Aga Derlak remembers her fascination with music as a young child. And once she began learning piano, she would lose hours in flowing through improvised journeys at the keyboard. This passion led her to gaining a place on the year-long Berklee Global Jazz Institute program. And in this interview, she discusses the impact that has had on many levels of her life. The founder of the project, pianist Danilo Perez, who is part of the incredible Wayne Shorter quartet was a particular influence and led Aga to work at Danilo's foundation in his homeland of Panama. You get the sense that her own beliefs about the healing power of music, and the role of musicians and music education in our society really blossomed during this time, through conversations with her tutors and peers at Berklee, and also her pupils, some of whom were part of a social program in Panama City. 

Aga has led her own trio and quintet and like the other rebel spirits has been invited to play at numerous jazz festivals. As she explains in her interview, travel takes on a real meaning in her life, and has directed her development as an artist. The piece she talks about, Tempo, is from her forthcoming album Parallel and includes her own vocals and those of her sister Basia Derlak. With lyrics from a poem that Aga wrote, we can hear about her attention to detail, theme and flavor, and her thoughts about the possibilities of time. Tempo. A project that is a good indicator of Aga’s personality is Your Solo, exploring Polish jazz. This was her proactive reaction to the restriction of lockdown during the pandemic. She wanted to highlight the work of Polish jazz musicians such as herself, who could no longer tour or perform. Aga set about playing their compositions and interviewing these musicians. Putting everything online. The positive focus is typical of how she's able to acknowledge the darkness that descends on life but uses her determination to be constructive. Interestingly, she refers to the different sides of her character and how that comes through her music in this interview.

In Marek Pędziwiatr there is a connection between the past and the present. The history of jazz and the African American musicians, who created it, and Polish innovators from Chopin through Krzysztof Komeda and Niemen. Marek is a hub, a central force pulling his golden threads of jazz, hip-hop, classical music, avant-garde, and Slavic folk. But his interest in weaving these genres together is driven by the human experience. 

Marek is an award-winning musician and composer now based in Wrocław. His background in the 90s scene of sampling, rapping, and beat music has blossomed into a sophisticated and authentic jazz that crosses boundaries. He is co-founder of the trio Night Marks, the avant-garde improvised music collective Błoto, and EABS (Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions). He has played with an incredible array of international musicians and his production work includes producing with Michał Urbaniak, a major figure in jazz fusion, on albums such as “Beats and Pieces” by Urbanator Days. 

Like Michał, emotion is a vital aspect in every piece that Marek composes. The identification of this almost mystical quality of melancholy in Slavic culture, explored by generations of Polish artists, also fascinates Marek. And in the interview, he speaks about the importance of feeling in the music he is drawn to. And how he developed the opening of the composition he discusses from his album Slavic Spirits from 2019. 

Stories of his own ancestry, poetic symbols, philosophies, and the expression of the complex emotion of being human run parallel to other incentives in his music. There is a deep learning he has gained through the tributes EABS has made such as the “Memorial to Miles” at the Jazz Festival in Kielce in 2015 and the unique Sun Ra with EABS’ album “Discipline of Sun Ra” in 2020. There is a clear celebration of these influences and their ability to simply communicate the human spirit in Marek’s music and in his eloquent way of speaking about it. 

Przywitanie Słońca from the EABS album ‘Slavic Spirits’’

• EABS / bio on Culture.pl
• Marek Pędziwiatr debuts as Latarnik in a piano solo story of remembrance and passing / on Twistedsouldmusic.org

• EABS meets JAUBI /  on YouTube.com
• Jazz.pl: EABS  / on Culture.pl
• New Polish Jazz: Ones To Watch - Marek Pędziwiatr / on Facebook.com

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Debra Richards. The show is brought to you by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written and produced by Magdalena Stępień & Wojciech Oleksiak

Executive production by Move Me Media

Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak

Design by Dawid Ryski

Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

To describe Joanna Duda as simply a pianist doesn't capture the extraordinary dimensions of the music she produces. Whether touching a broken keyboard, using the sound of a rewinding tape machine, or mixing in field recordings, her innate playfulness allows any instrument to blossom - you get a sense that one of her greatest strengths is to listen attentively to whatever she uses. Joanna is also an incredible editor, cutting and mixing with bold and surprising artfulness.

It was a friend of the family who played electric bass in the band Kombi that first caught her attention and before she could even string a sentence together she would sit with a piece of wood pretending it was a bass. Like many of the Rebel Spirits, she is classically trained and has been influenced by both Baroque and minimalism. Part of her heritage is Chopin, of course, but it's also her parents' vinyl collection which included plenty of funk and jazz rock and there is often a groove that emerges in her work. 

Be it leading the duo J=J, which is when she first came to my attention, or her current trio with Michał Bryndal and Max Mucha, on drums and bass, or playing solo, there is an essence which is clearly Duda. Finding her flow with collaborators is always uppermost and she found that recently with French horn player Morris Kliphuis from the Netherlands. Their project Wake the Dead is for electronics, improvisation, and a Baroque ensemble and premiers in October. 

