The Adam Mickiewicz Institute has announced a second series of seven episodes of its acclaimed Rebel Spirits podcasts highlighting the strength and variety of Polish jazz.
The first episode of the new series will launch on Wednesday 24 November and will feature Marcin Masecki talking about his album Polonezy (2013).
Building on the impact made by the first series’ journey through the lives and recordings of the pioneering creators of Poland’s then-fertile but largely underground jazz scene (artists included Urszula Dudziak, Jan ‘Ptaszyn’ Wróblewski, Adam Makowicz, Michał Urbaniak and Zbigniew Namysłowski), the new podcasts will take listeners deeper into the music created by the next generation of musicians.
Through interviews with journalist and radio presenter Debra Richards, the fortnightly podcasts will reveal how new directions in the arts of improvisation and composition emerged, drawing on the richness of Polish culture and tradition.
There will initially be seven episodes. Each episode will be devoted to one song or album, through which the works of a series of artists will be presented. The seven are: pianists Aga Derlak, Joanna Duda, Marek Pędziwiatr and Piotr Orzechowski, saxophonist Kuba Więcek, and clarinettist Wacław Zimpel.
The meanings, inspirations, sources and personal stories that lie behind the music will be explored, allowing the audience to observe the diversity of contemporary Polish creativity and learn about the many complex factors, specific to Poland, that influence it.
The podcasts will be available via standard podcast providers and directly from culture.pl.
Based in Warsaw and named after Poland’s national poet, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is sponsored by Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Its goal is to promote the Polish language and Polish culture abroad and the current youthfulness and vibrancy of Polish jazz makes it a particularly interesting candidate for international promotion.
