LUKAS ORAVEC QUARTET (PL/SK/CZ) FEAT. WAYNE ESCOFFERY (US)

Lukas Oravec (SK)  – trumpet
Wayne Escoffery (US) – sax
Piotr Wyleżoł – piano
Tomas Baros (CZ) – double bass
Patryk Dobosz – drums

tickets: 35/40 pln

The ‘Lukáš Oravec Quartet’ was established in early 2012, their quality immediately attracting the attention of jazz enthusiasts.

The band played many club gigs and at many festivals all over Europe.

The Quartet won the highest prize “Young Faces of Slovak Jazz” and also “prize for interpretation performance” for the leader of the band. In 2013 they released a debut album “Introducing Lukáš Oravec Quartet”, which won the prize ESPRIT 2013 for the best Slovak album of the year.

The second album called ‘Piotrology’ was released in 2015 and features the US saxophone player Vincent Herring.

“Lukas Oravec is a wonderful young trumpet player who plays and writes with lots of fire and creativity. His music has a distinctive sound as does his playing. He and the musicians Lukas surrounds himself with are a force to be reckoned with. I think you will enjoy this wonderful music as well as hearing the band play live.”

Bob Mintzer about the new album Piotrology.

LUKAS ORAVEC

Lukáš Oravec is Slovak jazz trumpeter and composer. He has unique ability for improvisation and follows the path of jazz trumpet greats led by Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell and Woody Shaw. In 2014 he was awarded ESPRIT for the best jazz album of the year. His amazing talent has led to many collaborations with leading national and international musicians such as; Rick Margitza, Bob Mintzer, Kálmán Olah, Vincent Herring, Miroslav Vitous, Pavel Wlosok, Peter Erskine and Benito Gonzalez among others. He is a member of the ‘Gustav Brom Big Band’ and ‘Big Band Matthew Jakabčic’.

http://www.lukasoravec.com/

WAYNE ESCOFFERY (US)

Wayne Escoffery is a jazz saxophonist operating on the New York scene. One of the most outstanding figures of the instrument and of his generation. He is known for his co-operation with Carl Allen, Monty Alexander, Eric Reed and ‘Charles Mingus Big Band’ with whom he won a Grammy Award in 2010. He has been a member of ‘Tom Harrell Quintet’ since 2006. In 2014 he won Downbeat prize as Rising Star in the category tenor saxophonist.

http://www.escofferymusic.com/

PIOTR WYLEŻOŁ

Piotr Wyleżoł – polish pianist and composer.

Born December 6^th, 1976. As a child, he was already winning awards at national piano competitions in Poland and playing concerts with a classical repertoire. At 10 and 11 years old, he performed Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rybnik, Poland.

In 1989, he completed the Karol and Antoni Szafranków Public Primary School of Music in Rybnik, in the piano class of Romana Fritzowa, and graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Public Secondary School of Music in Katowice in 1995, in the piano class of Irena Kryszczukajtis. In 2000, he received his diploma from the Katowice Academy of Music, where he studied piano under Wojciech Niedziela in the Department of Jazz and Popular Music.

He began his jazz performing career while still studying in Katowice, in groups led by Janusz Muniak, Jarek Śmietana and Marek Bałata, among others. As a student, he was also a laureate of numerous jazz competitions and festivals: Jazz Juniors in Krakow (1^st prize), the Jazz Standards Festival in Siedlce (1^st prize), the Pomeranian Jazz Autumn’s “Key to a Career” and Jazz on the Oder in Wrocław (individual award for best instrumentalist),  and the International Jazz Improvisation Competition in Katowice.

Piotr Wyleżoł has led his own trio since beginning his activity as an artist. In 2001 his first CD as a leader was released, titled “Yearning” and recorded with Adam Kowalewski on bass, and Łukasz Żyta on drums. Even then, the music press was generous in its praise: “This is one of the most interesting debut albums to come out in some time. A trio of young Polish musicians has created a musical atmosphere on this CD which is on a par with some of the finest work in this genre.” (Jazz Forum, November 2001). In 2006 his second CD, “Piano Trio” (with Michał Barański on bass and Łukasz Żyta on drums) was released, and in 2009 the renowned label Fresh Sound Records released his third and latest project, “Children’s Episodes”. This CD was issued on that label’s New Talent series, which includes names like Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Chris Cheek, among others. It’s worth mentioning that Piotr Wyleżoł is the first Polish musician ever to have been included by Fresh Sound in this distinguished circle of musicians. “Children’s Episodes” was also nominated for a Fryderyk Award (Poland’s equivalent of a Grammy Award), in the Jazz Album of The Year category. Besides the trio studio albums, his discography also includes two live recordings as a leader. The first, “Quintet Live”, was released in 2010 and included guest musicians Adam Pierończyk on sax, and David Doruzka on guitar, while the second – titled “DuoDram” – is a piano duo concert with Sławek Jaskułke, recorded at the “Jazz in Gdynia” festival.

In the course of his presence on the professional jazz stage thus far, he has had occasion to work with a number of its leading figures, including: Gary Bartz, Billy Hart, Nigel Kennedy, Steve Logan, Monty Waters, Bennie Maupin, Janis Siegel, Ed Schuller, Antymos Apostolis, Piotr Baron, Andrzej Cudzich, Urszula Dudziak, Kazimierz Jonkisz, Grzegorz Nagórski, Adam Pierończyk, Tomasz Szukalski, Tomasz Stańko, Mika Urbaniak, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, and others. He has worked regularly with Nigel Kennedy since 2005, taking part in the violinist’s own projects as well as performing classical concerts with him, playing harpsichord in a repertoire of Bach and Vivaldi.

Piotr Wyleżoł has performed at numerous concerts and festivals throughout Poland, as well as in several dozen various countries of the world. Besides his own CDs recorded as a leader and co-leader, he has participated in a significant number of recordings by other artists, and the number is constantly growing. He has also been teaching piano at the Krakow Academy of Music’s Jazz and Modern Music Department since 2007.

http://www.piotrwylezol.com/