Krzysztof Komeda

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

Krzysztof Komeda's real name was Krzysztof Trzciński, and he was born in Poznań in 1931. He trained as an ear, nose and throat doctor and used his stage name to keep his jazz work separate from his job. In 1956 his sextet played at the first jazz festival in Sopot. Komeda sought a European jazz with Slavic melodies, slow tempos and plenty of space. His album Astigmatic (1965), with Tomasz Stańko and Zbigniew Namysłowski, is regarded as the high point of Polish jazz. He wrote the music for films by Roman Polański, such as Nóż w wodzie (Knife in the Water) (1962) and Rosemary's Baby (1968). After a fall in Los Angeles he fell into a coma; he died in Warsaw in 1969.

Listening

• 
  Ballad for Bernt (live, Jazz Jamboree) · Krzysztof Komeda, 1962
• 
  Astigmatic · Krzysztof Komeda Quintet, 1965
• 
  Lullaby from Rosemary's Baby · Krzysztof Komeda & Mia Farrow, 1968
• 
  Ballad for Bernt · Krzysztof Komeda, 1962
• 
  Main Title · Krzysztof Komeda, 1968
• 
  Knife in the Water · Krzysztof Komeda, 1962

Discography

Studio albums

• 1963Ballet Etudes / The Music of Komeda - A Jazz Message From Poland Presented by an International Quintet
• 1966Astigmatic
• 1967Jazz & Poetry
• 1968Rosemary's Baby (soundtrack)
• 1998Film Music: Wyrok (soundtrack)
• 2001Le Départ (soundtrack)
• 2002Cul-De-Sac (soundtrack)
• 2005The Fearless Vampire Killers, Or: Pardon Me, but Your Teeth Are in My Neck (soundtrack)
• 2013Dance of the Vampires (soundtrack)
• 2016Knife in the Water (soundtrack)
• 2016Litania
• 2017People Meet and Sweet Music Fills the Heart (soundtrack)
• 2019Suplement

Other work

• 1962Mes in het water (Nóż w wodzie) · filmmuziek
• 1968Rosemary's Baby · filmmuziek

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Jazz Map^NL Map
• Film Music Map^NL Map
• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 3^NL Reader
• After Hours: Session 3^NL Reader
• After Hours: Session 4^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Polish jazz GenreThe pianist Krzysztof Komeda sought a European sound of his own, with Slavic melodies, slow tempos and plenty of space.
• Eastern European New Waves GenreThe pianist Krzysztof Komeda wrote the music for Roman Polański's Nóż w wodzie (1962) with a small jazz group.

See also

• Cool Jazz and modal jazz
• Eastern European New Waves
• Jazz in film
• Leszek Możdżer