Jarek Śmietana

Early life and education

Śmietana was born in Kraków. He studied at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

Career

In 1972, with the blues band "Hall", he won an award at the Jazz nad Odrą festival.

Śmietana lead the band Extra Ball in 1974. He continued to lead this band until 1981. He later was the leader of the Sounds Big Band Symphonic Sound Orchestra, the Polish Jazz Stars Band. He was also a co-leader of the Namysłowski-Śmietana Quartet.

Śmietana has performed at festivals, concert tours, and workshops in the USA, India, Asia and South America.

In 1998 he was the winner of the Fryderyk 1998 award for "Songs and Other Ballads". He was presented with the President of Cracow Prize for cultural achievement.

During his musical career he played and recorded with well-known artists, including Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Eddie Henderson, Joe Zawinul, Gary Bartz, Carter Jefferson, Vince Mednoza, John Abercrombie, Hamiet Bluiett, Idris Muhammad, Ronnie Burrage, Harvie Swartz, Mike Stern, Jack Wilkins, Zbigniew Seifert, Cameron Brown, Andy McKee, Greg Brandy, David Gilmore, Nigel Kennedy, Dave Friedman, Didier Lockwood, Jerry Goodman.

Śmietana composed over 200 jazz songs. He has led many workshops and masterclasses.

He has recorded more than 25 album as a band leader, as well as performing as a sideman on the recordings of other artists. Śmietana has collaborated with other jazz musicians to perform live shows at concert venues and festivals.

He is the father of violinist Alicja Smietana. He died in 2013. In 2015, a contest, the "International Jarek Śmietana Jazz Guitar Competition" was initiated in his memory. It was held in Kraków.

Discography

Singles