13.10. / Kunstkraftwerk / 20 Uhr - Polish star saxophonist meets bass legend (Weather Report, Chick Corea, Miles Davis...)

 In 2010, saxophonist Adam Pierończyk, who lives in Leipzig's twin city of Krakow, created "Komeda: The Innocent Sorcerer," probably the best recording ever dedicated to his compatriot Krzysztof Komeda. Komeda was a pioneering Polish jazz musician who devoted himself specifically to composing film music and gained fame for his work with Roman Polanski, and here especially for his soundtrack to the 1968 psychological horror film "Rosemary's Baby." Pierończyk cast his homage with two saxophones as lead instruments and a rhythm section of bass, drums and guitar - and thus manages to truly capture Komeda's musical idea.
But how do you top a perfect work? Pierończyk succeeded with a highly spiritual recording for solo soprano saxophone, "The Planet of Eternal Life," the wonderful double CD "A-Train Nights" in quartet formation and in duo with bass icon Miroslav Vitouš on "Wings," which the two are now presenting in Leipzig.
Vitouš's reputation is built on the five albums he recorded as a member of Weather Report in the early '70s, as well as several of his own releases on ECM. His strong and direct sound sings, he dances. Vitouš and Pierończyk (heard on soprano and tenor) weave their voices together, reflecting each other in sometimes belligerent, then relaxed conversation. "Enzo and the Blue Mermaid," as the album opener, begins with a simple, melodic saxophone riff in the Ornette Coleman manner before the bass enters with its own melodicism and feel. Call and response, born out of close listening - this is how the two musicians spontaneously create a number that is able to deftly use free spaces. Vitouš sounds like his own little orchestra as he soars with his bow, and Pierończyk follows him into the sky on "Bach at Night." "I'm Flying! I'm Flying!" brings Pierończyk's birdlike tone on soprano sax to the fore as his melody flickers and flutters around Vitouš' pulsing bass lines, and "Full Moon Sky" lifts with a reverberating bass that sounds like it's playing in a cathedral as Pierończyk's saxophone echoes with a prayerful tone in the overlapping deep waves of sound. Adam Pieroncyzk and Miroslav Vitouš create beauty (seemingly) effortlessly on "Wings."
With the kind support of the Polish Institute Leipzig
Tickets for the double concert with the Bertram Burkert Quartett
VVK 22/16 Euro (plus fee)
AK 26/20 Euro