Interview with Witold Wnuk, organiser of the Piwnica Pod Baranami Summer Jazz Festival

I remember how 13 years ago you appeared in our editorial office with an idea for a summer jazz festival. That was a pleasant surprise – in those days in Krakow there wasn’t much happening in the summer holidays…

Already from the mid-80’s, I was spending the majority of my time in Kuwait. I was missing Kraków more and more. At the same time, when visiting, I was talking with Piotr Skrzynecki who was encouraging me to return to the old tradition of summer jazz events, remembering me as their organiser. There were a few sponsors prepared to offer modest sums and it was possible to mark the 40th anniversary of Piwnica Pod Baranami by setting the first festival in motion. Suddenly it turned out that the concerts were attracting crowds of people.
At the same time the Kraków 2000 festival was starting up. Kraków had entered a phase involving the development of cultural projects; in the city were appearing a lot of tourists – a coincidence followed on from this. It was then that I felt that this project had many years in it. Almost from the beginning, more than half of the audience have come from other countries and this year we also have very many bookings from abroad.

How did it actually happen that you – so deeply steeped in the musical life of Kraków – moved to Kuwait?

As I graduated from the Academy of Music in cello performance, I am a classical musician, but I was also, as a hobby, playing jazz on the piano and percussion. I worked with the Stary Theatre and Janusz Muniak and was also a member of Ewa Demarczyk’s group. In the 1980’s, it was becoming increasingly difficult to make money in Poland, even when working with acclaimed artists. In the end, I joined up with the “Markus” popular music group, who were touring the Middle East for purely financial reasons and we ended up in Jordan and afterwards Kuwait...

Ending up somewhere and settling there – there is surely a difference.

But when I was there, they were looking for lecturers for the newly established Higher Institute of Music in Kuwait, an equivalent the Academy of Music; cello lecturers. I accepted this offer and from 1989, for many years I was running cello classes. At this time, I also became increasingly aware of my organisational skills – together with my friend, Cezary Owerkowicz, I founded in 1992 the Kuwait Chamber Philharmonia – a regular concert season that up to this day has featured hundreds of concerts, some involving the participation of such stars as Ivo Pogorelić, Konstanty A. Kulka and Janusz Olejniczak. After this came the Gulf Jazz Festival which gradually embraced all the countries of the Persian Gulf – Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar – and at which by now practically all the stars of the Polish jazz scene have appeared, some of them on many occasions – this year Jarek Śmietana was there for the sixth time. Next year – Chopin Year – I am organising the NPRSO (National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra) Chopin Tournée with marvellous pianists and conductors and a final concert in Abu Dhabi led by Krzysztof Penderecki. I divide my time between Kraków and Kuwait and my interests – between classical music and jazz.

Did you have moments of doubt during these festival years?

No, I didn’t. By nature I am an optimist; besides, Kraków is most important for me. My firm in Poland and Kuwait – Cracovia Music Agency – has Kraków in its name and while Arabic interviewers sometimes confuse “Poland” and “Holland” – they never get confused about the city I come from. I promote Kraków as a global, magical, radiant centre of culture. When Piotr Skrzynecki died, I made use of all my contacts and managed to get a large picture of Piotr on the front page of the Kuwaiti “Arab Times” with the information that a great man had died, a real Merlin of Polish and European culture.

And do you have some plans, some unfulfilled dreams?

Of course – I want to build in Zakopane, on my family’s land, a cultural centre with a jazz club, gallery and hotel by the Zakopane restaurant U Wnuka, which I co-own. This is for the years when I am old, which unfortunately are approaching with great strides (laughs). And as far as music is concerned, I would like George Benson (as a guitarist!) to appear at the festival in Kraków or the last of the greats – Sonny Rollins. I’m already in contact with their agents – and they’ll come in the end.

This year’s concerts in the Kraków Opera – which include appearances by the NDR Big Band, Maria Schneider and Joe Lovano – make for a great celebration of jazz.

These – in short – are big stars. What is more, I hope that my collaboration with Hamburg, thanks to which we have the NDR, will develop into a regular exchange of jazz projects between our cities.
Now in Poland times for jazz are better than in the rest of the world – our festivals are blossoming, while everywhere else it is mainly cheap, commercial “muck” that is being promoted. This year a true legend – the New York Jazz Festival – disappeared from the map. I can hardly believe it. It is up to all of us to ensure that jazz lasts, develops and still acts as an inspiration for other art forms. Hope is also provided by young organisers and managers with a spring in their step – in Kraków, there have been more and more of these over recent years. This fills me with optimism.