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Komeda Quintet

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Komeda Quintet was the group of the Polish pianist and composer Krzysztof Komeda, born Krzysztof Trzciński in 1931. He studied medicine, became an ear, nose and throat doctor and took his stage name to hide his jazz from colleagues at the clinic. With his Komeda Sextet he began playing modern jazz in the 1950s, at a time when jazz still had to fight for respect with the communist authorities. In this way he opened the way for jazz in Poland.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1960s he toured Scandinavia, Germany and Eastern Europe and performed in Stockholm and Copenhagen. He wrote more than seventy film scores, including for Roman Polanski's films such as Nóż w wodzie (Knife in the Water), Cul-de-sac and Rosemary's Baby. His best-known record with the quintet is Astigmatic, which was recorded in 1965 and released in 1966. The music blends jazz with classical influences and Polish tradition and sounds lyrical, almost poetic.

Influence

Astigmatic is regarded as one of the most important European jazz albums. The critic Stuart Nicholson calls it a shift away from the American approach to a European aesthetic of its own. At the end of 1968 Komeda was injured in Los Angeles in a fall at a party, and he died in April 1969 at the age of 37. His influence is great: the Polish school of jazz came about partly through him, and since 1995 a jazz festival has borne his name.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to the title piece of Astigmatic and notice the calm, melodic line of the piano and the horns, which recalls European chamber music more than American swing.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists