Wojciech Karolak

about

Wojciech (Wojtek) Karolak (born on 28 May 1939 in Warsaw, Poland, where he still lives today) is a notable Hammond B-3 organ player who refers to himself as "an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician, born by mistake in Middle Europe". He has also played saxophone and piano professionally. In 1958, he started working with the band the 'Jazz Believers' playing alto saxophone. The Jazz Believers consisted of the future top Polish jazz players, among them Andrzej Trzaskowski, Krzysztof Komeda (famed for writing music for Roman Polański’s landmark film Rosemary's Baby), and Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski. It goes without saying that it took a particular level of dedication to play jazz under the Soviet system of the 1950s. Next, Wojciech Karolak played tenor saxophone in Andrzej Trzaskowski’s 'The Wreckers'. In 1961, Karolak switched from saxophone back to piano. In 1962, formed his own trio and started recording his own music. This trio become the premier jazz band in Poland and backed most Western/American artist visiting Poland. Among them Annie Ross, Ray Charles, and Don Ellis with whom he recorded. In 1963, he started playing with Ptaszyn Wróblewski’s Polish Jazz Quartet. In 1964 Karolak (under the name of the Kurylewicz Quintet) recorded an album titled Go Right - this was the first Polish jazz LP ever released. In 1966, he left Poland for Sweden where he played rock and blues in music clubs in order to, in his own words, "make enough money to buy an apartment and a Hammond

top songs

albums

Easy!

Easy !

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Go Right - Jazz from Poland 1963-75

Easy

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Between Or Beyond The Iron Curtain

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Polish Funk vol. 4 - Compiled by Soul Service DJ team

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Off Season. Jazz & Grooves from Poland 1966-89

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The Very Best Of Smooth Jazz Vol.3 - Po Polsku

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Mainstream

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Fonoteka 2

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Polish Funk 4

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Off Season - Compiled by Soul Service DJ Team

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