Getxo Jazz 2013

Every year, GETXO JAZZ marks the music calendar with a band competition drawing young promises of European jazz who come to show the projects they are working on. The 2013 edition had a keenly-contested final between two bands from Poland with quite different projects. The judges decided to award the prize to Bartosz Pernal/Michał Szkil Quintet for their concept of jazz, which is not that common amongst young bands. This band knew how to get the most from the history of jazz and the legacy received from the greatest jazz musicians of all times. The town of Katowice, homeland of the members of the band, has instilled in these young students not only the necessary technique but also a philosophy of jazz that aims to preserve its core. This can be easily observed in trombonist Bartosz Pernal’s compositions. Based on serious rhythms, soloists follow a road to assemble their parts and create their own space. Tour after tour the band’s leaders, Michał Szkil (piano) and Bartosz Pernal (trombone), along with Maurycy Wójcinski (trumpet), delight audiences with their music. Their compositions look for inspiration in the vast universe of traditional jazz, swing and the inner groove typical of this music genre. The group’s driving force results from the personalities of individual members. The quintet revisit ‘Naima’ by John Coltrane and ‘Everybody’s Song but My Own’ by Kenny Wheeler, making them their own while their original soul intact. Performing well-known pieces on stage is a good way to pay tribute to whom they consider to be the big masters of jazz, but also to show how brave they are facing connoisseurs who will inevitably compare their performance with the original ones. Once again this year, a loyal audience attended Getxo’s top jazz festival and they were able to listen to the winners, a band full of vitality that is expected to continue gaining experience. This gives us renewed hope.