The Life and Works of Zbigniew Seifert
2025-06-02
Zbigniew Seifert Foundation
2025-06-02The life and work of Zbigniew Seifert
Aneta Norek-Skrycka
It seemed that the biography of Zbigniew Seifert by Aneta Norek appeared almost yesterday and was just reviewed by the undersigned in the pages of JAZZ FORUM. But seven years have passed, during which time the item went from being sought after to sought after. It is very good that it has now returned to the market.
Few jazz artists in Poland can boast such a comprehensive biography, deftly balancing necessary (if somewhat dry) factual information with captivating tidbits, chief among them Seifert's private correspondence, quoted in abundance and helping not only to explore the artist's artistic paths, but also to get a closer look at the man, his personality and priorities.
The author has thoroughly described each of the periods in Zbigniew Seifert's life. The book brings, among other things, the first solid monographic study of the times of Tomasz Stanko's Quintet (with many interesting statements by Janusz Stefanski), but also an extensive account of Seifert's Western career - known in Poland rather vaguely, and if it is, then mainly through the prism of the albums released at the time. Meanwhile, Seifert was an extremely active musician for several years, collaborating with a wide range of musicians, both in the recording studio and on stage.
The second edition of the book, apart from a few minor cosmetic changes in the text and the replacement of several photographs, presents itself in a format very similar to the original edition. The same page layout, with wide margins, made it possible to expose a multitude of memorabilia, documents, scores, album covers and photographs. And, as in the first edition, the book is accompanied by a CD. However, it differs in content - in the first edition you could find an interview with Polish Radio Krakow, conducted by Antoni Krupa in 1978, and the "Jazz Concerto for Violin, Symphonic Orchestra and Rhythm Group" from 1974. This time we get an intimate but thrilling concert by the duo Zbigniew Seifert - Richie Beirach. The program of this previously unreleased 1976 recording appears on disc for the first time!
On the downside, I will leave what I called for with the first edition - broader descriptions of the albums, a calendar at the end of the book and.... supplementing the content with events of recent years. It would have been worth mentioning more extensively the Seifert violin competition or the new record archives that have appeared on the market since 2009.
However, these are small things, because as a whole Seifert's biography is a very good and interesting position, extremely important for fans of Polish jazz (because he is also an outstanding figure). Importantly, in August its English-language version will be published, which will hopefully bring the silhouette of one of the most outstanding Polish jazzmen closer to fans around the world.
Michal Wilczynski
Jazz Forum
