Zbigniew Seifert – Live in Solothurn
2025-06-01
Zbigniew Seifert – Jazz concert
2025-06-01
Atom String Quartet - SEIFERT
Part No.: CD-FZS-1
Atom String Quartet:
Dawid Lubowicz - violin
Mateusz Smoczynski - violin
Michal Zaborski - viola
Krzysztof Lenczowski - cello
The end of May 2017 saw the release of the Atom String Quartet's album, "Seifert." The publisher of the album is the Zbigniew Seifert Foundation. The album features compositions by the great Polish jazz violinist as interpreted by the quartet's musicians.
"Seifert" is the Atom String Quartet's fourth album, the third studio album, the second recorded at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Center in Luslawice and the first monographic album dedicated to the work of a single composer.
The idea of recording this album had been maturing in us for a long time," say the musicians of the quartet, "however, the immediate impulse was the concert we played during the IX Summer Jazz Academy festival at the Wytwórnia club in Lodz, in August 2016. We prepared a special program for the occasion, entirely devoted just to Seifert's music.
Zbigniew Seifert, in the common consciousness of jazz admirers, functions mainly as a virtuoso violinist. Little attention is paid to his compositions, which are as much a part of his characteristic "Seifertian" style as his masterful playing on the instrument.
The quartet's musicians decided to recall the master's works, which were originally intended to be performed by a jazz combo. They were filtered through the musical language of a jazz string quartet, which seems to be close to the values adhered to by the composer. Both in Seifert's manner of playing and in the compositions one can see how important it was for him to introduce elements characteristic of jazz music into the classical performance apparatus.
For a listener familiar with the original versions of these works, our interpretations may be surprising," say the ASQ musicians, "We have tried to approach these compositions in a creative way: on the one hand, there are pieces that, like jazz standards, are just a pretext for improvisation, and on the other hand, there are extended compositions, with a narrative carefully planned by the composer, which, thanks to a change in the performing apparatus, gain a completely different context.
The Atom String Quartet was formed in 2010 and is one of the world's most intriguing string quartets and one of the top jazz performers in Poland. The ensemble combines the capabilities of a string quartet with wide-ranging improvisation. In its work - in addition to jazz - one can hear inspiration from Polish folklore, music from various regions of the world, as well as contemporary and classical music.
Zbigniew Seifert (7.06.1946 Krakow - 15.02.1979 Buffalo, USA) Zbigniew Seifert is an icon of Polish jazz. Creator of an original, distinctive, recognizable and unique violin style. Although 38 years have passed since his death, his compositions continue to impress with their freshness and originality - they are an inspiration for many musicians practicing improvised music on string instruments and beyond.
"Seifert is our national treasure," as Tomasz Stanko said.
