest). He has also collaborated with such international stars as Arthur Blythe, Buster Williams, Billy Harper, Joe Lovano and Archie Shepp. Mozdzer has recorded 30 CDs, including four under his own name, the best known of which is Chopin Impressions.

Leszek Mozdzer has given concerts in Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, USA, Hungary and France. At the prestigious Piano Festival in Chartres, his jazz interpretations of Chopin’s pieces received a standing ovation.

Since 1992 he has been a regular collaborator with Zbigniew Preisner, taking part in the recording of many of the composer’s film scores. 10 Easy Pieces for Piano, a suite of piano improvisations, was specially written by Preisner for Mozdzer.

(L. Mozdzer's bio courtesy of EMI Classics)

**************

Adam Pieronczyk is a Polish tenor/soprano/alto/zoucra player.
As a leader and member of numerous groups and projects Pieronczyk:
- won the top position in the annual "Jazz Forum" magazine ranking as The New Hope Of Polish Jazz (1997),
- was nominated for the Polish Music Award "Fryderyk" as The Best Jazz Artist Of The Year (1997,1998),
- has been given the prize of the Musician Union in Poland as The Best Artist Of The Year (1999),
- was voted in the main Polish daily newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza" one of the most influential jazz musicians in Poland
("Five main jazz musicians for the XXI century in Poland" / 2000), - has been given the jazzfestival prize of Bielsko-Biala
Angel Of Jazz (2003),
- won the top position in the annual Jazz Forum magazine ranking as The Best Soprano Saxophonist Of The Year (2003-2006),

Pieronczyk's records have been also noticed as remarkable productions:
- “Digivooco” (Adam Pieronczyk Digivooco feat. Gary Thomas) was voted in the jazz forum magazine ranking Album of the Year (2001),
- "Few Minutes In The Space" ( Adam Pieronczyk Trio ) was nominated for the Polish Music Award "Fryderyk" as The Best Jazz CD Of The Year (1997),
- "Live In Sofia" ( Duo with Polish piano player Leszek Mozdzer ) was voted in the "Jazz Forum" magazine ranking Album of The Year (1998) and nominated for the Polish Music Award "Fryderyk" as The Best Jazz CD Of The Year (1998).


What the critics say

Adam Pieronczyk is Poland's most interesting saxophonist today.
(Gazeta Wyborcza)

This 33-year-old saxophonist is one of the jazzmen currently defining the shape of Polish jazz in the 21st Century.
(Newsweek)

Pieronczyk is an outstanding Polish jazz artist who is reaching a progressively wider circle of jazz fans.
(Audio)

Adam Pieronczyk is a discovery, for he has a lovely warm tone and a clever imagination, but he can also blow for the borders.
(Cadence NY)

Adam Pieronczyk is among the very finest of the Polish jazz scene. He is successful like few others in combining instrumental virtuosity, precision, and intellectual refinement with an emotionality that borders on exhibitionism. He burns in his improvisations, and the listener burns with him.
(Gazeta Wyborcza)

new hope of Polish jazz;
(Berliner Morgenpost)

Pieronczyk's work brings a new quality to Polish jazz.
(HiFi)

It's difficult to categorize Pieronczyk, or to compare him with anybody. This is a great musician.
(Jazz Forum)

For several years now, Adam Pieronczyk has been among the most important and creative artists on the Polish jazz scene.
(Gazeta Wyborcza)

ray of hope on the East European jazz scene.
(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Adam Pieronczyk is the brightest point of jazz saxophone in Poland.
(HiFi)

Pieronczyk's music is virtuosic, thought out, refined, and yet not calculated and cold. His improvisations carry a powerful dose of intensity, yet are profound and charged with emotional fire.
(Gazeta Wyborcza)

Adam Pieronczyk is a technically brilliant, spirited saxophone player - even a little "cooler" than some of the masters of this instrument.
(Frankfurter Allgemeine)

(Pieronczyk's info courtesy of AdamPieronczyk.com)