2016
First of all, please allow me to thank you for the oportunity to curate the artistic program the 2016 Sopot Jazz festival. I am honored to be appointed this task and I greatly aspire to help organize a festival presentation that will serve to be entertaining, educational and memorable for the many music and jazz followers in Poland. It has long been a an aspiration of mine to herald a position as such so that I could possibly use my experience and my perspective as a career musician to alter and modify the programming to fit my idea of a provocative, stellar and thoughtful jazz concert experience.
One of my primary objectives as curator will be to not only present artists who are considered popular or broadly acceptable, but to serve as an agent for the introduction of vibrant, new talent to the Sopot Jazz platform. I would absolutely delight at the opportunity and prospect of us functioning as the introductory vehicle for a battery of lesser known, but hugely talented artists from various locations in the world. It would further the projection that jazz has truly become a global music that flourishes as a common platform for communication and understanding. As music has become more global in it's scope and output, I feel that it is a perfect time to focus on the universal appeal of artists from wildly varying locales who also use jazz as their basis. With this in mind, I would like to feature several interesting groups from various countries that would suitably illustrate the unification of people and culture through jazz music.
In addition to offering the presentation of select artists and their groups, I would like to engage in a series of "East meets West" themed concerts. These shows, in particular, will feature combinations of Polish and American jazz musicians in a total and complete collaborative effort. There will be select players and some variance of style and approach. There will also be some veterans who will be paired with artists from possibly another generation. For example I would like to pair veterans such as Tomasz Stanko or Zbigniew Namayslowski with some younger American musicians. The full objective will be to illustrate the artists' ability to cooperate and function harmoniously and on equal terms in a decidedly self-defined environment. The results of such a union offer tremendous potential.
I would like to request that one of the invited artists compose a new composition specifically for Sopot Jazz 2016, which will be premiered at the festival.
I strongly promote the idea of introducing emerging artists to the general public and pairing them with more experienced and established artists. I also contend that there is a great deal to be gained with a series of structured collaborations between some celebrated Polish musicians with selected American musicians. Several unions of this nature would be at once provocative, inspirational and exciting for audiences to witness. It is also a great story for the media to embrace and follow.
I look forward to working with you and to the development of the festivals.
Greg Osby
