Jazz views and rhythms: Legendary jazz musicians in Jacek Gwizdka’s photographic lens – Part 2.

Jacek Gwizdka has been practicing photography for many years. The subjects of his photographs are fragments of architecture, reflections of light on the water surface, tangled tree branches forming a repetitive whole. The images form abstract shapes and surfaces, reminding the complexity of neuronal structures in the human brain.

From 1997, he has presented his works at exhibitions in Poland and Canada. He had exhibitions at Hart House at the University in Toronto (in the Arbor Room and Hart House Art Gallery, where one of the works received an honorary distinction), at Glenhyrst Art Gallery in Brantford, Ontario, Grimsby Public Art Gallery (Gallery bought one of the works for his collection ), at Fez Batik in Toronto (photo series „Fluid Transformations & Moments”), at the Club Lucky Gallery in Toronto (series of photographs entitled „Fluidscapes – Meditations of Light and Water”), at the Cultural Center John Paul II in Mississauga in Ontario (series of photographs entitled „Musical Expressions”, presenting outstanding jazz musicians during the game), at the L’Arte Café & Gallery in Toronto, at the Pekao Gallery in Toronto, at the Teacher’s House in Łódź (series of photographs entitled ” impressions „). Jacek Gwizdka also participated in the well-known Canadian CONTACT photographers festival in Toronto. His works can also be found in private collections in Canada and Poland.

Jacek Gwizdka’s photographs were published in such magazines as „Jazz Forum”, in the monthly magazine „Oceanic Letter” published as an addition to the main edition the newspaper „Gazeta” in Toronto, travel photographs appeared in „Polonia Kalifornijska” and ” Dziennik Łódzki.

In 2003, the famous Munich contemporary music record label ECM used his photograph for the cover of the album by Stephen Hartke titled „Tituli / Cathedral In The Thrashing Rain”.

Chick Corea & Jacek Gwizdka, Montreal, 2001.

Jacek Gwizdka: After leaving Poland in 1988, first I lived in Frankfurt, Germany (then West-Germany), then in Toronto, Canada, and later (and up to this date) in the USA (Palo Alto, CA, Somerset, NJ, and Austin, TX). I had the wonderful opportunity to see the greatest jazz musicians of the second half of the XX c. First, I have to mention Miles Davis. I saw his concert in Toronto about a year before his death. I was a newcomer to Canada and I bought one of the cheapest tickets on the ground floor in the Pantages Theater. I had a poor seat (with partially obstructed view behind a column). But the musical experience was amazing. The pianist Keith Jarrett, whose work I admire, should be mentioned next. I saw his two (rare) solo concerts, one at Carnegie Hall in New York (2005) and another at the Philharmonie am Gasteig in München (Munich); Germany (2016), and I saw him twice with the trio (Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette). First, in Newark, NJ (2007) and then in Montreal (2002). Charles Lloyd concert with his quintet in Montreal in 2001 was almost a mystical experience. Who’s the next? A very hard choice. The brilliant guitarist Stanley Jordan, whom I saw at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle. His individual technique of simultaneous playing the bass line and solo on the guitar is unique. Duo John Surman from Jack deJohnnette, whom I heard at the Montreal festival in the early 2000s. Concert by the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset, also at the Montreal festival. Both last mentioned concerts took place in the basement of the church in the center of Montreal, which lent these performances spiritual dimension. The Norwegian trumpeter’s Nils Peter Molvaer Nu Jazz music and his performance in Montreal in a densely crowded club with a room full of fans and fumes of „grass”. Bugge Wesseltoft, another Norwegian from the Nu Jazz circle, concert remains in memory. My „north-european” jazz orientation is influenced by my favorite jazz record label – ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) from München (Munich). There are also, of course, Polish jazzmen on my list. Their art represents the highest world level. The duo with my friend, saxophonist Andrzej Olejniczak, and pianist Władysław „Adzik” Sendecki in Piwnica pod Baranami in Kraków (2018) will remain in my memory for a long time.

G a l e r i a

Andrzej Olejniczak & Michał Urbaniak, Krakow, 2018.

All photographs Copyright Jacek Gwizdka. To purchase any of the photos, please contact the editorial staff.

Jazz views and rhythms: Legendary jazz musicians in Jacek Gwizdka’s photographic lens – Part 1:

https://www.cultureave.com/w-rytmie-jazzu-legendarni-muzycy-w-obiektywie-jacka-gwizdki/

Other exhibitions on „Culture Avenue”:

https://www.cultureave.com/cogitationes-aqua-jacek-gwizdka-fotografie/

https://www.cultureave.com/ramis-neuronis-jacek-gwizdka-fotografie/

Jazz views and rhythms: Legendary jazz musicians in Jacek Gwizdka’s photographic lens – Part 1.

