The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles invites everyone to a special tribute concert of music composed by Wojciech Kilar and Victor Young. Their works will be performed by two extraordinary Polish jazz musicians: Kuba Stankiewicz (piano) and Darek Oleszkiewicz (jazz bass). The concert will take place on the eve of the 25th Anniversary of the First Free Elections in Poland.
Tuesday, 3 June 2014 | 8:00 pm
Staniekiewicz and Oleszkiewicz perform Kilar and Young
Fowler Museum at UCLA Westwood Campus
308 Charles E. Young Dr. N, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Directions and parking: fowler.ucla.edu
Kuba Stankiewicz is said to be among the very best of Polish pianists. His album entitled Spaces was nominated for the Prize of Wroclaw Music Award and the 2013 Fryderyk Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year. The pianist made his professional debut with the Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewski group and the Zbigniew Namyslowski ensemble (1985 – 1987) with whom he recorded two albums: Open and Song of Innocence. From 1987 until 1990 he studied at Berklee College of Music (diploma in piano performance) and toured across the USA with “The Artie Shaw Orchestra”.
In May 2009, he received a doctorate/Ph.D. title at the Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. His professional knowledge has been also acknowledged by Apple (Apple Certified Logic Pro 9).
Darek “Oles” Oleszkiewicz was born on February 20, 1963 in Wroclaw, Poland. At the age of five, Darek began his music education at the State Music School in Wroclaw. In 1983, he was the most awarded musician at the Jazz Juniors in Krakow. Later that year, Darek was invited by Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski, a jazz legend in Poland, to join saxophonist’s quartet on tour.
In 1989, he received a full scholarship from California Institute of the Arts and began studies with the legendary bassist Charlie Haden. After graduation in 1992, he accepted a teaching position at the Institute. In 2002, Darek was offered another teaching position at the University of California in Irvine, where he currently works today. Aside from his teaching duties, Darek has been very active as a performer and became one of the most sought after bass players on the West Coast. “Oles” had the opportunity to perform and record with the greatest masters in jazz, and has recorded approximately 100 albums and performed hundreds of concerts throughout America, Europe and Asia. In 2003, Darek was also nominated to Fryderyk’s Awards in Poland in the category “Jazz Musician Of The Year”. In 2005, he was voted the “Best Acoustic Bassist” in the Jazz Top readers’ poll in Jazz Forum European Magazine.
[Source: press release, en.chopin.nifc.pl, losangeles.msz.gov.pl]