European Jazz Prize for Tomasz Stańko

Polish jazz composer and trumpeter Tomasz Stańko was awarded a first European Prize, a newly founded prize for outstanding European jazz musicians. In the final round of voting among 21 jazz critics from 21 different European countries, Stańko won ten votes, against nine votes for Dutch piano player Misha Mengelberg.

Pawel Brodowski, Editor-in-Chief of the Polish jazz journal Jazz Forum, said that this award represents great success for both Stańko personally and for the Polish jazz community at large. Brodowski proposed Stańko as the award candidate from Poland. The award honors Stańko's musical standing in Poland and throughout Europe, particularly the originality of his achievements since he was a member of a legendary group led by Krzysztof Komeda in the 1960s. His position in the European market has been substantially strengthened by several records he has recently issued for ECM Records.

The European Prize will be presented to Tomasz Stańko by Matthias Ruegg, President of the Austrian Music Office, at a solemn celebration on December 6 at the Porgy & Bess Club in Vienna, Austria.

On December 7, Stańko will present pieces from his most recent ECM album, Soul Of Things, at the Porgy & Bess Club.