Janusz Józef Muniak (3 June 1941 – 31 January 2016) was a Polish
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
musician, saxophonist, flutist, arranger, and composer. He was one of the pioneers of
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
in Europe, although later in life tended towards the mainstream.
He debuted in Lublin in 1960. During the 60s and 90s, he worked with, among others,
Ronnie Burrage
Ronnie Burrage (born James Ronaldo Burrage October 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. His style draws from jazz, funk, and soul.
Career
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Burrage sang in the St. Louis Cathedral boys' choir f ...
,
George Cables
George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Early life
Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Ar ...
,
James Cammack
James Alfred Conrad Cammack Jr. (born April 15, 1956) is an American jazz bassist from Cornwall, New York.
Career
For nearly thirty years, he played bass for Ahmad Jamal. His debut solo album, ''Both Sides of the Coin'', was released in 2012. Be ...
,
Don Cherry
Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
,
Ted Curson
Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Life and career
Curson was born in Philadelphia. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's fath ...
,
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...
,
Eddie Gladden
Eddie Gladden (December 6, 1937 – September 30, 2003) was an American jazz drummer.
Career
Gladden played professionally from 1962 in his hometown of Newark. In 1972 he began working with James Moody. During the rest of his career he worked ...
,
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
,
Eddie Henderson,
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
,
Hank Jones
Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...
,
Rusty Jones,
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist.
His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres.
Early life and background
Kenn ...
,
Branislav Lala Kovačev,
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...
,
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...
,
Lyle Mays
Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awar ...
,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
,
Hank Mobley
Henry "Hank" Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to descr ...
,
Takeo Moriyama,
Joe Newman,
Sal Nistico
Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to:
Personal name
* Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
Places
* Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality
* Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Ca ...
,
Jasper van 't Hof
Jasper van 't Hof (born 30 June 1947) is a Dutch jazz pianist and keyboard player.
Van 't Hof was born in Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands, and began studying piano at the age of five. He played in jazz bands at school, and by the age of 19 wa ...
,
Aladár Pege
Aladár Pege (8 October 1939 – 23 September 2006) was a jazz musician from Hungary. He was well known for his work and was dubbed "the Paganini of double bass".
He was chosen as best soloist of Europe in 1970, performed at Carnegie Hall and ...
,
Rufus Reid
Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer.
Biography
Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation ...
,
Akira Sakata
Akira Sakata (born 21 February 1945) is a Japanese free jazz saxophonist.
Early life
Sakata was born in Hiroshima on 21 February 1945. He first heard jazz on short-wave radio and Voice of America, then became more interested in it from listening ...
,
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Biography Early life
Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
,
Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Career
During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands o ...
,
Yōsuke Yamashita
is a Japanese jazz pianist, composer and writer. His piano style is influenced by free jazz, modal jazz and soul jazz.
Since the late 1980s, Yamashita's main performing group has consisted of Cecil McBee (bass), Pheeroan akLaff (drums), and oft ...
and Polish musicians such as
Vladyslav Sendecki,
Tomasz Stańko
Tomasz Ludwik Stańko (11 July 1942 – 29 July 2018) was a Polish trumpeter and composer. Stańko was associated with free jazz and the avant-garde.
In 1962, Tomasz Stańko formed his first band, the Jazz Darings, with saxophonist Janusz Munia ...
,
Zbigniew Namysłowski
Zbigniew Jacek Namysłowski (9 September 1939 – 7 February 2022) was a Polish jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, cellist, trombonist, pianist and composer.
Life and career
Namysłowski was born in Warsaw, Poland, on 9 September 1939. He perform ...
,
Zbigniew Seifert
Zbigniew Seifert (7 June 1946 – 15 February 1979) was a Polish jazz violinist.
Seifert was born in Kraków, Poland. He played alto saxophone early in his career and was influenced by John Coltrane. He devoted himself to jazz violin when he b ...
,
Adam Makowicz
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Biography
Adam Makowicz was born into a family of ethnic ...
,
Wojciech Karolak,
Krzysztof Komeda
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,
Andrzej Kurylewicz
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,
Andrzej Trzaskowski
Andrzej Trzaskowski (23 March 1933 – 16 September 1998) was a Polish jazz composer and musicologist. From the mid-1950s onward, he was regarded as an authority on syncopated music.
Biography
Early life and education
Andrzej Trzaskowski ...
,
Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski
Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski (born 27 March 1936) is a Polish jazz musician, composer and arranger. He plays the tenor and baritone saxophones.
Wróblewski began his musical career in 1956 at the first Sopot Jazz Festival in Krzysztof Komeda's gro ...
,
Jarek Śmietana
Jarosław "Jarek" Śmietana (29 March 1951 – 2 September 2013]) was a Polish jazz guitarist, composer, and band leader. , Jan Jarczyk,
Włodek Pawlik,
Leszek Możdżer
Leszek Możdżer (Polish pronunciation: born Lesław Henryk Możdżer, 23 March 1971, Gdańsk) is a Polish jazz pianist, music producer and film score composer.
Life and career
Możdżer was born on 23 March 1971 in Gdańsk. He began to play t ...
and
Michał Urbaniak
Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop, and symphonic music.
History
He was born in Warsaw, Poland. U ...
. He was one of the first jazz musiciansd who performed who cooperated with rock musicians like Dżamble and
Czesław Niemen
Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, singing ...
.
