Pole Position

Krzysztof Komeda -- the alpha and omega of Polish jazz -- would have been 83 today.

He scored all the best Roman Polanski films and laid much of the foundation for the Eastern European improvised music renaissance of the last 50 years.

He died in 1969, just four days short of his 38th birthday, but he left a prolific legacy that continues to have a huge impact -- on jazz players in general and pianists in particular -- the world over.

Even if you've never heard of him, you've almost certainly heard his music, via the classic 1960s movies Knife In the Water and Rosemary's Baby.

He died because he was horseplaying around at a Christmas party in Los Angeles in 1968 and got accidentally pushed off a steep embankment by a friend.

In honor of Komeda, please enjoy this 1967 Polish TV program of his Quartet, this one featuring another lion of Euro jazz: the trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.

Krzysztof Komeda Quartet 

"Jazz w Filharmonii"
Poland Television performance

1967

01 Requiem for John Coltrane (AKA Nighttime Daytime Requiem)

Total time: 31:50

Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Rune Carlsson - drums
Roman Dylag - double bass
Tomasz Stanko - trumpet

PAL DVD from kinescope recorded by Polish TV

2.08 GB + bonus FLACs/April 2014 archive link