The Kosciuszko Foundation Soiree

The Kosciuszko Foundation Florida Chapter cordially invites you to our Annual Soirée:

Celebrating The Centennial Anniversary of the Kosciuszko Foundation by President and Executive Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation, MAREK SKULIMOWSKI

Jazz Concert featuring ADAM MAKOWICZ piano & KRISTOF MEDYNA saxophone

Cocktail Reception and Hors d'ouvres

Adam Makowicz, Polish/American pianist and composer living in New York area. He performes jazz and classical piano pieces, as well as his own cmpositions. Beside playing solo, he has worked with such musicians among many as Earl Hines, Ben Webster, Phil Woods, Jack DeJohnette, Frank Foster as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, at the Kennedy Centre, at the Carnegie Hall, the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and other major orchestras at concert halls in Americas and Europe. His technical skills as jazz pianist have been compared to that of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Erroll Garner.

He studied classical music at the Chopin Conservarory of Music in Cracow, Poland. Overcoming cultural restrictions under communism, he developed a passion for modern jazz. At the time, political freedom and improvisation were disapproved of by the pro-Soviet authorities. After years of hardship, Makowicz got a regular gig at a small jazz club in a cellar of a house in Cracow.

By the mid 1970s, Makowicz established himself as one of the leading pianists in Europe. He was named the "Best jazz pianist" by the readers of Jazz Forum magazine and was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to the arts.

In 1977 Makowicz made a 10-week concert tour of the United States, produced by John Hammond. At that time he recorded a solo album titled Adam on CBS. In 1978 he settled in New York.

Within a jazz solo-piano tradition established by the likes of Art Tatum, Dave McKenna, Dick Hyman and the like, Makowicz stands not only as a master but a distinct voice, thanks partly to his Polish heritage and his embrance of Chopin.

Even now, he sounds like no one else in jazz. Howard Reich

Krystof (Krzysztof) Medyna is a Polish/American jazz musician who has been performing for over 50 years. He started his musical career in Poland, and before he came to the US, he played for 3 years in Sweeden and was touring in former Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. He was described by American jazz journalist as a "powerful, hair-raising reed player". Medyna has performed in many well-known clubs, such as The Five Spot, St. Peters Church and Cornelia Street Cafe as well as Blue Note in NYC, Blues Alley in Washington, and Keystone Korner in Baltimore. Medyna performed, inter alia, in the Congress Hall in Warsaw, the Town Hall Theatre in NYC, the Phiharmonic Hall and the Amphitheater in Szczecin, and the Philharmonic Hall in Slupsk.

Krystof played and recorded with Rodney Holmes, Mark Egan, Scott Colley, Nasheet Waits, Jeremy Pelt, Russ Johnson, John Bailey, and many.

For decades together with Andrzej Winnicki he was co-leader of fusion jazz group BREAKWATER - CD In the Bush (1999), Breakwater (2022), Breakwater Live in New York City 1993-1995

In 1979, during the Jazz on Oder Festival they were awarded with the first prize. Krystof won the first prize as a soloist as well.

As co-leader of Komeda Project, he has released CD Crazy Girl

(2007), Requiem (2009), and co-leader of WM Project CD From A Familiar Place (2017).

Since 2015 Krystof has been performing with legendary Polish/ American pianist Adam Makowicz as a duo and with Jeff Dingler (double bass) as part of Makowicz-Medyna-Dingler Jazz Ensemble.

Since 1995 Krystof is a performing member of the Emotionalists, an international artistic group founded in 1994 on the initiative of a well-known sculptor, Prof. Lubomir Tomaszewski.

Krystof Medyna and Adam Makowicz are performing together since 2012. In August of 2024 they recorded their first album “New York Flavors” under the label FOR TUNE.

Host or Publisher The Kosciuszko Foundation Florida Chapter