“Jazz is not music, it’s a way of life”

Nina Simone used to say: “Jazz is not music, it’s a way of life“. Her words are the motto of the 6th edition of JazzArt Festival 2017 in Katowice.

©Hedvig Mollestad Trio

Everything started in 1900

On the streets of New Orleans, a new genre of music was born out of the mix of African and American-European music. Interestingly, one of the most outstanding musicians and singers of this genre, Louis Armstrong, also comes from this city. Jazz made its way to Poland in the 1920s – at that time, musicians would mainly play covers of the world’s biggest hits. War and the communist era forced musicians to play jazz underground. Only after 1955 did jazz really take off in Poland. Since then, jazz festivals have gained in popularity, among them the Warsaw Jazz Jamboree – one of the oldest such festivals in Europe.

International Jazz Day

In the US, April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Bearing this in mind, 30 April was designated as International Jazz Day at the UNESCO General Conference in 2011. The inauguration was held in Paris in 2012, and since then numerous festivals have been held every year in April – including the one in Katowice.

©JazzArt Festival

Let’s Jazz in Katowice

This year’s JazzArt Festival is the 6th annual instalment of the Katowice jazz festival. Between 25 and 30 April 2017, 12 concerts will take place in Katowice, including six Polish premieres: LABTrio, Hakon Kornstad, Anke Helfrich Trio, Papanosh and Buraku. The festival will open with a concert by Norwegian artist Håkon Kornstad, who both plays the saxophone and sings. The festival’s first evening will also include a performance by Hedvig Mollestad Trio, led by Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen – an outstanding, talented guitarist who has been compared to Jimmy Hendrix. Bachorze + Pilokatabaza (26 April 2017), Tim Berne and Snakeoil (27 April 2017), The Hot 8 Brass Band (29 April 2017) and other artists will perform during the next days of the event. The concerts will be accompanied by a film screening of “Jazzed Out Oslo” as well as an “Old & Unwise” exhibition of graphic designs by Steve Byram and photographs by Tim Berne. On 30 April 2017, International Jazz Day and the last day of the festival, we will hear a concert by Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej led by Szymon Bywalec and accompanied by outstanding singers: Agata Zubel, Jakob Kullberg and Adam Bałdych. The festival will end with a jazz ball to the accompaniment of Papanosh.

©Papanosh

angelo by Vienna House Katowice has prepared a special offer just for festival guests. You can enjoy a 20% discount on overnight accommodation between 25 April 2017 and 2 May 2017. Jazz cocktails at Jazz Bar are yours for 20% off the regular price.