After 1976, he was the leader of several ensembles, and since 1991 he has been running the Jazz Club "U Muniaka" at Florianska 3 in Krakow, which, under his artistic management, became an important incubator of new talents.
In the poll of Jazz Top 2011 of the monthly ''
Jazz Forum
''Jazz Forum'' is a European jazz magazine based in Warsaw. It was established as a quarterly in 1964 by jazz bassist Jan A. Byrczek, who served as its editor-in-chief. It was the first jazz magazine published behind the Iron Curtain and allowed ...
'', Janusz Muniak was voted the best saxophonist in Poland.
He is buried at
Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; pl, Cmentarz Rakowicki) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' ...
in Krakow.
Orders and decorations
* 1962 Złoty Helikon awarded by Krakow Jazz Club
* 2015: Złoty Fryderyk for outstanding artistic achievement awarded by Phonographic Academy
* 2016: Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta awarded posthumously for outstanding achievements in promoting jazz music in Poland.
Discography
As leader
* 1965: ''Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet'' (CD reissue: ''Polish Jazz vol. 4'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1966/2004: ''Seant'' (CD reissue: ''Polish Jazz vol. 11'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1978: ''Question Mark'' (Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1983: ''Placebo'' (PolJazz)
* 1986: ''Crazy Girl'' (PolJazz)
* 1994: ''You Know These Songs?'' (GOWI Records)
* 1995: ''Not So Fast'' (GOWI Records)
* 1997: ''One And Four'' (GOWI Records)
* 1998: ''Spotkanie'' (Cracovia Music) – with
Wojciech Karolak and
Kazimierz Jonkisz
Kazimierz Jonkisz (born 1948 in Wilamowice) is a Polish jazz drummer.
Jonkisz's musical education began aged 10 with accordion lessons at his high school. Later on, at the Bielsko-Biała Music high school, he switched to drums. He appeared at th ...
* 2000: ''Just Friends'' (Not Two Records)
* 2002: ''Annie'' (Not Two Records)
* 2015: ''Contemplation'' (Inspiration) – with Joachim Mencel, Willem Von Hombrecht, Harry Tanschek
Sideman
* 1964: Various artists ''Jazz Jamboree 1964, vol. 2'' (two tracks only with the Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet; Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1969: Jazz Studio Orchestra of Polish Radio (''Polish Jazz vol. 19'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1970: Krzysztof Sadowski ''Krzysztof Sadowski and His Hammond Organ'' (''Polish Jazz vol. 21'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1970/1999/2004: Tomasz Stańko ''Music for K'' (''Polish Jazz vol. 22'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1971: Piotr Figiel ''Piotr'' (Pronit)
* 1971/1987/1993: Dżamble ''Wołanie o słońce nad światem'' (Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1972: Tomasz Stańko ''Jazzmessage from Poland'' (JG Records)
* 1973: All Stars After Hours ''Night Jam Session In Warsaw 1973'' (''Polish Jazz vol 37'', Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1973: Polish Radio Jazz Band ''Koncert podwójny na pięciu solistów i orkiestrę'' (PolJazz)
* 1973: Tomasz Stańko ''Purple Sun'' (Calig)
* 1973: Tomasz Stańko ''W Pałacu Prymasowskim'' (released 1983, Pronit)
* 1975: Stowarzyszenie Popierania Prawdziwej Twórczości Chałturnik, Andrzej Rosiewicz ''SPPT Chałturnik, Andrzej Rosiewicz'' (co-led album, PolJazz)
* 1976: SPPT Chałturnik ''Kto tak pięknie gra'' (Polskie Nagrania Muza)
* 1982: Grand Standard Orchestra ''Grand Standard Orchestra'' (conducted by
Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski; PolJazz)
* 1995: Andrzej Dąbrowski ''A Time For Love'' (Polonia)
* 1998: Krzysztof Komeda ''Vol. 4 - Moja Ballada'' (three tracks only, recorded 1966–1967, PolJazz; previously reissued as ''Muzyka Krzysztofa Komedy 4'' in 1989)
* 2003: Piotr Lemańczyk ''Follow the Soul'' (Two tracks only; Allegro)
Compilations and collections
* 1967/2000: Novi Singers ''Torpedo / Rien Ne Va Plus'' (JVR)
* 1999: Novi Singers ''Vocal Jazz From Poland 1965-75'' (Jazzanova Compost Records (JCR))
* 1999: Various artists ''Polish Jazz: Modern Jazz From Poland 1963-75'' (Jazzanova Compost Records (JCR))
* 2002: Various artists ''Antologia jazzu'' (6CD box-set, two tracks only; Polskie Radio)
* 2015: Various artists ''The Best of Cracow Jazz – Traditional'' (Kurant)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muniak, Janusz
1941 births
2016 deaths
20th-century jazz composers
20th-century male musicians
20th-century saxophonists
20th-century Polish musicians
21st-century jazz composers
21st-century male musicians
21st-century Polish musicians
21st-century saxophonists
Avant-garde jazz composers
Avant-garde jazz flautists
Avant-garde jazz saxophonists
Bebop saxophonists
Free jazz composers
Free jazz flautists
Free jazz saxophonists
Hard bop saxophonists
Jazz soprano saxophonists
Jazz tenor saxophonists
Male jazz composers
Polish male musicians
Modal jazz saxophonists
Musicians from Kraków
Polish jazz composers
Polish jazz musicians
Polish saxophonists
Post-bop composers
Post-bop saxophonists
Swing saxophonists
20th-century flautists
21st-century flautists