10th November, 7:30pm/music at 8:30pm, Jazz Cafe POSK, Hammersmith

Come and hear a concert by internationally acclaimed jazz singer Aga Zaryan, the first Polish artist to release records under New York’s legendary Blue Note label.

The concert is part of the official programme of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2023.

Aga Zaryan ‘s creativity is the quintessence of that which is finest in the history of jazz, a continuation of the tradition of legendary accomplishments by female jazz vocalists.

The artist owes her worldwide recognition to a unique style, with a characteristic lightness of phrasing and a warm, matte tone of voice.

She was the first Polish artist to release records under New York’s legendary Blue Note Records label. With this, the Artist joined names such as: Norah Jones, Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Bobby McFerrin.

Aga Zaryan is a recipient of the most important awards in the music world, recognized as one of Poland’s finest jazz vocalists (a many-time winner of Jazz Forum magazine’s Jazz Top poll – in the Jazz Vocalist of The Year category).

In 2022, the artist released her eleventh album entitled “SARA”, which prompted critics to award Aga the title of the best Polish jazz singer of the year – JAZZ TOP 2022.

The record-breaking sales of her albums show that her ambition and sublime style, allow her to reach a wide-ranging community of listeners. The artist wins the hearts of audiences, performing all over the world.

Aga Zaryan is also actively involved in several social causes, being a PAH Ambassador and an associate of KPH, among other things. For her activism, she was awarded the Star of Charity in 2017.

Pianist and composer Michał Tokaj, born in Warsaw in 1974, is one of the most creative and versatile pianist/composers to appear on the Polish jazz scene in the last 25 years. His music and playing draw on a variety of influences that range from bebop to impressionist classical music, and the creative mark he leaves on any project he’s involved with is unmistakable, as this is a musician with a sound of his own.

He has performed and/or recorded with a veritable “who’s who” of Poland’s top jazzmen that spans generations, starting with his debut on the Polish jazz stage as a member of drummer/bandleader Kazimierz Jonkisz’s Quartet in 1993, and going on to work with musicians like Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewski, Janusz Muniak, Tomasz Szukalski, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Piotr Baron, Henryk Miśkiewicz and Piotr Wojtasik, to name just a few.

Several internationally and world-renowned jazz artists have made use of his talents as well, including trumpeter Eddie Henderson, jazz/blues saxophone legend Monty Waters, drummer Victor Lewis, and virtuoso multi-reedist and flautist Bennie Maupin, of Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” fame.

Tokaj’s formidable talents as a composer and arranger are very much in evidence on more than one of Zaryan’s projects, beginning with her debut album of standards “My Lullaby”, which he arranged and co-produced, in addition to playing on. The album was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the “Jazz Album of The Year” category in 2002, and that same year Tokaj also received a nomination for “Jazz Musician of The Year”. Aga Zaryan’s Fryderyk Award-winning 2007 album “Beauty Is Dying”, in turn, is a collection of poems dedicated to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, sung to music played by a piano-bass-drums trio with string quartet, all written by him.

Internationally acclaimed Polish top jazz singer Aga Zaryan and one of the most outstanding Polish jazz musicians, pianist Michał Tokaj, have been working together for over 20 years. They recorded many albums together, including two that were awarded the Fryderyk music award. Michał Tokaj is often the music director of Aga’s projects.

During the concert at Jazz Café POSK within EFG London Jazz Festival 2023 they will present Aga’s well-known songs from various albums, but there will also be surprises!

Aga Zaryan – vocal

Michał Tokaj – piano

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agazaryanofficial/

Aritst FB page: https://www.facebook.com/AgaZaryanOfficial

For videos of Aga Zaryan performing and to book tickets, see the following link:

AGA ZARYAN Tickets, Fri 10 Nov 2023 at 20:30 | Eventbrite