Leszek Możdżer, Grégory Privat, Iiro Rantala, Michael Wollny
Biography Leszek Możdżer, Grégory Privat, Iiro Rantala, Michael Wollny
Leszek Mozdzer
(pronounced Mozhdzher), is one of the most prominent keyboard talents in the Polish music scene. He was born in 1971 and has been playing piano since he could play it at age five. After developing his jazz interest at the age 18 in high school, he graduated from Stanislaw Moniuszko Conservatory of Gdansk in 1996. Although he started his career in jazz with Emil Kowalski’s band, he believes that his true musical development occurred with the Milosc Band of 1991. He received an individual citation at the Jazz Junior 92 International Competition in Krakow a year later. This was followed by numerous other prizes including the Krzysztof Komeda Prize 1992 in Poland from the Polish Culture Foundation, First Prize in the International Jazz Improvisation Competition Katowice 1994, the Mateusz Swiecicki Prize in Polish Radio 3 in 1994, the Mayor of Gdansks medal for outstanding artistic achievements and the Fryderyk Prize 1998 for Jazz Musician. It was the most well-known jazz group in Poland during the six years Mozdzer helmed Milosc. Six albums were recorded with the group, two of which were with Lester Bowie, an American trumpeter. He was also a main attraction for the Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet. Mozdzer has performed alongside many great Polish jazz musicians including Janusz Muniak (1 and Four), Tomasz Stanko (2 Farewell to Mary), Piotr Wojtasik (3 Lonely Town, Quest), and Janusz Muniak (4 One and Four). Mozdzer has collaborated with international stars such as Buster Williams (one and four), Joe Lovano, Billy Harper, Archie Shepp, and Buster Williams. Mozdzer has released 30 CDs, four of them under his own name. The best-known is Chopin Impressions. Leszek Mozdzer gave concerts in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. His jazz interpretations of Chopin’s pieces were praised at the Chartres Piano Festival. He has been a frequent collaborator with Zbigniew Prixner since 1992, participating in the recording many of the composer’s film scores. 10 Easy Pieces For Piano was a collection of piano improvisations that Preisner created especially for Mozdzer.
Grégory Privat
Born in Martinique in December 1984, Grégory Privat is the son of pianist José Privat, known for his participation in the internationally recognized Caribbean group, Malavoi. Attracted by the piano at a very young age, he took private lessons from the age of six and devoted himself for 10 years to a classical apprenticeship before turning to improvisation techniques and jazz.
Student in engineering school in Toulouse, he escapes at night to play in some jazz clubs in the city. It was later in Paris that Grégory Privat, with an engineering degree in his pocket, continued to satisfy his passion for the stage. During this period, in the early 2000s, the pianist crosses the path of other musicians such as Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Stephane Belmondo, Guillaume Perret or Sonny Troupé.
Willing to find a place in the jazz world, Gregory Privat participates in the piano competition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008 and the Martial Solal Competition in 2010, during which he reaches the place of semi-finalist. The following year saw the release of the first album in his name, Ki Koté. The success of esteem received by this first essay of personal compositions encourages the pianist to continue in this way.
In September 2013, he released the album Tales of Cyparis, inspired by the story of Louis-Auguste Cyparis, the only prisoner who survived the Mountain Pelée eruption in 1902 and was hired by the Barnum Circus. The project, well received by the critics, places Grégory Privat among the most prominent musicians of the new jazz scene. A status confirmed by the release in January 2015 of his third album Luminescence duet with Sonny Troupé, faithful partner and great master of Gwoka music. The album is named at the 2015 Victoires du Jazz in the category « revelation of the year, Frank-Ténot prize".
In 2015, Grégory is the new piano player in the Liberetto quartet of Swedish bass player Lars Danielsson, who encourages him to sign with the label ACT: the album Family Tree of his first trio (Tilo Bertholo, drums and Linley Marthe, bass) is released on the prestigious label in October 2016.
Three years later, in search of freedom and artistic independence, Grégory creates his own label Buddham Jazz, produces and records the album Soley in 2020 with Chris Jennings on bass and Tilo Bertholo on drums.
