Krystof Medyna

KRYSTOF (Krzysztof) MEDYNA was born on April 18, 1949, in Jelenia Góra. He displayed musical talent from childhood. He grew up in a family with a long musical tradition. His grandfather, Aleksander Szwarc, was the conductor of the Representative Orchestra of the Polish Army. His mother studied piano at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music but did not complete her studies due to the outbreak of war.

Krzysztof initially studied piano, then clarinet. He quickly became interested in jazz. Like most of his generation, he explored the mysteries of this music through Willis Conover's famous radio broadcasts, the Voice of America Jazz Hour. He learned his musical skills from a group of Szczecin jazz musicians.

From the late 1960s, he settled in Szczecin, where he studied music pedagogy at the then Teacher Training College. For three years, he taught music in elementary school. At the same time, he pursued a musical career. Krzysztof Medyna began his jazz career at the Szczecin University of Technology's Student Club "Kontrasty." He also played with the University of Technology's Mime Studio. In 1972, he participated in the Jazz Workshops in Chodzież, where he honed his saxophone skills under the supervision of Zbigniew Seifert. In 1973, as a member of the Quidam Jazz Quartet, he performed at the Jazz nad Odrą festival in Wrocław, where the quartet was one of the featured bands alongside the Kraków-based group Laboratorium. From 1975 to 1978, he played in Sweden.

After returning from Scandinavia in the autumn of 1978, he accompanied Italian singer Farida during her performances in Szczecin with the band Pat 78 (a group of Szczecin musicians who had previously played in Scandinavia or on cruise ships), a group formed for several months. That same year, he founded the band Breakwater with pianist Andrzej Winnicki. In March 1979, he performed with the quintet at the Jazz on Oder Festival, winning the main prize in the ensemble category and the main prize in the soloist category.

In the early 1980s, he performed with Breakwater in jazz clubs across Poland, including Warsaw's famous "Akwarium" (Aquarium), the Pomeranian Jazz Autumn (Pomorska Jesień Jazzowa), Jazz Neptun, Jazz Jamboree, and Zaduszki Jazzowe (All Souls' Day). In 1981, he performed at the premiere concert at the Polish Song Festival in Opole. With the group, he made numerous recordings for radio stations in Szczecin, Opole, Lublin, and Bydgoszcz.

In February 1979, he signed a contract with Jerzy Połomski, becoming the band leader accompanying the popular singer on tours in Poland, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, and the Soviet Union. In 1980, at the Jazz nad Odrą festival, he was invited by jazz pianist Sławomir Kulpowicz to collaborate with the Jazz nad Odrą All Stars (later In/Formation). He toured with this group until the end of 1981.

In December 1981, he planned to tour the United States with the famous Polish pop star Jerzy Połomski. The imposition of martial law in Poland thwarted his plans. He left for the United States via Prague in January 1982. After a three-month tour with Jerzy Połomski, he decided to stay in the States permanently.

At the same time, as a professional saxophonist, he began working with the tight-knit New York jazz scene. He played, among others, with He has collaborated with musicians such as Greg Maker (electric bass), Dave Braham (organs), John Bailey (tp), Jeremy Pelt (tp), Rodney Holmes (dr), Nasheet Waits (dr), Scott Colley (b), Drew Gress (b), Russ Johnson (tp), and Marshall Gilkes (tb). In 1993, together with his friend Andrzej Winnicki, also living in the US, he reunited the band Breakwater, this time with a Polish American lineup. With this band, he performed at clubs such as "The Five Spot," "Bar 55," "Zanzibar," "Club Bene," "Down Town," and "Van Gogh's Ear."

