KRZYSZTOF KOMEDA
Memory of Bach

Label: PowerBros
Catalogue No: PB157
Format: CD

Tracks:
1. Memory of Bach (K. Komeda) [07:03] 
2. Crazy Girl (K. Komeda) [12:46] 
3. II (Roman Two) (K. Komeda) [15:58] 
4. After Catastrophe (K. Komeda) [07:09] 

Recorded:
Track 1 - Recorded August 1956.
Track 2 - Recorded May 1964.
Track 3 - Recorded October 1963.
Track 4 - Recorded November 1967.

Performed by:
Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Jerzy Milian - vibraphone (1)
Jozef Stolarz - bass (1)
Jan Zylber - drums (1)
Tomasz Stanko - trumpet (2, 3)
Jan 'Ptaszyn' Wroblewski - tenor sax (2)
Roman Dylag - bass (2, 4)
Rune Carlsson - drums (2, 4)
Michal Urbaniak - tenor sax (3)
Maciej Suzin - bass (3)
Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums (3)

About:
MEMORY OF BACH 
This composition by Krzysztof Komeda and Jerzy Milian, based on an invention by Bach, was created by chance in April 1956 when members of Komeda’s sextet were rehearsing for their debut at the first Sopot Jazz Festival. It was Komeda’s first attempt at composition. The piece had its premiere in Sopot in August 1956, and the recording on this CD was made the following day, for the 4-minute film by Andrzej Munk which was included in ‘Film Chronicle’. This was the only time the piece was recorded – Komeda didn’t perform it in later years.
CRAZY GIRL 
Komeda dedicated this composition to his wife, Zofia. It was premiered at Jazz Jamboree in 1961, and in 1962 it was included in the soundtrack for Roman Polanski’s film ‘Knife in the Water’, with Bernt Rosengren from Sweden on saxophone. The recording on this CD was made at the ‘Montmartre’ jazz club in Copenhagen during Komeda’s Scandinavian tour in May 1964.
II (ROMAN TWO) 
This is one of Komeda’s earliest pieces, composed in Cracow in 1958, during his ‘Cracow period’. It’s one of the Komeda pieces most often played by other musicians. The recording on this CD was made at the Warsaw Jazz Jamboree in 1963.
AFTER THE CATASTROPHE 
This piece was written in Cologne, Germany in 1967, during the making of the record of jazz and poetry called ‘Meine Susse Europaische Heimat’. The version on this CD is the studio recording made for Polish Radio in November the same year. The first recording was a musical illustration of a poem with the same title by Czeslaw Milosz. Milosz was one of the poets banned in Poland in the 1960s, and writing music to his poetry required considerable political courage from Komeda. 
All text courtesy of © PowerBros and © Zofia Komeda