Annual Jazz Festival
There is a strong tradition of jazz in Europe. Even from the early days, artists regularly came from the US to play with an emerging crop of talented Europeans like Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
Poland is no different. Jazz has been a popular art form here for a long time, with many Polish composers and musicians rivaling the Americans.
Kraków is a city where jazz has always been welcome, and although it’s a fairly small place, I am amazed at how often you can find live jazz. The month of July is even better than normal, as we will be in town right at the same time when the annual jazz festival will take place, with concerts happening in various clubs around the city throughout the whole month. In the past, the festival has featured some big names, including Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Jean-Luc Ponty. This year guitarist John Scofield will be there with his band, as will Randy Brecker. Bummer, those concerts will happen before and after our trip. We will, however, get a chance to see some really good players, as something is going on every night when we’re there. About a dozen clubs are set as venues, nearly all of which are conveniently located in the Old Town. One event that looks interesting to me is the one that I’ve mentioned in the past that takes place outdoors. It’s on the 14th and features several Polish bands, as well as an American group called Brooklyn Funk Essentials. This might be fun to check out when we’re walking around the Old Town. It’s on the Mały Rynek (Small Market Square), which is two minutes from the big square.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YVKatNuf9o
Here’s a link to all of the events around town that are associated with the festival. It looks like a large percentage of them are in the cellar bar “Piwnica pod Baranami,” which is located on the Main Square (Rynek Główny). It’s a small venue, so it would be especially good to see something here.
https://cracjazz.com/wordpress/en/news/wydarzenia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piwnica_pod_Baranami
https://piwnicapodbaranami.pl/
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