Polish Jazz Festival: Kayah

Polish Jazz Festival presents the legendary vocalist, composer, lyricist, and producer, Kayah, one of the most recognisable and acclaimed artists in Poland.Since her debut release in 1995, followed by 11 Gold and Platinum LPs (Skała, Kamień, Transoriental Orchestra), Kayah has established herself as the most unique and prominent Polish female singer/songwriter.Over the course of her illustrious solo career, which saw her collaborate with greats like Goran Bregović, Cesária Évora and Yasmin Levy, the artist has touched upon a multitude of genres such as pop, soul, jazz, funk, world, dance and even Jewish or Balkan music.On top of countless awards, in 2007, Kayah was invited as the first Central and Eastern European artist to play an MTV Unplugged concert, which resulted in an album of the same name.The unique project ‘Jazzayah’ features Kayah’s best-known hits in entirely new, distinctive jazz arrangements, as well as original songs that have always carried jazz potential and have now been given new life.

The programme also includes well-known jazz standards, both American and Polish.The artist’s band lineup includes outstanding figures from the jazz scene.

Jan Smoczyński, a pianist, composer, and music producer behind many of her projects, comes from a jazz background yet has very broad musical interests, which allows him to create refined, cross-genre musical collages.The rhythm section is formed by truly world-class musicians, long-standing pillars of top ensembles (including the Marcin Wasilewski Trio, Tomasz Stańko, Aga Zaryan, and Piotr Wojtasik): Michał Barański and Michał Miśkiewicz.Both possess a unique sound, and their involvement in any project guarantees freshness and a promise of engaging with sophisticated music, where a focus on tone, rhythmic elasticity, and musicality forms the foundation on which they weave beautiful stories.As is tradition, Kayah will be joined vocally by her long-time backing singer, Iwona Zasuwa, who has shared the stage with her for 25 years.