Interview with Jacek Gwizdka – a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin, a photographer and a jazz fan.

Joanna Sokołowska-Gwizdka:

When was the first time you’ve encountered jazz?

Jacek Gwizdka:

As far as I can recall, I always wanted to be different from my peers. When I was in high school, my friends listened to hard rock (e.g., Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and pop. Okay, I liked hard rock, but I always avoided pop. Then, with some delay because of communists’ rule, „we discovered” symphonic rock and progressive rock (e.g., Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, Yes). The richness of this music made me look further. I listened to classical music, mainly instrumental, and especially symphonies from the XIX-th c. (e.g., Beethoven). Then I found jazz, and, proverbially, never looked back. First, these were the swing orchestras. The power of their sound seduced me. It resembled the great classical symphonies, but it was lighter. Then I started to appreciate jazz nuances – syncopated rhythms and improvisation. They became the main magnet that dragged me towards jazz. And, yes, none of my friends in high school listened to jazz at that time.

Growing up in Poland, you went to jazz concerts. Do you remember them?

Oh yes, although my city – Łódź – was not on the most-frequented music routes in the, still communist, Poland, there was enough music there for a young man like me. Perhaps the biggest jazz events were the autumn concerts after the Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. Many jazz musicians performed in Łódź, mostly in a music school on the Sosnowa street. They did it between their performances at Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw and Jazz All Souls events in Kraków. So it was usually the end of October or the beginning of November. Among the musicians not so-frequently „imported” from the West, I remember very well Weather Report (who arrived a few hours late; with hundreds of fans patiently waiting in a crowded hallway) performance with Joe Zawinul at the helm. In those times in Poland, most of the bands and musicians appearing in Łódź were from Poland. For example, String Connection, Extra Ball, Laboratorium, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Janusz Muniak Quartet, Staszek Soyka, Hania Banaszak with orchestra. Polish jazz scene was quite strong with many excellent cats. In the mid-eighties, I attended the famous Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw for the first time and saw Chick Corea. Later, I saw him many times, for example in 1989 in Frankfurt am Main, where I lived then; and in 2002 at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

After traveling abroad you had access to musicians you have not met in Poland before. Which concerts have made the biggest impression on you?

Oh, this list will be terribly long. I apologize. I will try to limit myself, haha, but it will be hard and this list will not be „fair”. After leaving Poland in 1988, first I lived in Frankfurt, Germany (then West-Germany), then in Toronto, Canada, and later (and up to this date) in the USA (Palo Alto, CA, Somerset, NJ, and Austin, TX). I had the wonderful opportunity to see the greatest jazz musicians of the second half of the XX c. First, I have to mention Miles Davis. I saw his concert in Toronto about a year before his death. I was a newcomer to Canada and I bought one of the cheapest tickets on the ground floor in the Pantages Theater. I had a poor seat (with partially obstructed view behind a column). But the musical experience was amazing. The pianist Keith Jarrett, whose work I admire, should be mentioned next. I saw his two (rare) solo concerts, one at Carnegie Hall in New York (2005) and another at the Philharmonie am Gasteig in München (Munich); Germany (2016), and I saw him twice with the trio (Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette). First, in Newark, NJ (2007) and then in Montreal (2002). Charles Lloyd concert with his quintet in Montreal in 2001 was almost a mystical experience. Who’s the next? A very hard choice. The brilliant guitarist Stanley Jordan, whom I saw at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle. His individual technique of simultaneous playing the bass line and solo on the guitar is unique. Duo John Surman from Jack deJohnnette, whom I heard at the Montreal festival in the early 2000s. Concert by the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset, also at the Montreal festival. Both last mentioned concerts took place in the basement of the church in the center of Montreal, which lent these performances spiritual dimension. The Norwegian trumpeter’s Nils Peter Molvaer Nu Jazz music and his performance in Montreal in a densely crowded club with a room full of fans and fumes of „grass”. Bugge Wesseltoft, another Norwegian from the Nu Jazz circle, concert remains in memory. My „north-european” jazz orientation is influenced by my favorite jazz record label – ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) from München (Munich). There are also, of course, Polish jazzmen on my list. Their art represents the highest world level. The duo with my friend, saxophonist Andrzej Olejniczak, and pianist Władysław „Adzik” Sendecki in Piwnica pod Baranami in Kraków (2018) will remain in my memory for a long time.

