Born: April 8, 1931, Poznan (Poland)
Died: April 23, 1969, Warsaw (Poland)
Summary. As a jazz musician, he exerted crucial influence on creating an original style, often described as the Polish school of jazz, which subsequently influenced the Polish jazz scene's development after his death. Since 1995, there is Komeda Jazz Festival, during which International Composers� Competition takes place whose goal is to promote young artists. Komeda was a master of a poetic atmosphere and knew how to conquer audiences better than most jazzmen did. It is impossible not to recognize his music: it has a unique sound. His album Astigmatic (1965) is acknowledged as his masterpiece.
Early days. He took piano lessons since his childhood. When he was eight years old he started studying music at the Poznan conservatory. During the war and later, until 1950 he continued the music studies. He went to a secondary school (�gimnazjum�) at Ostrow Wielkopolski and there he met Witold Kujawski, who was already a well known swinging bass-player. After graduating from the �gimnazjum� in 1950, he chose to become an ear, nose and throat physician. He got interested in entertainment and dance music before starting his studies. It was Kujawski who acquainted Komeda-Trzcinski with jazz, and took him to Cracow. The romantic period of Polish jazz, called the catacombs, had its day in the spotlight; concert publicity did not exist then. Jam-sessions, in which participated such famous musicians as Matuszkiewicz, Borowiec, Walasek and Kujawski himself, took place in the legendary, small, Witold�s apartment in Cracow. The fascination with jazz and the friendship with famous musicians strengthened the connections of Trzcinski with music, even though he was an MD by profession. He worked for some time with the first, postwar, pioneer Polish jazz band group called Melomani which mainstays were Matuszkiewicz, Trzaskowski and Kujawski. Later on, he played with various pop groups from Poznan. One of them was Grzewinski�s group, which soon transformed into dixieland band. Trzcinski appeared with Grzewinski on the I Jazz Festival in Sopot during August 1956, but he achieved success performing with saxophonist Ptaszyn Wroblewski and vibraphonist Milian. The reason for that was simple: dixieland did not meet Trzcinski�s expectations at the time. He was most fascinated with modern jazz. Thanks to this passion, the Komeda Sextet was created. Krzysztof Trzcinski used the stage name 'Komeda' for the first time when he worked at a laryngological clinic, and wanted to conceal his interest in jazz from co-workers. Jazz was beginning its struggle for respectability with the communist authorities in the era of 'the thaw'; it was regarded as a cheap suspicious music from night clubs. The Komeda Sextet became the first Polish jazz group playing modern jazz, and its pioneering performances opened the way for jazz in Poland. He played jazz that related to European traditions and which was the synthesis of two most popular groups at those times: The Modern Jazz Quartet and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. During thirteen years that passed after the I Sopot Jazz Festival, Komeda�s artistic personality became more mature, crystallized and lyrically poetic. He excelled at creating a poetic atmosphere, and knew better than many others how to reach wide audiences. His music has an unmistakable style and its own, unique tone.
Into the 1960s. During the period 1956 � 1962, Komeda with his group took part in other domestic festivals always preparing very ambitious programs. Those were also the years of first foreign successes: in Moscow, Grenoble and Paris. The interesting show was created at that time; it was called "Jazz and Poetry" and shown on Jazz Jamboree �60, and later in Warsaw Philharmonic. Komeda also started composing film music. Scores for the films of Roman Polanski such as Knife in the Water (1962), of Andrzej Wajda such as Innocent Sorcerers (1960), and of Janusz Morgerstern Good Bye (1960), Till Tomorrow were created. The period, which in Komeda�s artistic biography can be called the period of growing up and improving his own music language, was crowned with "Ballet Etudes" performed on Jazz Jamboree �62. Although the reaction of domestic critics for the Etudes was rather cold, it opened the door of Europe for Komeda. He visited Scandinavia for the first time in spring 1960, and he came back there since then every year. All of his performances at the �Gyllene Cirkeln� (Golden Circle) in Stockholm and at the 'Jazzhus Montmartre' Club in Copenhagen, where the most famous celebrities of American jazz performed, turned out to be a real success. Metronome, the Swedish record company recorded his music played by an international quintet: Botschinsky (trumpet), "Ptaszyn" Wroblewski (tenor saxophone), Komeda (piano), Dylag (stage name: Gucio; contrabass) and Carlsson (percussion). The famous Danish director Hennig Carlsen ordered music to his movies: Hvad Med Os, Kattorna, and Sult. After successes in Scandinavia, came next successes: jazz festivals in Prague, Blend, Koenigsberg; tour of Bulgaria and both West and East Germany. The Komeda Quartet ( Stanko (trumpet), Dylag (bass), Carlsson (percussion), and Namyslowski (saxophone)) recorded in May 1967 �Lirik und Jazz� for the West Germany record company Electrola. Komeda stayed in Los Angeles in 1968 where he composed film music for Roman Polański�s Rosemary�s Baby and Kulik�s The Riot. In December 1968, in Los Angeles, Komeda had a tragic accident which led to a haematoma of the brain. There are various accounts of what happened: car accident in the autumn of 1968, being pushed off an escarpment by writer Marek Hlasko during a drinking party. After having been transported to Poland, he died as a result of wrong treatment of haematoma. Roman Polanski mentions in his memories that as a result of friendly rough and tumble with Marek Hlasko, Komeda fell down and suffered head injuries. He is buried in Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw.
Selected discography I Sopot Jazz Festival 1956 (Muza); Astigmatic (1966 - Muza); Muzyka Krzysztofa Komedy vol. 1-4 (1974 - Muza); The Complete Recordings of Krzysztof Komeda vol. 1-22 (Polonia Records)
Selected filmography (composer): Gros et le maigre, Le (1961) aka The Fat and the Lean; Ssaki (1962) aka Mammals (USA); N�z w wodzie (1962) aka Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski); Hvad med os? (1963) aka Epilogue; Plus belles escroqueries du monde, Les (1964)(segment "La Rivi�re des Diamants") aka World's Greatest Swindles; Kattorna (1965) aka The Cats (USA); Cul-de-sac (1966) (Roman Polanski); Sult (1966) aka Hunger; The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) (Roman Polanski); D�part, Le (1967); M�nniskor m�ts och ljuv musik uppst�r i hj�rtat (1967) aka People Mee; Rosemary's Baby (1968) (Roman Polanski); Riot(movie) (1969);H�r, var der ikke en som lo? (1978) aka Did Somebody Laugh?;Lodz plynie dalej (2004).
Sources:
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Krzysztof Komeda " licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
Wikipedia
Other sources:
last.fm (fragments of Komeda's music)
IMdB (filmography)
Krzysztof Komeda site (fragments of Komeda's music)
Krzysztof Komeda homepage
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