He frequently collaborates with Polish artists, both living in the US and those visiting. He accompanied the popular artist at the concert "Thirty Years of Czesław Niemen's Artistic Work," which took place on May 8, 1993, at the Town Hall Theatre in Manhattan. In 1995, he began working with radio, initially with Nasze Radio, located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. For this station, he prepared and presented thirty half-hour programs in the series "Traditions of Polish Jazz." From 2009, he worked for three years with Polish Radio WRKL 610 AM in Pomona, NY, where he hosted weekly music programs. Then, in 2012, he had his own program on Polish Radio USA for less than a year, which closed due to a lack of funding.

In 1996, the saxophonist became a member of the international group "Emotionalists," founded by Polish sculptor Lubomir Tomaszewski and bringing together artists of various nationalities. As part of the group, he performed with Polish classical organist Andrzej Trembicki and American cellist Timothy Imlay. He also performed with the experimental dance group Improv under the direction of Kathryn Kollar.

In 1999, with the band Breakwater (renamed Electric Breakwater), he recorded his debut American album, "In the Bush," released a year later by J-Bird Records. The album featured guest appearances by two world-renowned musicians: bassist Mark Egan (Pat Metheny Group) and drummer Rodney Holmes (Carlos Santana Group). Fascinated by the music of Krzysztof Komeda, together with Andrzej Winnicki, he formed the Komeda Project quintet, which was a tribute to the late Polish pianist and composer. He debuted with the new group at the Van Gogh's Ear club, but the quintet's promotional concert took place on January 23, 2003, at the Polish Consulate General in New York. With this band, he performed at clubs such as Trumpet Jazz Club, Luna Rosa Jazz Club, and Cornelia Street Cafe, as well as at the Williamsburg Jazz Festival and the 92 Y Street Festival. In August 2005, he played with the quintet at Sculpture Park in New York, prefacing a screening of Roman Polanski's acclaimed film Knife in the Water with a performance of Krzysztof Komeda's unforgettable music.

In February 2007, he participated in the recording of the album Crazy Girl with the quintet Komeda Project. In 2009, he released the band's second CD, Requiem. This album was listed among the 100 best jazz albums of 2009 by New York weekly "The Village Voice" (it was the second album recorded by Polish musicians that year, after Tomasz Stańko's Dark Eyes). In 2017, the artist, together with Andrzej Winnicki, launched a new musical project, named WM, derived from the initials of their surnames. That same year, they released the album From A Familiar Place, released by the musicians' own label, WM Records Inc. The album was featured in Down Beat magazine's "Editor's Pick."

Currently, the artist lives in Stamford, Connecticut. Since 2012, he has been performing with the renowned Polish American jazz pianist Adam Makowicz. They have performed in numerous clubs in the New York metropolitan area. In August 2018, as part of the International Music Festival "Sacrum Non Profanum," the two musicians performed at the Szczecin Philharmonic, and then played a charity concert to support the reconstruction of the F. R. Dalitz organ in the Corpus Christi Church in Gdańsk. Since 2019, Krzysztof Medyna and Adam Makowicz have performed at venues including the renowned Blue Note club in New York, the Keystone Korner in Baltimore, and the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In August 2024, they recorded the album "New York Flavors" for the For-Tune publishing house in Warsaw. The album was released in November of 2025.

In 2024, the Danzig Scriptorium publishing house published a memoir, "Saxophone, Jazz, and Life in Between,” which was translated into English, available at Amazon.

On June 10, 2004, the President of the Republic of Poland awarded Krzysztof Medyna the Gold Cross of Merit.

On October 21, 2025, the Jury of the Outstanding Pole in the USA Competition, New York, awarded Krzysztof Medyna the "Outstanding Pole in the USA" award.

Gear

Selmer Paris Reference '36 Tenor Saxophone. Berg Larsen 105/2/SMS Mothpiece, Theo Wanne "Lakshmi" #7* Mouthpiece, Otto Link #6* Mouthpiece

Cannonball Big Bell Alto Saxophone. Berg Larsen 95/3/SMS Mouthpiece, Otto Link #6* Mouthpiece, Theo Wanne NY Bros #6 Mouthpiece