U Muniaka Jazz Club
Kraków Artists: Music
From 1992 Janusz Muniak (1941-2016), saxophonist, flautist, composer and one of the pioneers of free jazz in Europe, ran the U Muniaka Jazz Club in Kraków at Floriańska Street 3. The club became popular: at its concerts you could meet musicians from all over the world, and it also hosted important exhibitions of paintings and sculpture by Muniak's friends, Zbigniew Rabsztyn (1992) and Wojciech Firek (1993). Almost all Polish musicians who play mainstream jazz today studied with Muniak, from Leszek Możdżer and Paweł Kaczmarczyk to the youngest generation. On New Year's Eve 2015 Muniak played in his club for the last time.
History
The town house at 3 Floriańska Street is home to the "U Muniaka" Jazz Club, which from 1992 was run by Janusz Muniak - a Kraków saxophonist, flautist, arranger and composer known as "the heart of Polish jazz". He is regarded as one of the pioneers of free jazz in Europe.
He made his debut in Lublin, in Witold Miszczak's band, in 1960. Three years later he joined the Kraków group Jazz Darings, led by Tomasz Stańko, which was the first band in Europe to play free jazz. He then became a permanent member of Andrzej Trzaskowski's quintet, at the same time working with Krzysztof Komeda, and from 1976 he performed with his own bands.
Musicians from all over the world met at the club on Floriańska Street, and its walls also hosted exhibitions of paintings and sculptures by the host's close friends: Zbigniew Rabsztyn (1992) and Wojciech Firek (1993). Muniak taught younger jazz musicians here - almost all Polish mainstream jazz musicians learned from him, at the club and at the Jazz Camping at Kalatówki, and his students are said to include Leszek Możdżer and Paweł Kaczmarczyk. On New Year's Eve 2015 he played in his club for the last time. He died on 31 January 2016 and was buried in the Avenue of the Distinguished at Rakowicki Cemetery.
The town house itself, known as the Korlans House, dates back to around 1300, when a brick house was built here. From that time the decoration of the brick party wall on the ground floor has survived, made up of triple-arched niches.
Did you know?
The club's guests included staff of the US Consulate and representatives of the US Department of State visiting Kraków, for example Condoleezza Rice.