Our three-day musical feast, with concerts by stars from all over the world, came to its close with a performance by Maciej Kitajewski Trio featuring Slovenian sax player Jure Pukl, and a solo concert by Canadian saxophonist Seamus Blake.
Maciej Kitajewski Trio was founded by a young bassist whose recent victory in the Jazz Phonographic Debut programme of the Institute of Music and Dance resulted in the release of their debut album. The trio consists, apart from its leader, of two award-winning Polish musicians, pianist Franciszek Raczkowski and drummer Szymon Madej. On the last day of the Festival, they performed with a guest star, one of Slovenia’s most acclaimed saxophonists, Jure Pukl. This former pupil of Joe Lovano, now internationally recognised, performed compositions by Maciej Kitajewski with the Polish trio in such a manner that the music, unfolding in a natural, unaffected fashion, seemed designed for a quartet from the start. The young Poles’ encounter with their more experienced colleague was based on mutual respect, dialogue, and the pleasure of joint music-making.
As on the Festival’s previous day, the audience at Cricoteka attended a solo concert, this time featuring, among others, the tenor saxophone as the lead instrument. Canadian artist Seamus Blake made use, apart from the acoustic sound, also of a harmoniser and a beat-generating computer. His performance began and ended with sax playing with live electronics, while in the central part he took up the harmoniser to juggle with sounds at will. His concert was thus an encounter not only with improvisation, but also with ambient and club music, energising the audience and making them jump from their seats.