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Aug 4, 2009
A collection of photographs presenting some of the leading American jazz musicians of the past five decades on their many tours around the world as cultural diplomats is on display in the underground gallery at the Wyspianski Pavillion in Krakow from August 4 to September 6, 2009. In addition to the pictures of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz greats performing in Asian, African and European nations, a vital part of the exhibit are the photographs of Marek Karewicz, a Polish photographer, documenting the American jazz concerts in communist-era Poland. During the opening Mr Karewicz presented his publication entitled This is Jazz, collection of jazz photos taken over the past 55 years, to acting Consul General Jeff Vick saying that "everything I did in life, and I did quite a lot, I owe to the US" . At the opening jazz musicians and fans and representatives of cultural institutions in Krakow exchanged their personal, and often emotional, memories of the American jazz concerts they had attended in their youth. Jeff Vick remembred his first jazz experience in Krakow back in 1991 on his first visit to the city "I knew that I had arrived in a place where people love the freedom and spirit that the music represents" The exhibit is being shown in Krakow within the "America, America " project, organized by the National Museum and co-sponsored by the consulate. (more photos)
