Female Cadence. Hommage an Ewa Wanat (Polen) mit dem Ola Blachno Quartet

In the organizer's words:

Thursday, December 11, 2025, 20h, Brotfabrik, Caligariplatz 1, 13086 Berlin, admission 18-12 Euro. Box Office from 19.30h (cash only), advance booking via Eventbrite.

EWA WANAT (NOVI SINGERS), POLAND

presented by

OLA BLACHNO QUARTET

Ola Blachno - vocals

Arseny Rykov - piano

Michał Aftyka - bass

Johannes Metzger - drums

Ewa Wanat (*1942) was one of the leading voices of the Polish jazz scene in the 1960s and 1970s and a founding member of the renowned vocal group Novi Singers. The group, whose name stands for "New Original Vocal Instruments", was founded in Warsaw in 1964 by five music students and was known for its innovative use of the human voice as an instrument. In addition to Wanat, Bernard Kawka, Janusz Mych, Waldemar Parzyński and Aleksander Głuch were among the founding members. The Novi Singers combined singing with instrumental virtuosity. Wanat, originally a violinist, contributed significantly to the group's characteristic sound with her soprano and versatility. A central feature of their music was the abandonment of lyrics in favour of scat singing, maximizing improvisation and expressiveness. Wanat emphasized: "Above all, we found the human voice a perfect jazz instrument, and the possibilities in sound, expression and interpretation were unlimited." In the 1950s and 1960s, vocal ensembles were very popular.

At a time when jazz was seen as a symbol of Western values in Poland and was often considered subversive, the music of the Novi Singers was an act of cultural self-assertion, but also managed to escape censorship. The group performed at major events, including the Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw, the International Jazz Festival in Zurich and - most notably - the Newport Jazz Festival in the USA, which brought them international recognition. Albums such as Bossa Nova (1967) and Rien Ne Va Plus (1973) demonstrate their stylistic diversity and innovative strength. The political situation in Poland was characterized by severe restrictions on artistic freedom. Jazz was often perceived as "forbidden fruit". However, Wanat and the Novi Singers used music as an expression of personal and collective freedom. The deliberate renunciation of lyrics and the focus on scat singing were both an artistic decision and a subtle political statement.

After the withdrawal of Bernard Kawka in 1973 and the subsequent dissolution of the group in 1985, Ewa Wanat remained faithful to the music. She continued to perform and had a lasting influence on the Polish jazz scene. Her commitment and artistic integrity make her a key figure in Polish jazz and a symbol of the power of music as an expression of freedom and resistance.

OLA BLACHNO

Ola Błachno is a Polish jazz singer, composer, lyricist and violinist who now works in Berlin. She began her musical education with violin and attended music schools in Warsaw (Skrzypce and others) as well as jazz vocal studies at the Jazz Institute Berlin, among others. Her debut album How To Be Me was released in 2019; she leads her own projects such as the Ola Błachno Quartet and the Ola Błachno Octet. She regularly performs at jazz festivals and competitions, has received several awards (e.g. prizes at the Novum Jazz Festival, Jazz nad Odrą, Ladies' Jazz Festival) and is a scholarship holder (including the Elsa Neumann Scholarship). She is currently working on a new octet album entitled "Warschauer Straße", which combines jazz with vocals, electronics and string quartet. https://ola.blachno.pl/

MICHAŁ AFTYKA

Michał Aftyka is a Polish double bassist and composer who is one of the young voices of jazz in Poland. He completed his training in jazz double bass in Warsaw and Katowice and is currently also a doctoral student at the Academy of Music in Wrocław. His quintet released the debut album Frukstrakt in 2023, with which he won the Fryderyk Award as "Jazzowy Debiut Roku"; the album was also received and nominated internationally. In addition to his quintet, he is involved in projects such as the Amalia Umeda Quartet, the JAH Trio and collaborations with Ola Błachno. https://www.deutscher-jazzpreis.de/award-category/debuet-album-des-jahres-international/

ARSENY RYKOV

Arseny Rykov is a Russian pianist and composer based in Berlin. His style combines impressionistic timbres with contemporary jazz and a penchant for subtle interaction. He leads his own trio, performs in a duo with Mathilde Vendramin and is widely networked in the Berlin jazz scene. Concert appearances have taken him to clubs such as Donau115 and festivals. Further information: https://www.instagram.com/arseny_rykov?igsh=MXZvNGZueGdrZGxzdQ==

JOHANNES METZGER

Johannes Metzger is a drummer and composer based in Berlin. He studied jazz drums at the Jazz Institute Berlin and at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media with teachers such as John Hollenbeck, Jim Black and Oliver Steidle. Metzger has recorded over 20 albums and is regularly active at national and international festivals, including Elbjazz, Jazzbaltica, Leverkusener Jazztage etc. As a bandleader, he released FRAMES (2022) and How Far? feat. Benjamin Schaefer (2023) with his quartet; he also released the album Orange Sky with his septet formation CAPTCHA. He is a multiple winner of various jazz awards (e.g. Munich Jazz Award, Hannover Jazz Award, Future Sounds Contest). www. johannes-metzger.com

Background:
Female Cadence: Women in European Jazz around 1960 (October 2025 - January 2026) is dedicated to forgotten female musicians who had a decisive influence on jazz in Europe. The focus is on artists such as Lolita Garrido (Spain), Pia Beck (Netherlands), Colette Magny (France), German Tülay (Turkey), Kathy Stobart (Great Britain) and Ewa Wanat (Poland).

The project brings these artists back into the public consciousness by Berlin musicians such as Olga Reznichenko, Mathilde Vendramin, Lucia Boffo, Pinar Tatlikazan, Birgitta Flick and Ola Blachno and their ensembles reinterpreting and transcribing works by these women and combining them with their own artistic positions. The result is a dialog between past and present, between politically motivated music history and today's jazz avant-garde.

In addition to six concerts in venues such as the Brotfabrik and Kubiz Raoul Wallenberg, the series includes lectures and a program booklet. A podcast will be produced afterwards. This will make female jazz history visible in the long term and at the same time open up a discourse on the social conditions of those musicians - focusing on patriarchal structures and authoritarian regimes. The aim is also to take a look at today's conditions in jazz and to present current artistic positions of female jazz and improvisational musicians.

The concert series sees itself as a contribution to making forgotten female biographies visible and as a reflection on the extent to which artistic expression and social protest intertwine then and now.

Supported by Musikfonds e.V. with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Idea and realization: Regina Câmara