LiveOne
Born on June 3, 1941 in Poland, Janusz Muniak was a jazz musician, arranger, and composer. Known as one of the pioneers of European free jazz, he was proficient on saxophone and flute. After graduating from music school in Kraków, he made his debut in Lublin in 1960 as a member of Witold Miszczak’s band. He went on to collaborate with many other jazz musicians including Ronnie Burrage, Eddie Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Archie Shepp, Michal Urbaniak, Hank Mobley, and many others. In the ‘60s, he guested on albums by the Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet and the Jazz Studio Orchestra of Polish Radio. He led his own band and recorded a series of albums including Question Mark (1978), Placebo (1983), You Know These Songs? (1994), Just Friends (2000), and Contemplation (2015). In 2015, he was awarded the Zloty Fryderyk by the Phonographic Academy for outstanding artistic achievement. Janusz Muniak died on January 31, 2016. He was posthumously awarded the Knights Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his outstanding achievements in promoting jazz music in Poland.
Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.