I recall hundreds of other jazzmen and memorable concerts. Let me mention a few more excellent musicians whom I saw live: Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Jan Garbarek, Bobo Stenson, Charlie Haden, Tomasz Stańko, Michał Urbaniak, Adam Makowicz, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jean-Luc Ponty, Kenny Garrett, Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau, Ron Carter, Charlie Bird, Joe Lovano, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Krzesimir Dębski, Joe Henderson, Jarek Śmietana, Krzysztof Ścierański, Michael Brecker, John Scofield , Enrico Rava, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Esbjørn Svensson, Wynton Marsalis, Phil Woods, the list could go on and on… I’m afraid I might have missed some.

Among the musicians who made a great artistic impression on me many have recorded for the already mentioned ECM record label. This label, founded by Manfred Eicher in 1969, has had a great and positive influence on the jazz aesthetic and sound in the late XX c and early XXI c.

John Patitucci, Frankfurt am Main, 1989.

You have been accredited several times as a photographer at jazz festivals in Montreal and Toronto. Thanks to this, you could take pictures of musicians from close up. Do you think about capturing the mood, the sound, the fleeting moment when shooting a stage during a concert?

Well, it is not easy. Very often photographers have limited conditions and time, always without a flash, with only limited time allowed, typically 5-10 minutes, or only during the first song. At the beginning of their performance musicians are not „warmed up” yet. The most restrictive taking photos rules I received were during Prince’s performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2002. We were allowed to take pictures for a few minutes, from the very back of the concert hall, and only after the first few minutes of the concert. Then, the concert hall was completely dark, none of my photos came out… Apart dealing with such trifles, I try to capture the fleeting expression on the musician’s face or of his body. Kenny Garrett is probably the most dynamic and photogenic jazz musician I’ve photographed.

Let me add that I listen to live jazz performances not only during concerts as part of jazz festivals. Wherever I live or travel, I try to visit jazz clubs. I knew quite well the jazz scene in Toronto in the 1990s and early 2000s, where I lived at the time. Toronto jazz clubs I frequented include Top O’ the Senator, Montreal Bistro, George’s Spaghetti House, Bermuda Onion (many of these clubs do not exist any more). Later, when I lived near New York City, my favorite club was Village Vanguard, probably the only jazz club in the „Big Apple” that exists since the 1930s in the same place and under the same management. In addition, Jazz Keller in Frankfurt, Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA, Dimitri’s in Seattle, WA, and U Muniaka in Kraków, Poland are world-famous clubs which I try to visit as I am nearby.

Your photographs of jazz musicians were shown at exhibitions in Toronto, published in the press in Canada and in the Polish jazz magazin „Jazz Forum”. Many artists from your photographs are no longer among us, you have recorded the moments that will not happen again. Do you have your favorite photos?

Yes, photographs of artists who passed are probably particularly important. They remind us of them and their creativity. I am glad that I had the opportunity to see them, hear them live, and photograph them. Do I have favorite photographs? All which you can see in this gallery, selected from hundreds of others…

G a l l e r y

Dan Berglund (Esbjörn Svensson Trio), Montreal, 2002

All photographs Copyright Jacek Gwizdka. To purchase any of the photos, please contact the editorial staff.

Other exhibitions on „Culture Avenue”:

https://www.cultureave.com/cogitationes-aqua-jacek-gwizdka-photography/

https://www.cultureave.com/ramis-neuronis-jacek-gwizdka-photography/

Moments. Regina Wypych – photography.

Regina Urszula Wypych (Dallas, TX), „Ginetta” was born during the Midsummers Night Festival, of June 24, 1982, and raised 50 miles from the Baltic Sea, in the seaport town of Szczecin Poland. As a girl she found herself enamored with drawing, painting, and the nature of light. But it was not until she traveled with her mother to Greece, Spain, Germany, France, Tunisia and the Netherlands, as well as Austria and Italy. They visited 26 cities, were she found herself completely enchanted by architecture and painting. She promised to herself to someday see the rest of the world’s museums and monuments in person, and not from the pages of a tour-book.But it was during Ginetta’s studies at West Pomeranian University of Technology,where she received a Master Degree in Landscape Architecture and a second Masters in Interior Design, that she became passionate about her photography. Enrolling in every photography workshop and course she could, found by the time she graduated that she had instead become a freelance, self-taught photographer.

Then in 2009 Ginetta had her first solo exhibition, “PHOTOMETAPHORA”, where her work caught the attention of Poland’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs. In 2010, she was awarded a grant from the European Union to open her own business, Ginetta Photography, and awarded the honor of Photographic Artist of the Republic of Poland.

