ANDRZEJ KURYLEWICZ has died

[rostasi]

I've only found a Polish language obit,

but you can read this bio until an English language

obit is posted.

Also, here's a link to one of his LPs:

http://www.polishjazz.com/pjs/1.htm

ANDRZEJ KURYLEWICZ - composer, pianist, trumpet-player, trombonist.

Born in Lvov, 1932. His musical education began in the Music School (Szkoła Muzyczna) in Lvov

and in the Institute of Music (Instytut Muzyczny) in Gliwice. He went on to study

in the High School of Music (Wyższa Szkoła Muzyczna) in Kraków - piano under Henryk Sztompka,

composition under Stanisław Wiechowicz. He made his debut as the founder of the Polish Radio Jazz Band

(Zespół Jazzowy Polskiego Radia) in Kraków. He conducted the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Warsaw.

In 1969 he founded the Formation of Contemporary Music (Formacja Muzyki Współczesnej - strings,

brass and percussion), which he led till 1979. In 1967, in Warsaw’s Old Town, with his wife Wanda Warska

- a singer and painter – he opened "Piwnica Artystyczna Kurylewiczów" – a studio for the performance

of musical and literary forms, distinct and combined.

Andrzej Kurylewicz is one of the most outstanding personalities in contemporary Polish music.

He is a passionate artist, who has changed several times

the field of his interests and activities. He has given concerts - both as a conductor and instrumentalist -

throughout Europe, as well as South and North America. In 1965 he received

the Polish Radio and Television Award; in 1978, the Award of the City of Warsaw; in 1981, the Prix Italia;

in 1987, the Medal of the City of Warsaw. He has also received many prizes for his compositions

for film and theatre. In 1984 he took up the position of composer-in-residence of the city of Wilhelmshaven.

Throughout the late 80’s and early 90’s, he maintained a close association with the State University

in Kansas (USA). As a composer, he belongs - as he himself has put it – to the "post-avant-garde"

of the late 20th century. He has composed numerous pieces for symphonic orchestra, for chamber orchestra,

as well as many song-cycles, psalms for Latin texts, a "Missa Brevis" for the Roman Missal,

and a wide range of solo works, for piano, harpsichord, organ, flute, tuba, double-bass, and others.

As a pianist, Andrzej Kurylewicz values highly the music of Karol Szymanowski,

offering particularly outstanding interpretations of all twenty-two of that composer’s Mazurkas.

In his improvisations on the piano, he has been particularly innovative in combining

classical and contemporary music with jazz.

[king ubu]

sad news

can't find anything in english, either

[sidewinder]

The only LP I've seen from him is that Apollo Sound Library LP called 'Contemporary Music Formation'. The one with all the test tubes and stuff on the cover.

[mikeweil]

He was the first Polish jazz musician in my life I saw perform. It was on a German Jazz Festival evening in Frankfurt - he wasn't scheduled but had dropped by with his band on his way from Poland, and the festival director sneeked him in 'cause he knew him. Excellent impromptu set!

R.I.P.

[couw]

A magnificient player, definitely also on piano. Some of his stuff knocks me off my chair every time I play it.

RIP Mr Kurylewicz.

[brownie]

Sad news!

Have heard too little from him. Liked what I heard. Need to investigate his recorded output further!

[neveronfriday]

Very sad news.

He was an excellent musician and an innovative composer.

I saw him live three or four times and each time was a blast.

R.I.P.

[rostasi]

Short obit for our English-speaking friends:

* Famous Polish jazzman dies

* 13.04.2007

Andrzej Kurylewicz, the famous Polish jazz and avant-garde composer, pianist and trumpeter, has died at the age of 75.

Kurylewicz is considered one of the pioneers of jazz music in Poland during the Stalinist era of the 1950s.

He was even relegated from the Krakow Conservatory for promoting this then outlawed musical trend.

Andrzej Kurylewicz was the founder and leader of numerous jazz ensembles during the ‘Sixties. In 1969 he made his debut as a film music composer.

Throughout the following decade he concentrated on avant-garde composition with his famous String Quartet performing at the acclaimed Warsaw Autumn Festival of Contemporary music.

http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/dokument.aspx?iid=51000