Today Polish jazz pianist, Pawel Kaczmarczyk celebrates his 30 birthday. Pawel was born in Krakow of Feb 8, 1984. By the time he was in high school Pawel and his band, began to participate in jazz festivals, winning first prizes and awards and he hasn’t stopped since!

In 2001 he founded the KBD trio with Michael Barański and Paul Dobrowolski. Were inspired music in the style of Bill Evans , Herbie Hancock andWayne Shorter . A year later, the trio took first place at the 26th International Competition for Young and Debuting Jazz “Jazz Juniors”, and he was recognized as the best instrumentalist of the competition. Trio won the Grand Prix at the 40th Wroclaw Jazz Festival Jazz on the Oder in the same year. 

Pawel has become one of the most renowned pianists of the younger generation od European jazz artists.and is known for  his virtuosity, creativity and extremely mature technique. Here’s a partial list of the awards that he has garnered…

• 2002 – 1st place at the 26th “Jazz Juniors” International Competition for Young and Debuting Jazz Groups (with Kaczmarczyk/Jaros/Dobrowolski Trio)
• 2002 –  the title of Best Instrumentalist at Poland’s Jazz Juniors competition
• 2004 – Grand Prix at the 40th “Jazz on the Oder” Jazz Festival in Wroclaw (with KBD Trio)
• 2004 – several medals at the “Kultursalen Horbiger” competition in Vienna (with Kaczmarczyk/Nowicki/Traczyk/Dobrowolski Quartet)
• 2004 – “Key to a Career” prize at the “Pomeranian Jazz Autumn” festival
• 2006 – 1st place at the “JUNIOR JAZZ 2006” International Competition for Jazz Groups in Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic)
• Album of The Year (2007) in Jazz Forum Magazine’s “Jazz Top” readers’ poll (for “Audiofeeling”)
• Fryderyk (Nomination) (2008) (for “The Songs From A New Place” by Rafal Sarnecki)
• Pianist of The Year (2009) in Jazz Forum Magazine’s “Jazz Top” readers’ poll
• Album of The Year (2009) in Jazz Forum Magazine’s “Jazz Top” readers’ poll (for “Complexity in Simplicity”)
• “Melomani” Jazz Society’s Jazz Oscars Grand Prix in the Artist of The Year 2009 category
• “Melomani” Jazz Society’s Jazz Oscars Grand Prix in the Album of The Year 2009 category (for “Complexity in Simplicity”)
• Fryderyk (Nomination) – the Jazz Musician of the Year 2009

I am still working my way through the 2009 release from Pawel Kaczmarczyk Audiofeeling Band Simplicity in Complexity and it is really good!! The Chicago Tribune writes….

To hear Kaczmarczyk dig deeply into the keys is to understand what full-bodied, wholly committed jazz pianism is all about

Here’s the playing “Get More Chicks” at the Garana Jazz Festival So Happy Birthday, Pawel!! Check out his music at….

Pawel’s Website: http://www.pawelkaczmarczyk.com/en#/news/index
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/dilberg1?feature=watch
Wikipedia: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paweł_Kaczmarczyk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paweł-Kaczmarczyk-Audiofeeling-Band/10150151196775217

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So on Sunday while I was exploring the music and legacy of Lester Young, I also listened to the music of a new musician, Ben Paterson. His Trio’s new album Essential Elements is currently,number 4 on the Roots Music Reports Jazz Chart. On Sunday I put the album on while I was reading and I really didn’t notice the album as the first two songs went by, but then the songs and Paterson’s piano playing got stronger and stronger and by the end of the album I was a fan! I listened to the album again tonight and was more impressed the second time around! Now I’m listening to his second release Blues for Oscar, which is pretty good, too. Now, I only have to go and listen to his first album Breathing Spaces! From his biography at his website:

Originally from Philadelphia, Ben spent his younger years studying both classical and jazz music before moving to the great city of Chicago. There he spent years performing and working with the best musicians in town, absorbing the unique blend of Jazz and Blues that can only be found in the Windy City. Now, moving to New York, Ben is poised to bring his unique talents and style to a wider audience, combining hard-swinging grooves and melodic improvisation with an impeccable touch.Full biography

On Essential Elements Paterson covers songs from Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Keith Jarrett and Ray Charles and others, in addition to five original compositions. As I listen I think I like some of the originals the best, particularly “Around the Block”. Joining Paterson on the album are two Paterson’s favorite Chicago-based musicians: Josh Ramos on bass, and Jon Deitemyer on drums.

