Kazimierz Jonkisz
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
.
Jonkisz's musical education started at the age of 10 with accordion lessons at a local high school. Later on, at the Bielsko-Biała
Bielsko-Biała
-Economy and Industry:Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed . Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry...
Music high school, he switched to drums. He appeared at the "Jazz by the Odra '67" Festival at the age of 18, winning it as a soloist. In 1971 he graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
receiving the Krzysztof Komeda award.
He has worked and recorded with top Polish jazz musicians, such as: Tomasz Stańko
Tomasz Stanko
Tomasz Stańko is a Polish trumpeter, composer and improviser. Often recording for ECM, Stańko is strongly associated with free jazz and the avant-garde....
, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Adam Makowicz
Adam Makowicz
Adam Makowicz born Adam Matyszkowicz is a Polish-Canadian pianist and composer living in Toronto. He performs jazz and classical piano pieces, as well as his own compositions...
, J. P. Wroblewski, Michał Urbaniak and Mieczyslaw Kosz. He has also played with international jazz stars like : Al Cohn, Roy Hargrove, Larry Coryell, Amina Claudine Myers, Monty Waters, Eddie Henderson, Kevin Mahogany, Marc Thomas, Miles Griffith, John Hicks, Bob Sheppard, Lary Goldings, Tim Hagans.
Since 1978, he has led his own groups in which many Polish jazz musicians made their professional debut. He has recorded over 70 records, some of them as a leader (the first one "Tiri Taka", was made in 1980). He played at festivals in Poland and Europe, such as: Jazz Jamboree, Molde Jazz Festival, Bergamo , Ost West - Germany , Havana Jazz, New Port in Belgrad, Temecula International Jazz Festival (USA), and many others. For 15 years he has taught drums at the jazz department of the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy
Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy
The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw is located at ulica Okólnik 2 in central Warsaw, Poland...
in Warsaw. Along with teachers from Berklee College of Music and Musik Hoch Schule from Graz, he regularly teaches drums at the summer jazz workshop in Puławy, in Poland.