Victor Young from Warsaw
Kuba Stankiewicz's jazz research started with Victor Young, American who composed such jazz evergreens as "Stella by Starlight,""Beautiful Love," or "Johnny Guitar". Inspired by saxophonist Janusz Muniak, the Wroclaw pianist decided to explore who Victor Young really was. This is how he found out about the fascinating biography of the Polish artist. The effect of the jazz "investigation" was the album "Stankiewicz/Young". Recorded in 2014 in Los Angeles with double bass player Darek Oleszkiewicz and drummer Peter Erskine, the album proved quite a success, not only on the Polish market, but also in the US, where was played on the radio and commented in industry magazines.
Bronisław Kaper? Who is he?
The whole thing could have ended with the said album if it wasn't for yet another Pole in Hollywood - Bronisław Kaper, whose name was consistently spelt as Bronislau (by error of an incapable official). Should you be ignorant, he is the winner of the first Polish Academy Award for the music to the film "Lili." If you are a connoisseur, he is the man behind the jazz standards "On Green Dolphin Street,", "Invitation," or "All God’s Chillun Got Rhytm".
And all these above the beautiful song "Ninon, When You Smile to Me," made popular by Jan Kiepura. 'There are few who know that it was not the famous tenor who was its author, points out Kuba Stankiewicz, and regrets that the name of Kaper draws attention of hardly anyone but musicians. 'When a documentary director Anna Ferens wanted to make a film about Kaper, she heard from one of the managers in the Polish Television: Who is Kaper? We won't make a film about someone whom we don't know, he said. Meanwhile, a documentary was made about the composer in the US. 'It is valuable because in it Kaper says that he learned all Jerome Kern jazz standards in Poland, from a score, explains Kuba Stankiewicz.
Bronisław Kaper/photo: the courtesy of the Polish Music Center in Los Angeles
Lawyer, composer, a Hollywood star
Bronislaw Kaper's biography is full of unexpected twists. Born in Warsaw in 1902, he was educated very consistently. First, there was the prestigious Staszic School, and later, law studies. 'He did this mainly to please his parents, and especially his father. At the time, musician was not really considered a profession, says Kuba Stankiewicz. Bronislaw Kaper quit studying law; he decided to go to Warsaw Conservatory and then to leave for studies to Berlin or to Vienna. 'It is said that the decision about Berlin was set because somebody had told his parents that there is much better tap water in Berlin, reveals the Wroclaw pianist. Tap water hadn't proven a revelation after all, but in Germany Kaper had caught the film bug and began to compose music for the silver screen. The situation changed after Adolf Hitler had come to power. Kaper's Jewish origin became a major problem. In 1933, he moved to Paris and this is where he met the man, who turned out to be his ticket to Hollywood - the omnipotent producer Louis B. Mayer, the creator of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Kaper captured the attention of Hollywood soon enough. In 1941 he received his first Oscar nomination for the music for the film "Chocolate Soldier." He won the statuette a decade later, in 1953, for the musical "Lili," featuring Leslie Caron singing the famous song "Hi Lili, Hi Lo."
'On the day of the Oscar ceremony he learned that his sister died in a car accident. Such a joy, and then such a tragedy, says Kuba Stankiewicz. His third Oscar nomination Bronislaw Kaper received in the 1960s, for the "Mutiny on the Bounty," starring Marlon Brando. 'In one of his interviews he explained that he had had to compose four different endings to the film, because at first it was not known whether the character played by Brando will live or not, and this needed to have been taken into consideration, says Stankiewicz.
Bronisław Kaper with the piano he often played/photo: the courtesy of the Polish Music Center in Los Angeles
In Hollywood, Kaper had not forgotten his Polish roots and helped his kinsmen. He supported Julian Tuwim financially when he was in the United States, and lobbied for Roman Polanski's 'Knife In The Water'.
The jazz guru
Bronisław Kaper went down to history of jazz thanks to two now forgotten films. The first, "On Green Dolphin Street" from 1947, included a title song, which was later taken up by all decent jazzmen. In the second one, "Invitation" from 1952, the title song was made famous. 'Kaper used what jazz musicians like very much, namely interesting harmonic solutions referring to impressionism - to Ravel, Debussy - charming as a base for improvisation, explains Kuba Stankiewicz. 'On Green Dolphin Street is the basic song in all jam sessions, stresses the pianist. The hit will also be featured on an album recorded this summer in Los Angeles with Darek Oleszkiewicz and Peter Erskin, in the same line-up, in which the album with Victor Young's music was recorded. This time, the musicians have chosen nine songs by Bronisław Kaper. The album will feature their own version of "Ninon", "All God’s Chillun Got Rhytm" , "Take my Love" (from the musical "The Glass Slipper"), "Invitation", and of course the hit from "Lili", "On Green Dolphin Street" and the not so widely known song "Blue Lovebirds".
With his new album, Kuba Stankiewicz restores the memory of the famous works of Bronisław Kaper/photo: Tomasz Walków
We have more than just Chopin
Kuba Stankiewicz is pleased not only with recording great music by Kaper, but also to remind of his person. 'When during the inauguration of the Chopin Competition Minister Omilanowska stressed that Chopin's music is our national heritage, I thought: It is not only that music, but also the forgotten songs of Young and Kaper. Now is the time to present them anew.
- The album Kuba Stankiewicz - The Music of Bronisław Kaper will be released in March 2016 by Warner Music Poland thanks to the support of Polish Society of Authors and Composers ZAiKS, the Association of Authors and Composers STOART and the company Supra Brokers.
