Krzysztof Zgraja

Krzysztof Zgraja (* 1950 in Gliwice ) is a Polish solo and jazz flutist , composer and conductor .

Live and act

Zgraja comes from a musical family; his father played the oboe and cor anglais in the Katowice Philharmonic Orchestra. At the age of six he began to learn the violin and piano. From 1968 to 1977 he studied flute and composition at the Katowice Music Academy . Since around 1970 he began to be interested in jazz and immediately played free jazz , where he tried out numerous possibilities of extended playing on the flute. In 1972 he performed with bassist Czesław Gładkowski at the Jazz nad Odrą Festival in Wrocław , where he won first prize as an instrumentalist. After that he drew attention to himself for a long time through intensive festival and concert activities in the genres of experimental music , jazz, flamenco and classical music, which took him all over Europe and Asia. Numerous radio and television recordings and LP / CD recordings were made. With Barre Phillips he performed in 1975 in the Balver Höhle . Since 1979, initially at the Peitz Jazz Workshop , he has performed in a duo with Jacek Bednarek , with whom he had previously worked in other constellations. In the 1980s Krzysztof Zgraja played with Ernst Reijseger and Theo Jörgensmann in Bernd Köppen's European Way Ensemble .

In 1989 Krzysztof Zgraja moved to Germany, where, due to his stylistic openness, over 150 concert and educational works for flute solo, duets, trios and mixed ensembles were created, which were published by publishers such as Zimmermann Musikverlag , Schott Musik International , Universal Edition .

Since 1990 he has presented a multi-stylistic and virtuoso solo program of his own compositions, teaches at universities and leads master classes in many countries. Between 1992 and 1998 he also played the flute on several CD releases by Horst Boesing ( Thors ).

Discography

• Czesław Gładkowski / Krzysztof Zgraja Alter Ego (1974, Muza)
• Laokoon (with Zbigniew Namysłowski , Wojciech Kamiński, Jacek Bednarek, Krzysztof Ścierański, Reto Weber , Marek Stach; 1981, Muza)
• Zgraja & Bednarek Live in Hannover (1981, Poljazz)
• Zgraja / Bednarek The Best of Flute & Bass

Meditative music

• Relaxation music for the Jungfrau (with Horst Bösing) Neptun Music, Munich 1992
• Sun Suite (with Horst Bösing), Windpferd Verlag Aitrang 1994
• Dance in the Light (with Horst Bösing), Neptun Music, Munich 1997
• Fantastic Flute Dreams (with Horst Bösing), Neptun Music, Munich 1998
• Soul Landscapes (with Joachim-Ernst Berendt - conception and speaker, Vladislav Sendecki - piano, Philip Catherine - guitars), Hermann Bauer, Freiburg 1999; republished by JARO, Bremen

literature

• Bert Noglik Jazzwerkstatt International. Berlin Verlag Neue Musik 1981, pp. 85–96

Web links

• Krzysztof Zgraja's website