Jazz music in Krakow

By music historians, Krakow is considered the cradle of Polish jazz. In 1926, the “Jazz” association was established in Krakow. In this city, jazz music has moved from restaurants and cafes to concert halls. In the 1930s at the Władysław Żeleński Music School, jazz music classes were opened, taught by the famous Polish pianist Jan Ekier. The first jazz clubs were also established in those years. The first promoters of jazz music in Krakow were Jerzy Skarżyński and Marian Eile. The period until 1945 was called “the catacomb” because it was played in secret in private homes. Krakow was then the center of jazz in Poland. Artists such as Jerzy “Duduś” Matuszkiewicz, Andrzej Kurylewicz, Krzysztof Trzciński-Komeda, Stanisław Kalwiński and Andrzej Trzaskowski were active here. In 1954 the first swing group “Studio MM 176” was formed. In the same year, Zaduszki Jazzowe, one of the first jazz festivals in Europe, was organized.