Jazz Café POSK opens its autumn season with the inaugural POSK Festival of Jazz Voice on 4 and 5 October. It will feature a unique performance of an “Inspirations” programme by Norma Winstone “with songs that she seldom performs on stage, a selection of songs that, as the title indicates, have inspired her own career.” The festival features some of the finest vocalists on the British scene, and will also spotlight young Polish singers. Interview with Festival Director and Artistic Manager of Jazz Café POSK, Tomasz Furmanek by Bruce Lindsay.
Tomasz Furmanek describes the festival as “a labour of love,” the fruition of a plan he’s had in mind for some time. “Eventually, I decided to do it this year as the opening event of the autumn season. I also thought this would be a good year to start the festival because 2024 is the sixtieth anniversary of POSK [the Polish Social and Cultural Association], the organisation of which Jazz Café POSK is a small part. I probably started shaping the idea of a voice festival about a year or so ago.” The programme features three performances on Friday night, and four on Saturday, with ticket prices fixed at £15 for each night. Tomasz is grateful for the support that made this all possible: “I’d like to thank POSK and the Polish Cultural Institute, particularly Paulina Latham, for their support,” he says.
Tomasz books and promotes regular performances at Jazz Café POSK: this year’s events have included the Aga Zaryan Quartet, led by the singer he describes as “a very acclaimed and one of the most prominent vocalists in Poland.” “It’s no secret that I’m a big lover of jazz and especially jazz vocalists,” Tomasz explains, “There are so many jazz singers I’d love to present to the Jazz Café POSK audience. The British scene has so many incredible, outstanding, jazz vocalists.”
The festival will feature performers from across the jazz vocal spectrum, including established talents and younger, up-and-coming, acts. Emma Smith, Alice Zawadzki, Heidi Vogel, Rouhangeze and Sam Merrick will each headline their own sets. They will perform with leading instrumentalists including pianists Jamie Safir and John Turville, and bassist Tom Mason. (full listing below). “It was my idea to have a weekend of celebration of jazz singing in its many forms and shapes,” he says “I think it’s important to be intergenerational in the tradition of jazz. I believe it’s been that way since the beginning of jazz, with the younger learning from the older, but also finding common ground that transcends peoples’ ages and backgrounds.”
For Tomasz, one singer stands out: “My admiration for Norma Winstone is unbound. Norma is a goddess for me, a queen, a role model, you name it. I totally adore her as an artist, an incredible person. So, I didn’t have any doubt that Norma would be the most perfect singer to take part.” Norma Winstone has already performed at Jazz Café POSK on at least four occasions. For her festival appearance, with Nikki Iles on piano, Mark Lockheart on saxophones and Steve Watts on bass, Tomasz invited her to create her own set, a set she has named “Inspirations” and which Tomasz describes as “Norma’s bespoke curation for this night only.” It will include songs that she seldom performs on stage, a selection of songs that, as the title indicates, have inspired her own career. “I can maybe proudly say that it puts Jazz Café POSK on the map for programming unique and culturally important music,” Tomasz says with obvious enthusiasm (although he hopes this doesn’t make him sound too much of a boastful self-publicist).
While some performers, notably Winstone, represent experience, the festival opens by spotlighting young Polish singers at the beginning of their careers. Tomasz has selected seven UK-based vocalists for the “Polish Jazz Voices Spotlight” — Marta Mathea Radwan, Marta Gornitzka, Anita Łazińska, Marta Carillon, Agata Kubiak, Magdalena Supel and Małgorzata Janek — backed by John Crawford on piano, Jakub Cywiński on bass and Lester Ridout on drums.
“There are some very talented young Polish singers in the UK. I always want to present some of them in the club. It’s also my aim to help to integrate the fantastic British and Polish jazz scenes, create collaborations.” says Tomasz. “All seven of these singers have already achieved various levels of success in their own ways, and I have already invited some of them to headline their own shows at the café. The ‘Spotlight’ is to present them on the festival stage, giving them a platform to be heard by the British and Polish audiences who come to the club. I couldn’t choose just one or two, so I decided to invite seven, to introduce these artists in the context of a ‘spotlight’! Some of them usually perform original material, but in this show, they will perform standards: some will be Polish jazz standards, which will be interesting, but mostly they will be internationally-known jazz standards, presenting their interesting voices within the jazz context.”
Tomasz’s love of jazz voices, and his obvious commitment to the festival, bode well for the October weekend, and for the future. “If I could really book all of the singers who I love and admire, this festival would have to last a month,” says Tomasz. “My hope is to continue this festival every year, to develop it. Quality is vital, without compromises here — whoever is performing, I truly and deeply admire them.”
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The POSK Festival of Jazz Voice takes place on Friday 4 October and Saturday 5 October 2024 at Jazz Café POSK, 238-246 Kin Street, London W6 0RF. For more information go to www.jazzcafeposk.org
FULL PROGRAMME
Friday 4 October 2024:
Set 1: POLISH JAZZ VOICES SPOTLIGHT: Marta Mathea Radwan, Marta Gornitzka, Anita Łazińska, Marta Carillon, Agata Kubiak, Magdalena Supel and Małgorzata Janek with John Crawford, Jakub Cywiński, Lester Ridout.
Set 2: ALICE ZAWADZKI JAZZ TRIO: Alice Zawadzki; Bruno Heinen; Tom Mason
Set 3: NORMA WINSTONE QUARTET: “Inspirations…”: Norma Winstone; Nikki Iles; Mark Lockheart ; Steve Watts.
Saurday 5 October 2024
Set 1: ROUHANGEZE with Tomasz Bura (duo performance)
Set 2: SAM MERRICK with John Turville, Jakub Cywiński, Lester Ridout
Set 3: HEIDI VOGEL with John Turville, Jakub Cywiński, Lester Ridout
Set 4: EMMA SMITH QUARTET . Emma Smith, Jamie Safir; Joseph Lee; Luke Tomlinson