In 2022, Gregory Privat will release his first solo album, Yonn.
In 2022, he recorded his first solo album: Yonn. In this intimate production, he mixes his voice with the piano, echoing the recent journey through the pandemic and the confinements that marked it.
In 2023, he received the Adami Prize for "The Artist to Watch" during Artists’ Night. A solo improvisation album was released the same year, entitled Nuit & Jour and recorded in Marseille on the Paradis Improvisé label.
In 2024, Grégory Privat released Phoenix, a new trio album which he considers as a continuation of his album Soley and received the same year the Django Reinhardt Prize of the Jazz Academy.
Iiro Rantala
"Intelligence, humor, a lot of sentiment, unpredictable ideas and the finest piano craftsmanship" (FAZ) - the Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is "a natural phenomenon on the keys" (Jazz thing). With the anarchic trio Töykeät, he rocked the jazz stages of Europe and far beyond for almost 20 years. His subsequent ACT debut album "Lost Heroes" marked a turning point in his music: where wild, unbridled exuberance reigned before, Rantala now seeks and finds above all the power of melody, harmony and deep emotion. But his mischievous side shines through again and again. And so does his outstanding, classically trained piano craftsmanship. Rantala manages a balancing act in many ways: Celebrated by critics, including the German record critics' annual award, the ECHO Jazz, the Finnish EMMA Award and many more, but at the same time also a crowd favorite at hundreds, if not thousands, of concerts. In classical temples such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Cologne Philharmonie, but also in jazz clubs and festivals across Europe. Solo, in a trio or with a full orchestra. Between jazz, classical, pop and Nordic songs. With sentiment and melancholy, but also with a lot of wit and charm. In short: a master of modern, limitless piano playing.
Michael Wollny
1978 in Schweinfurt geboren, ist international erfolgreicher Jazz-Pianist, Musik-Erfinder, Querdenker, Sympathieträger – kurz: einer der Vorzeigekünstler des zeitgenössischen europäischen Jazz. Ob mit seinem eigenen hervorragenden Trio, in Duos mit Musikern wie den Tenorsaxofonisten Heinz Sauer und Marius Neset, dem Akkordeonisten Vincent Peirani, im Zusammenspiel mit größeren Ensembles wie der hr-Bigband oder dem Norwegian Wind Ensemble: Stets erweist sich Wollny als unendlich kreativer Partner, der sich klanglich wie kompositorisch immer neu erfindet. Sein Markenzeichen ist das Unberechenbare, der Mut, sich dem Moment hinzugeben und die Suche nach dem bisher Ungehörten.
Wollnys oft ruppiges, weil zwingend rhythmisches Pianospiel kennt momentan keinen Vergleich, müsste ihn allerdings auch nicht scheuen. Für ihn ist der Jazz vor allem die unbegrenzte Vielfalt der Möglichkeiten. Er ist der „vollkommene Klaviermeister: Michael Wollny bringt alles mit, was man von einem perfekten Jazzpianisten verlangen kann: virtuose Technik, überschäumende Fantasie, Disziplin und die Fähigkeit zum kreativen Chaos, Sinnlichkeit sowie ästhetisches Gespür.“ (FAZ)
Seine Alben „Hexentanz“, „Wunderkammer“ und „Weltentraum“ gelten als zukunftsweisend, weil Wollny völlig ergebnisoffen sich und seinen musikalischen Partnern neue Räume erschließt. Von Genregrenzen lässt sich der Unterfranke nicht aufhalten, Klassik, Pop, Jazz und Filmmusik fließen ungebremst ineinander. Im Trio mit Eric Schaefer und Christian Weber entwickelt Wollny seine Melangen mit Präzision und Liebe zum Detail. Modern, emotional, intelligent, virtuos und offen nach allen Richtungen. Auf der Bühne stricken sie berückende, eindringliche Stimmungen, die das Publikum vom ersten Ton an einfangen. Alles klingt neu und gleichzeitig wohlvertraut.
