Zbigniew Seifert (7 June 1946 – 15 February 1979) was a Polish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist. Seifert was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland. He played alto

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

early in his career and was influenced by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

. He devoted himself to jazz violin when he began performing with the

Tomasz Stańko Tomasz Ludwik Stańko (; 11 July 1942 – 29 July 2018) was a Polish trumpeter and composer associated with free jazz and the avant-garde. In 1962, Tomasz Stańko formed his first band, the Jazz Darings, with saxophonist Janusz Muniak, pianist ...

Quintet in 1970, and became one of the leading modern jazz violinists. Seifert relocated to Germany in 1973, and worked with Hans Koller's Free Sound between 1974 and 1975. The following year, he performed alongside

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. Seifert later recorded with

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He died of cancer at the age of 32, and is buried at

Rakowicki Cemetery Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; ) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' meaning "Old Town" – distinct from ...

in Krakow.

Discography

As leader

* ''Zbigniew Seifert'' (Capitol, 1977) * ''Man of the Light'' (MPS, 1977) * ''Solo Violin'' (EMI Electrola, 1978) * ''Passion'' (Capitol, 1979) * ''Kilimanjaro'' (PolJazz, 1979) * ''We'll Remember Zbiggy'' (Mood, 1979) * ''We'll Remember Komeda'' (Polonia, 1998) * ''Live in Hamburg 1978'' (Milo, 2006) * ''Nora'' (GAD, 2010) * ''Live in Solothurn '' (2017)

As sideman

With Tomasz Stanko * ''Music for K'' (Polskie Nagrania, 1970) * ''Jazzmessage from Poland'' (B.Free, 1972) * ''Purple Sun'' (Calig, 1973) * ''W Pałacu Prymasowskim'' (PolJazz, 1983) With others * Boogie Pimps, ''The Music in Me'' (Superstar, 2005) * Hans Koller, ''Kunstkopfindianer'' (MPS/BASF, 1974) * Hans Koller, ''Nome'' (B.Free, 2017) * Volker Kriegel, ''Lift!'' (MPS/BASF, 1973) *

Joachim Kühn Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist. Biography Kühn was born in Leipzig, Germany. He was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmidt-E ...

, ''Cinemascope'' (MPS/BASF, 1974) *

, ''Springfever'' (Atlantic, 1976) *

Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophone, saxophonist who focused on the alto saxophone, alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biogra ...

, ''Helen 12 Trees'' (MPS/BASF, 1976) * Glen Moore, ''Introducing'' (Elektra, 1979) *

, ''Violin'' (Vanguard, 1978) * Jiří Stivín, ''5 Ran Do Cepice'' (Supraphon, 1972) *

Jasper van 't Hof Jasper van 't Hof (born 30 June 1947) is a Dutch jazz pianist and keyboard player. Van 't Hof was born in Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands, and began studying piano at the age of five. He played in jazz bands at school, and by the age of 19 was ...

, ''Eye Ball'' (Keytone, 1974) * Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski, ''Sprzedawcy Glonow'' (Polskie Nagrania, 1973)

References

External links

Passion - The Zbigniew Seifert Documentary
* * 1946 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Polish jazz composers 20th-century Polish male musicians 20th-century Polish musicians Avant-garde jazz musicians Jazz alto saxophonists Polish male jazz composers Polish male violinists Musicians from Kraków Polish jazz violinists Polish jazz saxophonists 20th-century Polish violinists 20th-century saxophonists {{violinist-stub