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

From the “Tomasz Stańko Quintet” to “Hans Koller Free Sound”
 

When Tomasz Stańko founded his famous “Tomasz Stańko Quintet” in 1968, there was no question of anyone playing the drums except Stefański. Aside from Tomasz Stańko (trumpet), the band consisted of Zbigniew Seifert (alto saxophone and violin), Janusz Muniak (tenor saxophone), Bronisław Suchanek and Janusz Stefański (percussion). They represented Polish jazz at the greatest European jazz festivals and became highly popular as a result.

Stefański reached the pinnacle of his musical career in Poland at an early age. In a poll conducted by the Polish jazz magazine “Jazz Forum” in 1970, he came top of the list in the “percussion” category. In 1971, he was named “musician of the year” by music critics. The lineup of the “Tomasz Stańko Quintet” remained the same until 1973. However, even after they stopped playing together, the band members continued to meet as friends for the rest of their lives, both on and off the stage.

After the Stańko Quintet was disbanded, Janusz Stefański and Zbigniew Seifert joined the band headed by Hans Koller, the most famous Austrian saxophonist. During this period, Stefański played with several different formations: the “Hans Koller Free Sound” group; the “Radio Jazz Group Stuttgart”, in which he appeared alongside Wolfgang Dauner (piano), Albrecht Mangelsdorff (trumpet) and Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone), Sławomir Kulpowicz (piano) and Paweł Jarzębski (double bass); with the “Zbigniew Namysłowski Quartet”; and with Michel Herr (piano) and Hans Hartmann (double bass) in the “Zbigniew Seifert Variospheres” quartet.

In 1979, Stefański mourned the premature death of his best friend Zbigniew Seifert. When Seifert’s widow Agnieszka transferred the urn containing her husband’s ashes to the US, Stefański collected her from Warsaw airport and gave her a place to stay in his Warsaw apartment.

American jazz school
 

Even while he was still studying, Janusz Stefański’s extraordinary musical career already gave him a jump start onto the international stages, and during the first half of the 1970s, he spent most of his time abroad. He invested the fees earned there into his ongoing education. In 1975, he fulfilled his dream of taking part in a summer course at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, the most famous jazz school in the world. A friendly recommendation by the Rector of the Kraków Music Academy at the time, Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki, helped him obtain the necessary visa. Stefański was given a modest stipend, but had to pay the lion’s share of the costs from his own pocket. He was the first Pole to visit this legendary jazz institution. The head of the college recognised his talent and brilliance and frequently invited him to private talks. They discussed music, but also Europe and Poland, which for the American was a remote, unknown country. In the US, Janusz began to feel homesick for Europe, for his loved ones and above all for his girlfriend and later wife, Ewa Kuncewicz, who at that time was studying painting at the University of Fine Arts in Poznań. He composed his “Song for Ewa”, which he would play for the rest of his life at concerts and for studio recordings.

“The Quartet” 
 

After Ewa completed her studies, the couple moved to Warsaw, where they married in 1977. In 1978, their first daughter, Agata, was born. During the same year, “The Quartet” was formed (Tomasz Szukalski, Sławomir Kulpowicz, Paweł Jarzębski, Janusz Stefański). The band enjoyed success in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, gaining attention at the biggest European jazz event, the “North Sea Jazz Festival” in The Hague. In 1980, “The Quartet” gave a concert in the famous New York jazz club, the Village Vanguard. At the end of the gig, the owner of the club was waiting for them in the dressing room with a contract in his hand. However, the young musicians decided against emigrating from Poland and settling in the world capital of jazz. They all had strong personalities, and soon afterwards began to argue with each other over differences of opinion. “The Quartet” initially shrank to a trio, and was later disbanded entirely.

Janusz Stefański then flew to San Francisco, where he worked on board a Norwegian passenger ship, playing in the bar at night. For the young family, these five months on the Pacific Ocean were a difficult time, since he was only able to speak to Ewa on the phone twice, and letters took a long time to reach Poland.