Janusz Stefański. Virtuoso percussionist and co-founder of European jazz

Music institute and gallery in Königstein
 

One fixed source of income for the Stefański family was the drum lessons given by Janusz, for which the education knowledge he had gained as a school pupil and student in Kraków and his experience from the many workshops he had attended proved useful. He enjoyed working as a teacher. In light of this, in 1987, he somewhat spontaneously set up his own institution, the “Musik-Institut und Galerie” (Music Institute and Gallery). His entrepreneur friend rented out another floor in the villa in Limburgerstr. 22 in Königstein. The institute remained open until 1996, teaching young percussionists and pianists and organising jazz concerts and art exhibitions. It became an important centre of cultural life in the well-to-do, elite little town of Königstein. In Stefański’s gallery, artists such as Tomasz Stańko gave concerts, and founders of a Berlin cabaret theatre and chanson singers also performed there. When the owner of the villa announced that they wanted to use the space for a wine shop, Stefański decided to close the institute rather than look for new premises. In 1987, the Stefański family welcomed their second daughter, Julia.

Stefański was well known for his interest in raising awareness of Polish culture. In 1987, he co-founded a highly active association in Frankfurt, “Das Ost-Westeuropäische Kulturzentrum Palais Jalta” (The East-West European ‘Palais Yalta’ Culture Centre), which quickly achieved cult status. This haven of liberal thinking began to attract lecturers from Poland and other European countries, as well as Frankfurt intellectuals.

European jazz
 

In spite of all this activity, Janusz Stefański never forgot what was most important to him: his life as a musician. He was one of the standard bearers of European jazz, performing in concerts with Heinz Sauer, Christof Lauer, Emil Mangelsdorff, Charlie Mariano, Karl Berger, Kenny Werner, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Frank Tusa, Rick Rozie, David Friedman, Rashied Ali, Bob Degen, Woody Shaw, Jack Walworth, Carlos Ward, Miroslav Vitouš, John Tchicai and David Liebman.

He also appeared as a band leader. In 1989, he founded the “Janusz Stefański Trio” (Vladislav Sendecki, Vitold Rek, Janusz Stefański) and the “Janusz Stefański Quartet” (Christof Lauer, Vladislav Sendecki, Thomas Stabenow, Janusz Stefański). This was followed in 1990 by the “Stefański Project” (Vladislav Sendecki, Tomasz Stańko, Christof Lauer, Miroslav Vitouš), and in 1993 by the “Karolak-Szukalski-Stefański Trio”. In 2000, he created the “Janusz Stefański JazzArt” ensemble.

At the same time, he played in lineups with his musical colleagues John Tchicai, Heinz Sauer, Jürgen Wuchner and Leszek Żądło, and after 1992 in the “Emil Mangelsdorff Quartett”. From the end of the 1990s onwards, the formation played at the Holzhausenschlösschen on the first of every month, a cultural institution that was typical of the association and foundation spirit in Frankfurt. In the course of time, the quartet was joined by Vitold Rek, another Polish musician.

In 2009, Stefański performed with the “Polish Jazz Group”, a lineup consisting mainly of Polish musicians who had lived abroad for years: Jan Jarczyk from Canada, Andrzej Olejniczak from Spain, Dariusz Oleszkiewicz from the US and Zbigniew Wegehaupt from Poland. In 2009 and 2010, the “Polish Jazz Group” toured Poland, France, Canada and the US.

Jazz man and professor
 

In 1993, Stefański began a collaboration with the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, becoming a teacher in the jazz department, where he taught percussion, jazz combo and rhythm theory. Having gained his first experience of teaching early on, from 1966–1968 at the Kraków State Music School (Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna w Krakowie), he took his job as a teacher very seriously. During the 1970s, he had again proved his talent in this field when he worked as a teacher at the jazz workshops in Chodzież. From 1971–1975, he was one of the co-founders of this oldest institution of its kind in Poland and Europe, which was well known for its high artistic standards and its avantgarde atmosphere. There, the musicians conducted musical experiments in factory halls, among other places, which had never been used for that purpose before. After 2000, Stefański returned to Chodzież as a teacher and German professor.

In 1980, he taught at an international jazz seminar in Hungary. In 1982, he taught percussion at a workshop in Püttlingen, followed by further workshops in Heidelberg in 1988 and in Darmstadt from 1992–1995. From 2000–2003, he gave tuition at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst). In 2009, he was awarded an honorary professorship at the Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

Janusz Stefański’s discography comprises around 70 albums. Not only that, but there is also almost no important jazz musician in Europe with whom he has not played. He performed at about 150 well-known jazz festivals and in recognition of his musical achievements, was awarded the prestigious “Hessen Jazz Prize” in 2003.