Irek Wojtczak

Irek Wojtczak is a saxophone player, improviser, composer and arranger. Wojtczak is a longtime promoter of Polish folk music which was an inspiration for two of his albums: Direct Memory Access and Folk Five (recorded in collaboration with the Fonda/Stevens Group).

Quinsin Nachoff��s Flux & Hot Heros

by Maurice Hogue
December 12, 2018

A pair of albums from Northern European artists demonstrate a similar approach in this episode--improvising upon the folk melodies of their countries--Poland's Irek Wojtczak and his Folk Five and Finland's Hot Heros. For Wojtczak, he's just happy to see his recording available: the radio station that was recording the live concert lost the tapes, but fortunately, ...

Folk Five

By Irek Wojtczak

Label: Fortune Records
Released: 2015
Track listing: Ale Zagrajze Mi Kowola (Play the Kowal); Cztery Mile Za Warszawa (It Was Four Miles Out of Warsaw); Leczycki (Oberek Dance From Leczycki); Pod Gazem (Typsy); Kiej Jo Ide W Pole (When I Go to the Field); Weselny (For the Wedding); Oj Stary Jo se Stary (Oh, Am I Old); Ogrywka.

Irek Wojtczak & The Fonda-Stevens Group: Folk Five

by Angelo Leonardi
November 16, 2015

Il connubio con la tradizione folklorica �� stata una delle costanti del jazz in Polonia. Dal loro enorme patrimonio di canti e danze popolari hanno tratto ispirazione -direttamente o indirettamente-importanti jazzmen di quel Paese: si va dall'opera pionieristica di Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski e di Zygmunt Wichary a quella di Zbigniew Namyslowski, Michal Urbaniak, Andrzej Trzaskowski e ...

Irek Wojtczak & The Fonda-Stevens Group: Folk Five

by Budd Kopman
April 26, 2015

Polish jazz has a long history, and includes many more players than the widely known Tomasz Stanko or Krzysztof Komeda. A deeper, and much earlier influence than American jazz coming to Poland is that of the folk music indigenous to Poland itself. Reedman (saxophones and bass clarinet) Irek Wojtczak, arguably a free player, relates ...

Irek Wojtczak & The Fonda-Stevens Group: Wojtczak NY Connection

by C. Michael Bailey
March 15, 2015

Jazz from the edge of Eastern Europe. Wojtczak NY Connection is very much and East meets West jazz endeavor. Irek Wojtczak is a Polish saxophonist, conservatory trained and stage proven. For the Wojtczak NY Connection, Wojtczak joins the New York City-based Fonda/Stevens Group (bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Stevens) for an internationally-flavored eutectoid. The results ...

Irek Wojtczak & The Fonda-Stevens Group: Folk Five

by Karl Ackermann
February 13, 2015

The substantial music community in Eastern Europe has a particular affinity for incorporating elements of regional and ethnic music into modern jazz. Gypsy jazz, klezmer and various strains of ethno-fusion have often been combined so that regional influences and free jazz serve as a shared platform, at times addressing political and social causes. For Polish saxophonist ...