Alongside her love of communication between musicians, she has begun to appreciate a form of creativity that requires her to dig into herself as opposed to reacting to what is coming at her from the outside. Reading, traveling and connecting to nature are part of her current evolution and in this interview, she eloquently describes the ideas that inform her process. 

‘Grasshopper’ by Joanna Duda Trio from the ‘Fumitsuke’ album 

• Joanna Duda / bio on Culture.pl
• Joanna Duda’s website 

• 'Grasshopper' music video / on YouTube
• Joanna Duda Trio in concert / on YouTube
• Joanna Duda in concert / on YouTube

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Debra Richards. The show is brought to you by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written and produced by Monika Proba

Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak

Executive production by Move Me Media

Edited by Monika Proba

Design by Dawid Ryski

Scoring & sound design by Monika Proba

In the history of jazz, there haven't been many musicians that give credit to their playing video games. But as a nine-year-old hardcore player, Kuba Więcek developed an affinity with repetitive practice and now feels the need for strategic thinking and fast decision-making has stood him in good stead as a bandleader today. After a pivotal moment as a teenager, which he talks about in the interview, when he improvised on his saxophone for the first time, his 10 hour-a-day, video gaming habit switched to music study. I particularly like musicians that approach jazz in an open and authentic way. It's not historical music. Jazz has always been an expression of emotion in the present moment, reflecting the social, political, and cultural atmospheres around us. That's what improvisation is. I think it's also worth noting that Kuba attended the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen of which I'm a big fan. Some of the most exciting artists like bass player, Petter Eldh, and vocalist Lucia Cadotsch studied there. We live in an era of many, many musics. And conservatories like this one in Denmark encourage the exploration of anything and everything. Whether it's Ornette Coleman, or Kanye West, Tomasz Stanko or Bjork. Kuba reveals he has that curiosity which is so vital to creativity. On a trip to New York, he bought some portable synthesizers and took to them as he had done his video games. And when you hear the interview, you'll get a sense of how experimentation is at the heart of his approach and relationship to which is also key to jazz. The interplay between musicians. In this case with his trio of Michał Barański and  Łukasz Żyta, carving new paths in any art will always have its critics. And these new waves of jazz artists face exclusion from jazz record labels and venues and festivals. When Więcek’s first album, Another Raindrop was released in the renowned Polish Jazz series, there was a backlash. There were comments about his youth and playing skills. And yet the album won two prestigious awards for best jazz debut. You will hear Kuba weaving in stories of his background, his working methods, and what he's drawn to. You sense he has a quiet confidence and belief in what he is doing. But like all of the best artists, his commitment is to the music and not himself.

Jazz Robots by Kuba Więcek Trio feat. Marcin Masecki from the album “Multitasking”

• Kuba Więcek / bio on Culture.pl

• Jazz Robots music video  / on YouTube
• Kuba Więcek & Piotr Orzechowski live performance / on YouTube
• Kuba Więcek Trio live  / on YouTube

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Debra Richards. The show is brought to you by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written and produced by Monika Proba

Executive production by Move Me Media

Edited by Monika Proba

Design by Dawid Ryski

Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

Marcin Masecki considers that he has two parents, jazz and classical music. As a pianist, he is steeped in the tradition of learning piano as a young child with all the purity and precision that comes with that. In this interview, you get the sense of how that triggered Marcin’s disruptive streak, and how that has been central to his approach to music. There is reverence and intellectual rebellion. Like many accomplished musicians, there is music in his family. Marcin has spoken of his grandmother teaching him piano exercises, and it was on her vintage Steinway that he recorded his album, Die Kunst der Fuge: Bach/Masecki, with a dictaphone. Yes, with a dictaphone. In fact, this is a key point, because Marcin’s appreciation of the imperfect, the broken, and the cult of the Lo-Fi is what brings his soulfulness and natural feel for music to the fore. Such qualities can set musicians apart. Marcin has worked in many contexts, and there's a clear sense from his career, that it's important for him to be free to change his setup. He has recorded solo in a duo and sextet, in bands of nine and 10, as well as big bands. He's released classical jazz and alternative pop music, and even an album of Polish Carols sung in Arabic. In this interview, he focuses on his album of Polonaises. Using a 10-piece band, Marcin hoped to integrate this historical national dance of Poland with jazz and a bit of attitude, once again, bringing forward his appreciation of the defective and the unsettling. There is a picture of the complex journey this musician is on, one in which he continually challenges himself again and again. It's a fascinating insight into this artist.

