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

Janusz Maria Stefański was born in Kraków on 14/6/1946 to a family of educators and musicians. The family of his mother, Ada Stefańska (1913–2007), were teachers. When she was 15, she became a girl scout. She headed a scout troupe and in 1945 took over the local Kraków-Podgórze group. His father, Ryszard Stefański (1918–2013), was also a member of the scouts even before the war and remained loyal to the organisation after the war ended. From 1957–1959, he headed the local Kraków-Podgórze group while also working in the administration of the “Solvay” soda factory (Zakłady Sodowe “Solvay”). Janusz had two brothers, Wiesław Maria and Ryszard Maria, and a sister, Krystyna.

 

Piano and drums
 

Janusz Stefański began learning music aged five at a progressive, experimental music school for piano (Eksperymentalne Studium Gry na Fortepianie) in Kraków. Even then, he began spontaneously tapping about on all kinds of objects that fell into his hands, showing an unusual sense of rhythm. At age 14, he switched to the state music middle school (Państwowa Średnia Szkoła Muzyczna) to learn percussion. He then attended the grammar school.

At 16, his father gave him his first drums, on which he immediately started to produce jazz sounds. He was fascinated by the jazz style, and listened to radio broadcasters from abroad who played this kind of music. He began his real training as a jazz musician in the first jazz class founded by Alojzy Thomys in 1965 at the State Music Grammar School (Państwowe Liceum Muzyczne) in Kraków. One of his classmates was Zbigniew Seifert, who later became a saxophonist, composer and brilliant violinist. Jazz dominated the lives of both young men. After school, they visited the new jazz club, the Helikon.

Janusz Stefański’s school leaving certificate from 1966 lists 28 general, pedagogical and musical subjects. He was awarded the grade of “very good”, for “jazz ensemble”. The drums were his main instrument. The grade awarded for his drum playing was “very good with distinction”.

The logical next step was to enrol at the Kraków State Music College (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Muzyczna). However, it took two years longer than usual (from 1966–1973) to complete his studies there, since during this period, Janusz Stefański was already very active in the music scene.

 

Versatile and avantgarde
 

Even as a grammar school pupil, Stefański already performed on stage with the “Ewa Demarczyk Band” in the Kraków cabaret theatre Piwnica pod Baranami and also accompanied the singer at concerts in France. He also began collaborating with the “MW-2” contemporary music ensemble led by Adam Kaczyński, in which he performed works by composers such as Bogusław Schäffer and John Cage. The composer Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar wrote “Interpretacje” (Interpretations) and “Etiudy koncertowe” (Concert studies), two solo works for percussion, especially for Stefański. He played them at prestigious music festivals, such as the “Warszawska Jesień 68” (Warsaw Autumn 68) and the “Festiwal Muzyki Współczesnej” (Festival of Contemporary Music) in Wrocław. On 19 November 1972, Stefański gave a performance of “Etiudy na perkusję solo” (Studies for solo percussion) by Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar at the Philharmonic Hall in Kraków.

As a highly regarded interpreter of contemporary music, and while still a student, he took part in the “Jazz nad Odrą” (Jazz on the Oder) festival in 1968 and 1969 with the “Zbigniew Seifert Quartet” (Jan Jarczyk, Jan Gonciarczyk), at which the formation won first prize as a band, and Stefański was presented with the award for best soloist. The same success was repeated at the 1969 music festival in Nagykőrös in Hungary. The Seifert Quartet was Stefański’s entry ticket to the avantgarde Kraków jazz school. Within the scene, people soon began to feel that the band was changing the tonality of Polish jazz. In an interview with the Polish magazine “Perkusista”, Stefański remembers playing with the combo during that time:

“My first band gig was the quartet led by Zbyszek Seifert, with whom we played atypical jazz standards. We exploded the forms, broke the timing and rebuilt it completely in the way in which we wanted it to be. We phrased very intuitively while we did so. All of it sounded less clear than what the American musicians were doing. It was only later that we found out how to interpret them in the right way. I have always been fascinated by the way Elvin Jones plays, and still am. To get a better feel of the aesthetic of his way of working with the drums, I studied and analysed his playing. I love pushing through the bar line, syncopating, and rolling avalanches of dark tones to create arcs of tension. This kind of musical treatment is only possible with mature, courageous, strong musicians, who are loaded with feeling and full of soul.”

It was while playing at the Warsaw Jazz Festival, the “Jazz Jamboree 67”, that Stefański began his long collaboration with the jazz studio of the Polish state radio broadcaster (Studio Jazzowe Polskiego Radia) headed by Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski. However, Stefański’s interests were not limited to jazz. During this time, he also made recordings with Marek Grechuta and Czesław Niemen.

 

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.

 

Martial law and the decision to wait and see
 

In 1981, Stefański returned to Poland full of energy and eager to get to work. He signed a three-year contract with the internationally famous “Vienna Art Orchestra” and set off on a tour of Europe. In the autumn of 1981, the orchestra made a large number of recordings in Germany. In Poland, the Solidarność movement was gaining ground and there was a slight relaxation at the political level. For the first time, he was granted an international passport together with his wife Ewa and daughter Agata. Ewa used this opportunity to become acquainted with German museums and galleries, while at the same time avoiding a repeat of their long period apart. The family sub-rented an apartment in Frankfurt, and everything went according to plan. Janusz met frequently with the avantgarde “Vienna Art Orchestra” and participated in studio recordings. Little Agata attended a German kindergarten in order to learn German, while Ewa visited museums. Life continued in this way until 13 December 1981. On that infamous night, Janusz Stefański was playing a gig at the popular Jazz Keller in Frankfurt. It was there that he was informed that martial law had been imposed in Poland. At a stroke, his whole life turned on its head.