Here’s what some others are saying about Ben Patersn’s music…..

“On first listen, you can hear why so many people on the Chicago jazz scene are singing Paterson’s praises. His playing is always where it needs to be: one minute sensitive and relaxed, at another moment, explosive and muscular, and always musical.”
–Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz Magazine

“An inspired repertoire… some creative arrangements and reworkings… the first-rate musicianship and the joyful spirit are other reasons why Breathing Space is heartily recommended to fans of piano trios.”
–Scott Yanow, All Music Guide (4 out of 5 stars)

“…a monster on the Hammond B3.”
–Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader

I particularly like that last quote!  From his website…

….Ben’s own organ group blends hard swinging jazz chops with blues and funk influences, creating a sound that is hard not to like, and impossible to ignore.  This group recently performed at the 2013 Chicago Jazz Fest, receiving a standing ovation,

….Also keep an eye out for his debut Organ record scheduled for release in Summer of 2014.

I think I will keep an eye out for that album….. But for now let’s go “into the night”with  “On the Move”  from Ben’s album Blues for Oscar……

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So on this date in 1978….I was married for three years and was a year  away from the start of several turbulent years, and jazz pianist Kekko Fornarelli was born……from Wikipedia:

Kekko Fornarelli is a pianist and a composer. He was born in Bari, Italy in 1978. He began learning classical piano at the age of three, first through private tuition and later at the Conservatorio Piccinni in Bari.

Fornarelli’s interest in jazz music began at the age of 18. From there on, he has immersed himself in jazz, which has led him to travel worldwide.

He has recorded three albums, Circular Thought in 2005, A French Man in New York (2008), inspired by French pianist Michel Petrucciani in the three years he spent in France.
Room of mirrors was released in 2011 by Auand sound. Alison Bentley writes “I can’t stop listening to the CD: a fusion of Romantic classical music, modern jazz and 21st century dance rhythms, played with Italian brio from the heart.”^[1]

and at All About Jazz I read

Kekko Fornarelli is one of the most widely appreciated young pianists internationally. His unique ways of balancing an endless research with universal usability, and his ability to draw the profanes up to that foreign thing called jazz makes him one of the most eclectic and pervasive artists in the current international music scene. His unique style is characterized by its attempt to create music to observe, more than just to listen to. A way to tell stories, emotions and situations……

Then I went to YouTube to check out Kekko’s music and watched and listened to the following……. 

So after reading and listening,I’d like to wish Kekko a Happy Birthday and I am putting Room of Mirrors on the iPhone for some listening tonight. Why don’t you join me and then let me know what you think???

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So I came home tonight from being outside all day doing a percolation test in Howell Township, all ready to write about the albums that I listened to on the way to, and from the site, and then……

I was researching the album  Ravens & Lullabies from Gordon Giltrap and Oliver Wakeman. As part of the research,  I went to Oliver’s page on Spotify and found a great album The 3 Ages of Magick-  wait Oliver Wakeman and Steve Howe?? The light bulb goes off over the dim old man’s head…….and at AllMusic I read this about the album……

It seems this album has been tailored for fans of Yes and particularly of their colorful keyboardist, Rick Wakeman. The latter’s son, Oliver, is at the helm of this project, which shares thematic similarities with dad’s Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Granted, there is something unfair about comparing Oliver Wakeman’s music with his father’s, but who could do otherwise? Everything he knows about music he learned from his father. He plays the piano, the organ, even the mini-Moog like him, using the same kind of phrasing and conveying the same conception of romanticism. And the fact that he recruited guitarist Steve Howe to grace half of the tracks on The 3 Ages of Magick will make any Yes fan feel at home.

So here’s YouTube Video for “The Enchanter” keyboard’s by Oliver (son of Rick) Wakeman and guitar by Steve Howe…..

So here is the video,  you can go “into the night” with the great “Road Song”, while I check out the two guys in the middle, and think about which albums from the guys on the ends, I want to listen to tomorrow!! So maybe you’ll read about Ravens & Lullabies and Rubidium by Mashine later or maybe I’ll just fall asleep while reading Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass, who knows….not even The Shadow….

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