Komeda Project at Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC, with Jeff Davis, Don Falzone, K. Medyna, Russ Johnson, A. Winnicki
KOMEDA PROJECT Born and raised in Poland, Andrzej Winnicki and Krzysztof Medyna have been playing together for over thirty years. They bring both European classicism and a melancholy Slavic sense of melody to music that is heavily refracted through the prism of American jazz. Before moving to the United States in the late 1980s they spent years touring Europe with the award-winning group Breakwater. Medyna was also a member of In/Formation, also featuring Czeslaw Bartkowski on drums, touring extensively on double bills with ECM recording artist and Polish trumpet legend Tomasz Stanko. After releasing In the Bush in 2001 with a reformed Electric Breakwater that also included bassist Mark Egan and drummer Rodney Holmes, Winnicki and Medyna decided to unplug, forming the all-acoustic Komeda Project in 2004. Komeda Project's raison d'être is to keep alive the music of Krzysztof Komeda (1931-1969), the distinguished Polish-born film composer-jazz pianist. Pianist-arranger Andrzej Winnicki and saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna, joined by trumpeter Russ Johnson, bassist Michael Bates and drummer Michael Winnicki, present a fascinating glimpse into the complex workings of the mind of Komeda. Despite the fact that it is 40 years since Komeda's death, this group is not only at the forefront of contemporary jazz, it is also richly apparent that the composer's work is as valid today as it was when it was composed. This music should appeal to all who admire today's jazz style. The following musicians complete the current lineup of the Komeda Project group: Trumpeter Russ Johnson, a Manhattan School of Music graduate, is an active performer in the jazz, improvised, and contemporary classical music scenes throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has performed and/or recorded with a long list of heavyweights including: Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Richie Beirach, Mark Ribot, Charles Earland, David Liebman, The Jazz Passengers, Oliver Lake, Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Brian Blade, Aretha Franklin and Tony Malaby. A native of Canada, bassist Michael Bates is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has studied with bassist/composer Mark Helias, Don Thompson, Dave Young and has also worked under the former principal bassist of the Tokyo Symphony, Yoshio Nagashima. He has toured Hong Kong, China, Korea and Japan and performed across the United States and across Canada. Michael Bates was on faculty at the Banff Centre of the Arts as Program Coordinator of the International Jazz Workshop for five years where he worked with the artistic director, Dave Douglas. Drummer Michael Winnicki is a young up-and-coming player still in his teens. He is currently a student at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers State University pursuing a double major in Jazz Studies with Victor Lewis and Classical Percussion with Joseph Tompkins and New York Philharmonic's principal timpanist Markus Rhoten. Komeda Project CD's: Crazy Girl - (WM Music) 2007 Requiem - (WM Music) 2009