Janusz and Ewa decided to remain in Germany and to wait out the uncertain situation, although they categorically refused to apply for political asylum. Their closest relatives were living in Poland, and they wanted to be able to visit them without being pestered by the authorities. Janusz also planned to travel to Poland as a musician. Despite all of this, it would be around 12 years before he was next able to travel to his homeland; it was not until 1993 that he returned there to participate in the anniversary concerts of the jazz musician Zbigniew Namysłowski.

 

A difficult start in Frankfurt
 

When on 13 December 1981 the couple decided to remain in Germany, they hoped that Janusz’ lucky streak would continue, particularly since he had been admired as musician there for years. However, it soon transpired that his new situation as a citizen of Frankfurt was different from when he had been merely a guest of the city. Certainly, many of his German colleagues initially viewed him only as a serious competitor. Beyond his contract with the “Vienna Art Orchestra”, which was his salvation, he was only rarely offered opportunities to play, none of which were even in Frankfurt. In desperation, he even took on some casual jobs. The young family started its life again from scratch, owning only the drums that they had brought with them in their baggage. Many years later, at a reception held by the German-Polish Society (Deutsch-Polnische Gesellschaft) on the top floor of the Dresdner Bank tower in Frankfurt, Janusz told the astonished guests an anecdote from the early 1980s, when he had occasionally spent time helping build the Deutsche Bank distinctive twin towers. It was already getting dark when he was transporting building materials up by elevator, and the lift suddenly came to a standstill because it was the end of the working day. Fortunately, after several long minutes, someone remembered that there was still a person in the lift on the building façade ...

Under these circumstances, it ultimately transpired that the family would no longer have anywhere to live in Frankfurt. The rental agreement, which was limited to four months, expired. Their search for a new apartment seemed certain to end in failure, until out of nowhere, a businessman friend with an artist’s soul appeared who owned an artist’s apartment in a villa in Königstein. The Stefańskis moved into the apartment – and remained in the enchanting little town in the Taunus hills for 22 years. 

 

“Polski Jazz Ensemble”
 

At the start of the 1980s, the Solidarność movement received a great deal of support from abroad. A wave of humanitarian aid rolled across the border to Poland from Germany. People sent huge numbers of packages, and the Deutsche Post waived the fee for delivery. For nearly every German that Janusz met at this time, these events dominated over all others. During this period, a group of Polish musicians decided to form the “Polski Jazz Ensemble” and to donate a portion of their concert fees to Solidarność. Alongside Janusz Stefański, they included Leszek Żądło, Władysław Sendecki and Bronisław Suchanek. They played their own compositions, while their diaries filled up with new concert dates. These included the “Jazz Festival” in Tel Aviv, the “Jazz Festival” in Vienna in 1983, the “2nd Erlanger Jazz Weekend” in 1984, and the prestigious “North Sea Jazz Festival” in The Hague in 1985. Their recordings were broadcast on a large number of radio stations. The band toured the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Israel, and also recorded an LP. They were also asked to provide the soundtrack for the film “Kaltes Fieber” (Cold Fever) by the OKO-Film productions. In 1986, they recorded the LP “Jazz & Lyrik aus Polen”(Jazz and Poetry from Poland). The poems by Polish authors, translated by Karl Dedecius, were read by the German actor Gert Westphal. The LP was produced by the well-known music journalist Joachim Ernst Berendt.

 

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.

 

Band leader, event organiser and juror
 

Stefański was also an outstanding promoter of jazz. In May 2005, he organised the “German-Polish Jazz Jamboree” at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. He was responsible for the artistic arrangement of this musical encounter, bringing together 30 German and Polish musicians. As well as concerts, there was a podium discussion, moderated by the jazz journalist Werner Wunderlich, with the jazz musicians, who had met for the first time in 1956 at a jazz festival in Sopot.

For Stefański, it was of great importance to commemorate the life of his friend Zbigniew Seifert (1946–1979). In 2010, he co-founded the Zbigniew Seifert Foundation (Zbigniew-Seifert-Stiftung) and in 2014 became a member of the jury for the International Zbigniew Seifert violin competition, which is held every two years.

The final years of Janusz Maria Stefański’s life were dominated by his fight against lung cancer. Despite this, he was determined to continue performing right until the end. He died on 4 November 2016 in a Frankfurt hospital, one week after the end of a tour of five concerts, which he gave with Emil Mangelsdorff. Obituaries of him appeared in the major Frankfurt newspapers, European music magazines and in the national Polish media.

Stefański passed on his skill and knowledge as a teacher, staying in contact with the ever-younger generations of musicians. He was the life of any party, had a wonderful sense of humour, and always had hundreds of anecdotes up his sleeve from his sometimes very turbulent concert tours in Europe and the US. Sadly, these were not recorded. He wore well-tailored, sporty jackets, with a cute little hat, often with red trainers and ostentatious silver rings. When he spoke, he liked to use American turns of phrase. He had the kind of personality that was impossible to overlook. He was a drummer with a strong, energetic beat and his own unmistakeable approach to his instrument. Among his circle of friends and family, he was also a passionate pianist. Stefański gave unforgettable concerts as a solo percussionist, in his gallery in Königstein and later at his wife Ewa’s art exhibitions. 

In 1981, Stefański had originally planned only to sit out the turbulent political events in Frankfurt; yet in the end, he put down roots there. Luckily, and only partly by chance, fate saw to it that he spent his exile in Frankfurt, the most American of all German cities and an important centre for jazz in Germany, in which he played an influential role for 35 years. The urn containing Stefański’s ashes was buried in the family grave in the cemetery of the Łagiewniki-Borek Fałęcki district of Kraków.

 

Joanna de Vincenz, November 2018