INTERVIEW WITH THE FESTIVAL’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Interview with the Artistic Director of Vertigo Summer Jazz Festival – Piotr Karwat.

How does the Vertigo Summer Jazz Festival affect the popularization of jazz in Wroclaw and the region?

-Vertigo Summer Jazz Festival is, I dare say, maybe not the biggest, but certainly one of the longest festivals in Poland and maybe in the world. Well, after all, by realizing in one month about 40 festival concerts in various places, we hope to reach the largest possible audience. For the eighth year in a row we want to showcase jazz in Wroclaw, to the residents of our city as well as to all tourists who visit Wroclaw during this summer period.

Will the festival program include more young talent or established names of the jazz scene?

-Our festival is aimed at promoting young Artists. We would like every jazz musician active in Wroclaw to be able to present their original material, if they have any. But we also welcome concerts dedicated to the greatest creators of jazz music, the so-called Tributes. Big names from the jazz world will also appear during this month. The idea is to emphasize the importance of our festival in this way as well.

What is the significance of this festival for you personally – what do you want to convey to the audience through it?

-I consider the Vertigo Summer Jazz Festival to be our, no longer such a small child of Vertigo. It is the culmination of our hard work for jazz music and Artists in Wroclaw. It is a kind of our tribute to this music and to all those who create this month-long festival with us.

What are the challenges of holding daily concerts throughout the month in different locations?

-The festival’s biggest challenge, is for our marketing and technical team. Marketing because every day they have to show jazz in a different place and adopt a different marketing strategy. And for the technicians … well it’s a breakneck task to build a stage and sound system in a different place every day for a whole month. Run rehearsals, arrange logistics with musicians. Fortunately, all the people we work with are professionals and passionate. People who want to do it, love to do it and do it with a smile on their face and reason in their heads. I thank them very much for that.

Do you remember your first contact with jazz? What captivated you then?

-One of my first contacts with BIG JAZZ, was a concert by Mr. Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski at the Rura Club. It was then that I decided that I was going to work in radio and host a jazz program, like Mr. Jan did in PR3 with the Three Quadrants of Jazz. I didn’t dream then that a few years later I would be realizing Mr. Jan’s concerts in such a wonderful venue as Vertigo. Mr. Jan is no longer with us, but fortunately the music and memories remain.

What role does jazz play in your daily life – is it just a job?

-Jazz is that friend that I will sometimes argue with, but I know that I can always reach out to him and we are happy to sit down and talk together. Jazz in my life is changing a lot – I used to listen more to Fusion or experimental jazz. Nowadays I find myself listening more to Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. I often dabble with jazz, but I’m always happy to return to it. As they say Not-Jazz is the only thing a man lives by

If you had to describe the Vertigo Summer Jazz Festival with one sound or emotion – what would it be?

-Our festival I would most like to describe with color – it is a combination of yellow and red in a gradient. This is the color that is exactly in the middle. It is such an orangish color mixed with summer.