Paweł Brodowski has served as Editor-in-Chief of Poland’s oldest and most prestigious jazz magazine Jazz Forum for almost four decades. Established in 1964, it was the vehicle for Polish culture behind the Iron Curtain to reach out to the West. In the late 1970s, Jazz Forum was being published in Polish, English and German, and distributed in 103 countries.

In the past, Brodowski was a rock bass guitar player, a member of Czesław Niemen’s group Akwarele. Today he is one of the leading Polish jazz critics, a lector, radio host and ajudicator of many national and international jazz competitions.

In his lecture Krzysztof Komeda – a visionary pioneer of European Jazz, Brodowski will review the legendary pianist, composer, arranger and group leader Komeda’s (1931 – 1969) contributions to Polish and European jazz. Half a century after his tragic and untimely death, Komeda’s legendary status is growing – not only in Poland but also internationally, as new generations of artists are rediscovering his music, offering ever new and fresh interpretations.

He was a jazz pioneer launching a modern era in Polish jazz in the 50s. His album Astigmatic, hailed as a milestone in European jazz, initiated an alternative approach to American jazz models.

Komeda’s fame was built on his career as a great and successful film composer. Within just one decade he composed music to more that 70 films including Roman Polański’s notorious movies such as Knife in the Water, The Fearless Vampire Killers and Rosemary’ Baby – the thriller’s lullaby Sleep Safe and Warm has become the greatest and most often performed standard of Polish jazz.