Andrzej Winnicki

Andrzej Winnicki studied piano, accordion and composition in his native Poland. While still in college he became a professional musician in both classical and jazz worlds. The quintet Breakwater, he has founded with saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna, won a Polish National Jazz Competition - “Jazz nad Odrą” (Jazz on the Odra River) - and recorded and performed on nationally broadcasted radio and television. As a classical and jazz pianist he has toured all over Eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union, Germany, and Czech and Slovak Republics, beside Poland.

Once in the US, Andrzej has continued his professional musical activities performing in places like Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Polish Consulate General and St. Peter's Church in New York City, and in many top jazz clubs in the Tri-State area. He has played with Jeremy Pelt, Mark Egan, Ralph Alessi, Scott Colley, Rodney Holmes, Nasheet Waits and many other top players on the NYC jazz scene. He has also performed with top stars of Broadway, including Joel Grey and Bernadette Peters.

After releasing "In the Bush" in 2001 for J-Bird Records, with a reformed Electric Breakwater that also featured Pat Metheny’s bassist Mark Egan and Santana’s drummer Rodney Holmes, Winnicki and Medyna decided to unplug, forming the all-acoustic Komeda Project in 2004. This intelligently conceived and engaging project finds a group of contemporary American, and American-based musician of European background, choosing to pay homage to the often imagistic compositional strengths of the legendary Polish film composer-jazz pianist Krzysztof Komeda (1931-1969). As a part of this project Winnicki released 2 critically acclaimed CD’s on MW Records label: "Crazy Girl" in 2007 and "Requiem" in 2010. With Requiem, Komeda Project upped the ante on the promise of "Crazy Girl", paying reverent homage to one of the 20th Century's great composers while bringing modernistic edge, reckless abandon, and unmistakable swing to this profoundly moving set of starkly beautiful music.

While WM Project is a brand-new constellation, the musical masterminds behind it, pianist Andrzej Winnicki and tenor saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna, go back a long way. In the late 80's, they have played together in the fusion group Electric Breakwater ("In the Bush" CD with Mark Egan on bass and Rodney Holmes on drums), and have furthered appreciation of Polish composer and pianist Krzysztof Komeda through their widely acclaimed Komeda Project. KP's "Requiem", featuring bassist Scott Colley, drummer Nasheet Waits and trumpeter Russ Johnson, made the list of Top New Albums in The Village Voice Critics Poll: 2009.

Now the time is ripe for another beginning. Their new album From a Familiar Place is a personal project for Winnicki and Medyna whose surnames are ingrained in the name: WM Project. The music sums up a long life lived with jazz, but also looks forward to the future. Winnicki’s own son, Michael Winnicki, is a highly talented drummer and brings youthful energy to original compositions and classics like Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” and Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”. In fact, rhythm is the essence of the group, as Medyna explains: "The only thing I care about is groove which we have in both re-worked tunes. We need to stay in tune with the African-American roots of jazz".
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Another influence is the inclusion of five-time Downbeat & Jazz Journalists Association Rising Star Award winner trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and 2016 double Grammy nominated trombonist Marshall Gilkes.

Press Quotes:
This tribute to Polish jazz pianist and soundtrack composer Krzysztof Komeda is lovingly handled by compatriots Andrzej Winnicki and Krzysztof Medyna, who have assembled a top-notch, freewheeling crew in bassist Scott Colley, trumpeter Russ Johnson and drummer Nasheet Waits. ... compelling, emotionally charged ... --Bill Milkowski/JazzTimes

Among music fans, jazz people typically possess an exaggerated need for new stimuli. To hear something that has not been heard before is their endless quest. They are hereby directed to Crazy Girl by the Komeda Project… its three soloists - gifted but little-known American outcat and two even less known Polish heavyweights - make Crazy Girl notably fresh. Pianist Andrzej Winnicki plays solos made of sudden shifts that all cohere… Performance: **** --Thomas Conrad/Stereophile

Winnicki is also a stellar soloist, with amazing technique and original ideas who understands Komeda's kinship with classical and ethnic Polish musics. His two original tunes, 'Elutka' and 'Anubis' meld seamlessly with the Komeda pieces, yet retain their own character. --Dave Wayne/jazzreview.com

Even amongst the many engaging, skillfully-executed projects that cross our desk, it's rare to discover something as unexpectedly compelling as this. Andrzej's arrangements of Komeda's works are sophisticated and engaging, bringing to mind the warm vibe of such classic recordings as 'Kind of Blue' and 'Blues and the Abstract Truth' ... and the entire group's musicianship remains exceptional throughout. --Michael Gallant/Keyboard

With the magnificent Requiem, pianist Andrzej Winnicki and saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna solidify and enhance their reputations as the prime promoters of the essential music of the Polish pianist and composer Krzysztof Komeda…The band’s playing, individually and as a group is superb … essential. --Budd Kopman/allaboutjazz.com

Pianist Andrzej Winnicki is the real star here, as are his driving comping, left-hand basslines, and harmonic sense, which color the compositions in shades of fiery red, dark blue, and deep purple. You hear some outstanding music of Komeda's, but there are several standout originals written by Winnicki. --Michael G. Nastos/All Music Guide