Saturday 30 November 2024
On the 60th anniversary of the founding of POSK, the singer, violinist and composer Alice Zawadzki presents a brand-new commission to celebrate the beloved London institution. This suite of songs - Hanging on a Comet's Tail - is written for voice, violin, cello, piano, double bass and percussion, and composed for the particularities and talents of Alice's celebrated trio with pianist-percussionist Fred Thomas and double bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado.
These are songs exploring the colourful and humorous personalities of both Poles and non-Poles of post-war London, themes of exile and regeneration, poetry of the greats, such as Szymborska and Hartwig, and dreams about new directions and destinies.
In a concert of two halves, and as the perfect foil to this exciting set of new songs, the trio will also present repertoire from Za Górami, their much-lauded debut album for ECM Records, released in September 2024.
Made the Guardian's official Jazz Album of the Month by John Fordham, Za Górami invites the listener into a magical realm. Selwyn Harris of Jazzwise Magazine described it as "a delicate free-flowing, spacious, still-of-the-night affair with a sensitive less-is-more approach to ensemble dialogue. An exquisite recording that penetrates a little deeper with every listen."
The trio explains: "Collected on our travels and taught to us by our friends, these are songs we have learnt and loved together. Though our musical and cultural backgrounds encompass Europe, Russia and South America, we were all three born in England. This happenstance was the product of love, war, exile, the arbitrariness of borders and the yearning for a new life - all themes which are themselves woven through the narratives you’ll hear within. Gathered from Argentina, France, Venezuela, Poland and the deep well of Sephardic culture, these folk tales speak to the moon, the mountains, the rain, the madness of humans and the prophecies of birds."
Line up:
Alice Zawadzki – voice, violin
Colin Alexander - cello
Fred Thomas – piano, percussion
Misha Mullov-Abbado – double bass
www.octoberhouserecords.co.uk/colin-alexander/
Video 1 (“Za Gorami”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQ9pKju4aU
Video 2 („Gentle Lady” – ECM album Za Gorami trailer): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Itaok9COSig
Video 3 (Alice Zawadzki Trio – ECM album preview „Za Gorami”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QflPPbkU8Fw
