The Jerzy Kaplanek Quartet will pay tribute to Polish jazz violinist, masterful improviser Zbigniew Seifert. In his early years, Seifert (know as “Zbiggy”), was trained as a classical violinist but played jazz on alto saxophone. He was strongly influenced by John Coltrane and it was not until his early twenties when he adopted the jazz style to his violin playing, which was a neck-breaking enterprise considering the different nature of their instruments. Jerzy’s quartet will present original compositions of Zbiggy as well as tunes dedicated to him and violin jazz standards from his contemporaries. If not for Seifert’s premature death from cancer at the age of 32, he would have been celebrating his 70th birthday this June. .
Mr. Kaplanek performs on a 1680 Antonio Casini violin made in Modena, Italy.
Jerzy Kaplanek – violin
David Braid – piano
Roberto Occhipinti – bass
Nick Fraser – drums
Here is Zbigniew Seifert with Coltrane’s “Impressions”.
This is a link to a documentary about Seifert .
