Kazimierz Jonkisz - drums
Borys Janczarski - tenor saxophone
Dominik Wania - piano
Michał Jaros - double bass
Kazimierz Jonkisz (born 9 November 1948 in Wilamowice) - Polish jazz musician, drummer, composer, leader, pedagogue. He graduated from the Instrumental Department of the Academy of Music in Katowice. Initially played in a dixieland band with which he was successful at the Jazz nad Odrą festival in Wrocław. After graduation, he joined Zbigniew Namysłowski, with whom he recorded the famous ‘Winobranie’ album (1973). He participated in the recording of about 70 albums, including with Janusz Muniak, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Mieczysław Kosz and many other Polish musicians.
Jonkisz is a continuation of the great American tradition of leader drummers such as Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Buddy Rich and Art Blakey. He is the second ever leader percussionist to release an album in the Polish Jazz series and the only one to have recorded two albums for the series.
Winner of Jazz on the Oder at the age of 18 and a Comedian Scholarship recipient, Jonkisz has been climbing the firmament of Polish jazz stars from the start. The 2024 Golden Fryderyk Award he received for lifetime achievement is only confirmation of what musicians and jazz fans have known about him for years.
Kazimierz Jonkisz's latest album, Monty & Soul, is a tribute to his friend and frequent musical companion, the American saxophonist Monty Waters.
As an alto saxophonist, Monty Waters was inspired by Charlie Parker and John Coltrane; as a singer, he tapped into the deepest roots of the blues, including melodic tales.
This album marks Jonkisz's return to his years working with Waters and their soulful music. The tracks are mostly compositions by Waters, including one dedicated to Jonkisz - jokingly called “Casimir the Great”, or Casimir the Great - as well as two archival melodeclamation recordings: lectures, or anecdotes, by Waters about Buddy Bolden, a tragic legend from the prehistoric - pre-recording - days of jazz, the punchline of which is Maxwell Davis' song, “Bad, Bad Whiskey”.
- Elvin Jones had a credo that when you sit down behind the drums, play it like it's the last gig of your life. I pull the band with my energy. Even the coronavirus didn't take it away from me, so I play hard as always," Jonkisz once said in an interview.
25.10.2025 / Saturday / 19:00 / Sala Koncertowa JCK Ulica Bankowa / Kazimierz Jonkisz Quartet Monty & Soul