The legendary American jazz musician Stan Getz was one of the most famous saxophonists of the second half of the 20th century. He was valued for his beautiful timbre, as well as for tirelessly popularizing the Brazilian bossa nova. The concert of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra conducted by Marek Wroniszewski will be a meeting with the works of Eddie Sauter and Krzysztof Herdzin, which are related to this artist. The solo part on the tenor saxophone will be performed by the virtuoso of this instrument – Piotr Baron.

The first part of the concert will be filled with the seven-movement Focus suite from 1961, written for Stan Getz by Eddie Sauter, composer and arranger of the golden age of swing. It is written for tenor saxophone, string quintet, harp and jazz percussion set. Critics agree that Focus was a high point in both artists’ careers, and Getz considered the recording of this suite to be his absolute favourite recording. Sauter left the saxophonist a lot of freedom in the solo part, which is completely in the spirit of jazz improvisation. There are also references to classical music. The beginning of the first movement, I’m late, I’m late, is a quote from the second part of Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta by Béla Bartók, who supported Sauter at an early stage of his career. Sauter, in turn, paid tribute to Bartók by quoting one of his most famous works.

Tribute to Stan Getz by Krzysztof Herdzin is a composition from 2021, intended for exactly the same line-up as Focus and written with Piotr Baron in mind. As Piotr Baron admitted, compiling the works by Getz that could form the basis of a new work, posed a certain difficulty, as the legendary virtuoso wrote his own compositions only from 1948–1952. However, with the help of friends, Baron selected the pieces and delivered the material to Herdzin, who set to work on the suite. It dragged on so much that Baron didn’t see the music until three days before the first concert! “I've never learned anything so fast in my life,” the artist recalls. The effort paid off, and performing this music gives Piotr Baron great satisfaction.