In 2011, editor Franca Sozzani, published Ginetta’s first fashion editorial in Italian Vogue which was then licensed by The Art + Commerce Agency’s division of international licensing for world wide sale of her work, to publications and advertisers, around the world. In addition to her fashion work, including her live runway photography and video, during fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, Ginetta, has also worked as a design consultant, graphic designer, and art director on still life, table top and catalogue shoots, for publications around the world. She has also been invited by the Swiss Photographic Society, to serve as a judge for 2014 Zurich International Photo Exhibitions and continued to the present time. Since relocating to Dallas, TX in 2016 she opened her art studio where she continues painting oil on canvas.

EXHIBITIONS:

2019 Group Exhibition, NYC, Salmagundi Club, Glimpses of our World, PWP,NY

2018 Group Exhibition, NYC, Queens Botanical Garden,Our Botanical World, PWP,NY

2017 Group Exhibition, NYC, The Jadite Gallery,The Power of Tones, PWP,NY

2016 Solo Exhibition, Poland Day, University of Texas, Dallas, Tx

2016 Solo Exhibition, Polish Festival, Klyde Warren Park, Dallas, Tx

2015 Group Exhibition, Polish Festival, Polish Slavic Center, New York, NY

2015 Open Studio Hartford CT, USA

2015 „Salon” Group Exhibition, Consulate, The Republic of Poland, New York, NY

2014 „Art Under The Christmas Tree” Courier Gallery, New York, NY

2014 „International Art Expo” Futurę Identities, Body’ s, Place’s and Spacer; Vencie, Italy.

2013 „Art Under The Christmas Tree” Courier Gallery, New York, NY

2013 „Salon” Group Exhibition, Consulate, The Republic of Poland, New York, NY

2012 „Mixed Spirit” Group Exhibition, The Trump World Tower, New York, NY

2011 „Architectural Detail” Group Exhibition, The Presidential Gallery, Szczecin, Poland

2011 „Architectural Details of Szczecin” House of Culture, Świdwin, Poland

2010 „Open” Group Exhibition, Pinhole Photography, Szczecin, Poland

2010 Group Exhibition. Sławno Sławiński House of Culture, Brass Band Festival, Poland

2010 Group Exhibition, Review 2010, Dukes’ Castle Galery, Szczecin, Poland

2010 Group Exhibition, Review 2010, Sławno Gryfice, Gallery, Świdwin, Poland

2009 „The Last Days of Szczecin’s Shipyard Union” Szczecin, Poland

2009 „Mother” Kingston upon Hull, Gallery, Great Britain
2009 „Mother” Presidential Gallery, Szczecin, Poland
2009 „Mother” Freetown Gallery, Sierra Leone
2009 „Mother” Reykjavik Gallery, Island

2009 „Photometaphora” Debut Solo Exhibition, Dukes’ Castle Gallery, Szczecin, Poland

http://www.reginawypych.info/

G a l l e r y

INSPIRATIONS:

https://www.cultureave.com/inspirations-regina-wypych-photography/

To purchase any of the photos, please contact the editorial staff.

INSPIRATIONS. Regina Wypych – photography.

Regina Urszula Wypych, „Ginetta” was born during the Midsummers Night Festival, of June 24, 1982, and raised 50 miles from the Baltic Sea, in the seaport town of Szczecin Poland. As a girl she found herself enamored with drawing, painting, and the nature of light. But it was not until she traveled with her mother to Greece, Spain, Germany, France, Tunisia and the Netherlands, as well as Austria and Italy. They visited 26 cities, were she found herself completely enchanted by architecture and painting. She promised to herself to someday see the rest of the world’s museums and monuments in person, and not from the pages of a tour-book.But it was during Ginetta’s studies at West Pomeranian University of Technology,where she received a Master Degree in Landscape Architecture and a second Masters in Interior Design, that she became passionate about her photography. Enrolling in every photography workshop and course she could, found by the time she graduated that she had instead become a freelance, self-taught photographer.

Then in 2009 Ginetta had her first solo exhibition, “PHOTOMETAPHORA”, where her work caught the attention of Poland’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs. In 2010, she was awarded a grant from the European Union to open her own business, Ginetta Photography, and awarded the honor of Photographic Artist of the Republic of Poland.

In 2011, editor Franca Sozzani, published Ginetta’s first fashion editorial in Italian Vogue which was then licensed by The Art + Commerce Agency’s division of international licensing for world wide sale of her work, to publications and advertisers, around the world.In addition to her fashion work, including her live runway photography and video, during fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, Ginetta, has also worked as a design consultant, graphic designer, and art director on still life, table top and catalogue shoots, for publications around the world. She has also been invited by the Swiss Photographic Society, to serve as a judge for 2014 Zurich International Photo Exhibitions and continued to the present time. Since relocating to Dallas, TX in 2016 she opened her art studio where she continues painting oil on canvas.