Above all…Joachim’s phrases…have this melodious charm, which is available to only the greatest of pianists.” PAWEŁ BARANOWSKI, DIAPAZON
This event is recommended by the Polish Cultural Institute New York.
SEATTLE – EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL, Town Hall, October 30, 7: 30pm
Double Bill with M.O.M. / Francois Moutin, Louis Moutin, Jowee Omicil
Tickets
Joachim Mencel – piano, hurdy-gurdy
Pete McCann – guitar
Ugonna Okegwo – double bass
Allan Mednard – drums
NEW YORK – THE JAZZ GALLERY, November 6, 8:00pm
1160 Broadway, NYC | Tickets at the door only
Joachim Mencel – piano, hurdy-gurdy
Pete McCann – guitar
Ugonna Okegwo – double bass
Rogerio Boccato – drums
CHICAGO – ALL SOULS JAZZ FESTIVAL, November 7, 9:00pm
CHOPIN THEATER, 1543 W. Division St. Chicago 60642
Joachim Mencel – piano, hurdy-gurdy
Pete McCann – guitar
Ugonna Okegwo – double bass
Quin Kirchner – drums
JOACHIM MENCEL, “BROOKLYN EYE” (Origin 82806)
BEST RECORDING 2020 – High Fidelity Magazine (Poland)
“…Joachim Mencel has created an album of tremendous depth, passion and promise that speaks to the liberties that he’s always admired in America…Brooklyn Eye, simply put, has a wide-open gaze on possibility.” Dan Bilawsky, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Celebrated Polish pianist, composer, lyricist, and a foremost proponent of modern jazz on the hurdy-gurdy (vielle à roue), Joachim Mencel has a wide-ranging career composing for film, orchestras and ballet, touring with his jazz projects, or appearances with giants such as Lee Konitz, Dino Saluzzi, Richard Galliano, Dave Liebman, Eddie Henderson, Charlie Mariano, and many others. Though he’s experienced performing in America before, including being a part of the Monk Piano Competition in 1989, Brooklyn Eye is the realization of a dream forged in his youth behind the iron curtain. Recording compositions that were informed by the culture, musicians, harmonies and feelings of America, and then to record in New York City with several vital improvisors whose music has inspired him for years – guitarist Steve Cardenas, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Rudy Royston – Mencel terms Brooklyn Eye, “a symbolic, idyllic place where dreams come true.” Recorded the day after Notre Dame Cathedral burned in Paris, a palpable melancholy presided over the session, adding further dimension to this pivotal experience in Mencel’s musical life.
This project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund
Streaming
Video
Website
Origin website
Joachim Mencel – pianist, lyricist, composer, music producer, PhD – assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Krakow, decorated with, among others Silver Cross of Merit and Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis, called the “romantic of Polish jazz pianism”
He graduated from the Jazz and Popular Music Department of the Music Academy in Katowice. He played, among others in the bands of Janusz Muniak (CD “Contemplation”), Andrzej Cudzich (CD “Simple Way”) and Nigel Kennedy. He regularly cooperates with the American clarinettist Brad Terrym (albums “All about spring”, “Colorado”, “Live in Fort Andross”). A respected arranger of vocal music, he wrote and arranged songs for Ewa Bem (all songs on the album “Kakadu”), Mieczysław Szcześniak, Anna Maria Jopek and the bands New Life and El Greco. Mencel is the author of a jazz cantata for choir, orchestra and soloists “Love explained everything to me”, as well as music for films, ballet spectacles and pantomime.
Joachim Mencel has performed in many countries of Europe, America, Africa and Asia, including with the author’s project jmTrio (CD “Interludium”). In addition, he collaborated with many respected musicians, including Lee Konitz, Dino Saluzzi, Richard Galliano, Dave Liebman, David Friedman, Eddie Henderson, Ronnie Burrage, Charlie Mariano, Rufus Reid, Terry Clarke, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Vitold Rek, Jarosław Śmietana.
