The 10th anniversary edition of the Szczecin Jazz Festival featured concerts by stars from the international scene such as the Jacky Terrasson Trio, Dianne Reeves and the Jazz Top 2024 Gala which honoured the winners of the Jazz Forum magazine critics’ poll.
But there was more: an important part of the event was a conference of industry professionals under the banner World Jazz Network meets Polish Jazz.
The conference was jointly organised by the Szczecin Art Agency, the leading Polish jazz magazine JAZZ FORUM, the World Jazz Network and was supported by the state-funded Adam Mickiewicz Institute .
The organisers invited prominent figures from the US and European jazz scene to participate. Among the guests were: Lydia Liebman – publicist and promoter, founder and president of Lydia Liebman Promotions; Daniel Israel – representing the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; representatives of festivals and clubs: Aneta Norek – President of the Zbigniew Seifert Foundation, representing the Krakow Jazz Juniors Malcom McDonald Charlton – Artistic Director of Blue Note Milan; Alexander Beets – Artistic Director of the Amersfoort World Jazz Festival; Fabio Lannino – Director of the Sicilia Jazz Festival; Attila Kleb – photographer and producer of jazz concerts, representing Budapest JazzFest; Anna Russkevich – representing Ukrainian JazzDnipro; Deniss Paszkiewicz – musician, composer, producer and teacher, from the JazzRoom Festival; Sylwester Ostrowski – musician, bandleader, producer and artistic director of the Szczecin Jazz festival. Jolanta Gulbe Paškeviča – Latvian singer and politician, Marta Cienkowska – Deputy Minister of Culture and representatives of local authorities, the West Pomeranian Voivode Adam Rudawski and the Mayor of Szczecin Piotr Krzystek, also took part in the discussion panels.
This first-time conference began with a presentation by Paweł Brodowski, editor-in-chief of Jazz Forum magazine, on the history and most important figures of Polish jazz. And although one of the recurring themes during the two days of meetings was the phrase ‘jazz is not a business, it is a passion and a calling’, the other panel discussions focused on the business side of the jazz world. The individual panels discussed, among other things, the issues of different organisational models and ways of financing cultural projects operating in Europe and the USA. The invited guests discussed and presented the condition of Polish jazz, showing a fairly broad picture of the environment and, most importantly, not forgetting any of the elements of the jazz ecosystem. From a journalistic point of view, it is worth emphasising that the role and situation of jazz media was discussed in several discussions, which, contrary to appearances, is not at all a rule at this type of meeting.
The discussion about recent geopolitical changes in the world, their meaning and impact on jazz and culture in general was very interesting. The topics were complemented by valuable, less formal discussions in the breaks between the panels. The whole event ended with workshop-style presentations organised on the last day – the meeting with Lydia Liebman on promotion in jazz and the behind-the-scenes workings of a PR agency was particularly successful. A light and pleasant summary of each day were the evening meetings and jam sessions in the hotel club.
These were definitely worthwhile meetings. The excellent organisation, choice of guests and topics for discussion should all be praised. It is valuable that the organisers did not focus on idle discussions, but came up with specific proposals and plans for cooperation between festivals, cooperation in the promotion of artists from individual countries, with particular emphasis on young stars of the local scene, and the creation of a kind of lobbying group for jazz.
We can also expect the conference itself to continue and to grow. The organisers intend to regularly invite representatives of the international jazz community. Congratulations on the quality both of the initiative, and on having run this first-time event so well!