Deuxième Grand Polonaise from Marcin Masecki’s album ‘Polonezy’

• Marcin Masecki / bio on Culture.pl

• Masecki/Młynarski Big Band / on YouTube.com
• Masecki/Rogiewicz Duo at Adam Mickiewicz Institute / on Culture.pl
• Masecki plays Scarlatti / on YouTube.com

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Debra Richards. The show is brought to you by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written and produced by Wojciech Oleksiak

Executive production by Move Me Media

Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak

Design by Dawid Ryski

Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

In the very last episode of Stories of The Eastern West as you knew it, we’re taking you to Estonia, 1989. A group of people there made 2 million others hold hands and create a human chain of unprecedented size and significance.

The Baltic countries had a truly turbulent 20th century. They went from regaining their independence to losing it to the USSR and becoming subject to a ruthless policy of Russification. Unsurprisingly, they needed something big to jump on the bandwagon of the 1989 peaceful revolutions that liberated several countries from the USSR’s influence. 

What they came up with was a human chain linking Tallinn with Riga and Vilnius. This huge event is something hard to wrap one’s head around nowadays when we think about the scanty means of communication the organisers had. 

Our producer Wojciech went to Estonia and got a chance to talk to several people who co-organised or participated in the event. How was it at all possible? Why wasn’t it thwarted by the communist regime? How do people remember such a defining moment in their lives over 30 years later?

Further listening

• KAIE / our episode from our mini-series The Final Curtain about ‘The Singing Revolution’ that Adam mentions in the show

Further reading

• The Longest Unbroken Human Chain In History / an article on estonianworld.com
• All the human chains in one place / an article on wikipedia.org

Further watching

• The Inimitable Baltic Way / a Lithuanian documentary

Thanks

• Ivi Gubinska, Reet Villig, Eve Sildnik, Andres Tarand and Lukas Hioo for taking the time to discuss this incredible event with us.
• Keiu Telve and Maia-Liisa Anton for connecting us with Baltic Way participants and their thoughtful discussions about the meaning of the event. 

Credits

Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Edited by Adam Zulawski & Nitzan Reisner
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

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Click here to get the transcript

• Zofia Posmysz // bio on Culture.pl
• Andrzej Munk // bio on Culture.pl
• The Passenger // film description on Culture.pl
• The Passenger // book description on Culture.pl
• “Passenger” Depicts the Holocaust from the Point of View of a Nazi Official // article on NewYorker.com
• Andrzej Munk's The Passenger // article from Vertigo magazine
• The ‘Lucky Ship’: Rebellion, Desertion & Love on the MS Batory // article on Culture.pl
• The MS Batory: Culture.pl Readers Share their Photographs & Memories // article on Culture.pl
• Female guards in Nazi concentration camps // entry on Wikipedia.org

• Zofia Posmysz Talks about The Passenger // video interview on Culture.pl
• Zofia Posmysz: Memory That Will Save Us // video interview on Culture.pl
• Behind the Scenes: Zofia Posmysz's The Passenger in Yekaterinburg // video about the recent opera version on Culture.pl

Zofia Posmysz // author, screenwriter and writer for radio and televised theatre performances, reporter and broadcast radio editor. 

Michał Oleszczyk // film historian and critic, member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI)

Written & produced by Monika Proba

Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski

Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak 

Get to know Piotr Szkopiak, a London-based film and TV director who’s spent a good portion of his life pondering the nature of his identity.

Piotr Szkopiak was born in the United Kingdom but into a Polish family. As he grew up, he learned that his parents and neighbours were all World War II prisoners of war who had escaped the USSR but couldn't go back to Poland after the war ended. His mother told him how she had travelled from the depths of the Soviet Union through Persia and southern Europe to the UK, and how after the war this is the place that she had to learn to call home.

But first and foremost, his parents talked to him in Polish, signed him up for a Polish weekend school, and raised him as a person with a double identity: Polish and British. This in-betweenness has been something that strongly influenced his life and he reflects on it all in an interview he gave to Karolina Jackowiak, who on behalf of the Poles in South London organisation, was working on the Local Heroes Archive oral history project. We, at SFTEW, liked the story so much that we decided to turn it into one of our episodes.

Click here to get the transcript

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• ORPHANS // the SFTEW episode we mention in the podcast: how 700 Polish children made an unlikely journey from the depths of Siberia to the New Zealand countryside.
• BEAR // an even more unlikely tale from us at SFTEW: the bear who fought in World War II alongside Anders’ Army.

• Artists In Arms // the incredible odyssey of Anders’ Army, told through a multimedia guide from Culture.pl
• Soldiers, Artists: The Exhibitions of Anders’ Army // on Culture.pl
• Piotr Szkopiak // Piotr's IMDB profile
• Cultivating Polish Folk Dance in 1970s South London // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project
• Memories of South London’s Polish Music Scene // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project
• Poles in South London // the community’s official website

Piotr Szkopiak // for letting us turn his story into a podcast episode.

Poles in South London // especially Marta Sordyl and Łukasz Wołągiewicz from the organisation, for reaching out and offering this incredible story to us.

Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Edited by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak