Synopsis
Passion documents the unraveling mystery of the iconoclastic but little known Polish violinist and composer Zbigniew Seifert. His life is revealed and illuminated-thirty years after his demise — by another musician, jazz violinist Zach Brock, whose conception of jazz composition was blown apart by Zbigniew when he happened upon a bargain-bin LP at a used record shop in Chicago.
From the States to Poland, Zach re-traces Zbigniew's steps, introducing us along the way to those who knew him, from jazz great John Scofield to Polish superstar Tomasz Stanko to his widow, Agnieszka Seifert Beck.
The film chronicles a double odyssey: the voyage of the artist Zbigniew Seifert, whose voice was cut short in his 32nd year, and the voyage of the artist Zach Brock, whose voice is growing in strength in this, his 32nd year, both men linked by a passion for violin and a passion for jazz.
Passion captures the players on this journey by tracking down those who knew and loved Zbigniew, meeting them in venues that awaken and stir their memories, set within the Jazz world of Poland, Germany, and New York. Provoked by Zach's impassioned desire to learn what they know, the movie is an opportunity for musicians across the globe to come together and pierce the veils drawn by time. Together they will render a fresh picture of a lost life.
It is furthermore Zach's intention with the support of Zbigniew's widow to uncover and re-master previously unreleased recordings by Seifert.
Reconstructing the life of an artist racing against mortality to achieve self-expression, Zach awakens in us the question of our own immanent desires by challenging his own.
Passion will be a testament to the world that affirms, through Zbigniew Seifert, the irrepressibility of human creativity and the phenomenon of a universal expression that transcends nationality and time.
About Zbigniew
Discovering Zbigniew Seifert, part 1. By Zach Brock
A few weeks ago, as I was searching my computer for Zbiggy-related documents, I happened across a three-year-old essay that I had written for academic purposes. Much of the essay shows how little I really knew about Zbiggy and his music at the time. I think, however, that it accurately represents the events leading up to and immediately following my personal discovery of his music. I am sharing parts of this essay with the intention of starting a conversation about Zbiggy that I hope will develop throughout the year and continue far beyond. I hope that you enjoy learning about the music of Zbigniew Seifert as much as I have.
Polish jazz violinist and composer Zbigniew Seifert (June 1946 - February 1979) was, after Jean-Luc Ponty (September 1942-), the most radically groundbreaking violinist in the history of modern jazz. Since the late nineteen sixties, many improvising violinists have become conversant in the language of bebop, funk, jazz-rock, blues-rock, and the avant-garde. However, the post-Coltrane language, harmony, and nuance that Seifert explored remains largely uncharted territory on the violin. While re-mastered recordings of all the major (and some minor) jazz violinists abound, Zbigniew Seifert retains the unenviable distinction of being the most obscured violinist of his importance. Seifert, who during his brief career recorded five times as a leader (two times for Capitol Records) and well over thirty sessions as a sideman, is completely out-of-print. Celebrated as an important jazz pioneer in Poland and the rest of Europe, Seifert is virtually unknown to jazz fans and musicians in the United States. Why nothing until now has been done to remedy this fact remains somewhat of a mystery. It is a more complicated situation than one might initially posit and it is one that requires diligent work and cooperation if we are to accomplish the re-mastering of his seminal works before it is too late. The magnetic tape recordings made in the early and mid-seventies are already showing rapid signs of deterioration and we may lose the ability to restore Seifert's work to the level it deserves if more time is lost.
I became aware of Zbigniew Seifert through a Verve sampler CD called "Jazz Club Violin." Seifert's inclusion, a track called "Stillness", featured him in duet with bassist Cecil McBee. Although I immediately recognized Seifert as a strong individual voice, I was in a developmental phase (i.e. young and stupid) where I only paid attention to violinists who were playing bebop lines. When I wasn't listening to horn players, pianists, guitar players, or any other instrument other than the violin, I followed the recordings of the young Jean-Luc Ponty and, later, Didier Lockwood. The second time I heard the name Zbigniew Seifert was from the pianist Dave Kikoski. Kikoski was playing in Chicago with Roy Haynes and the band had gone to saxophonist Von Freeman's famous jam session after the show. I approached Kikoski to ask him about a Didier Lockwood recording he had played on called "New York Rendezvous." We began talking about other violinists who were playing in a more modern style and he quickly steered the conversation to "Zbiggy." He informed me that other New York-based jazz musicians such as Richie Beirach and David Liebman had told him about playing with Seifert in the 1970's and he insisted that I find more recordings. The conversation made such an impression on me that I began looking for Seifert records the next day. However, after looking in every record store in Chicago and scouring the Internet for hours, I gave up.
About a month later, while playing a CD release show at a local jazz record store, I stumbled across Seifert's posthumous recording "Passion" in the used record bin. The lineup of Richie Beirach, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette, Nana Vascocelos and John Scofield was sufficient to peak my interest once again. Written on the back of the record was the first bit of biographical information that I had found outside of the conversation with Kikoski: Polish-born Zbigniew Seifert died in Buffalo, NY in 1979 at the age 32 while undergoing experimental surgery for cancer. Fortunately, the overcast introduction was obliterated by the music that leapt off of the record and out of my stereo speakers. What I heard in that moment did as much as anything I had ever previously heard to alter my view of music, life, and all its possibilities. Seifert's voice was unusually powerful, emotive, and compelling. The musical phrases and lines that he played were seemingly devoid of the usual "violin licks" that prevailed in so many other jazz violinists' vocabulary. At the same time, and most importantly, his playing was much more than impressive or inspiring to me; it was deeply moving. Since making that first discovery I have acquired all of the albums that he recorded as a leader. Everything that this amazing musician ever did, with the exception of an album called "Violin" by the band Oregon, remains completely out-of-print in this country. I found the remainder of his discography through a German record collector and generous donations from other Zbiggy-philes. What I have since discovered in these other recordings begins to form the picture of a creative statement that rivals or exceeds all that has occurred in jazz violin since the early 1970s. With hard work and luck, we should be able to re-light the torch that Zbigniew carried and to find others that are willing to carry it into the future. It is certainly a worthwhile endeavor and it is also certainly one that will give back far more in return.
Photo by Maciej Sochor
“Since the late nineteen sixties, many improvising violinists have become conversant in the language of bebop, funk, jazz-rock, blues-rock, and the avant-garde. However, the post-Coltrane language, harmony, and nuance that Seifert explored remains largely uncharted territory on the violin.”
Stills
The Filmmakers
- Zach Brock
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Violinist and composer Zach Brock has given Smithsonian-sponsored lectures on early American jazz violin pioneers, appeared as a guest soloist with William Russo and The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, performed at the Kennedy Center with the Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead residency, produced and recorded four CDs on Secret Fort and Delmark Records, and performed at Carnegie Hall with his group, The Coffee Achievers. Zach has been featured in a Downbeat Magazine "Players Profile" column and has been hailed as a "Rising Star" in the magazine's venerable reader's poll.
In September 2006, Zach Brock and The Coffee Achievers performed at the Tudo é Jazz Festival in Brazil and in October 2006, Zach performed with Alice and Ravi Coltrane, Reggie Workman, and Jack DeJohnette as part of Alice Coltrane's "Translinear Light" concert. Zach's film credits include performances for the acclaimed documentary "Black Gold" (Sundance Festival 2006), and the dramatic cultural critique "Arranged" (SXSW Festival 2007). Now residing in Brooklyn, NY, Zach will be performing and recording with bass legend Stanley Clarke in 2008 as well as touring with his own projects and recording a new CD for Secret Fort.
- Erin Harper: Producer/Writer/Director
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Erin’s credentials for making the music documentary PASSION stem, appropriately enough, from her passion for its subject matter: jazz and loss, jazz and renewal.
Jazz has been the music accompanying Erin’s life for about 20 years, both in her previous, professional dance career and personal life. As a dancer with the company Jump Rhythm Jazz, she danced to be-bop music. This company was in Chicago where she first met Zach. For the following decade she worked as his tour manager/booker. While immersed in the Chicago and New York jazz scenes she shot footage of many musicians with a profound understanding of this music and the musicians who devote their lives to it.
Erin has a Theatre degree from Northwestern University, in addition to professional acting and directing credits with companies like Lookingglass (Mary Zimmerman’s company), Red Moon Theatre, and Striding Lion InterArts Workshop. She has headed up many original, collaborative theater/dance projects, as well.
While holding commercial and documentary internships with the Kindling Group and Big Shoulders in Chicago, Erin learned about film while also shooting shorts about her home town: the first about the splitting up and deportation of a Mexican-American family working on a cattle ranch shortly after 9/11 and a series of shorts leading up to the agricultural competitions at the local county fair. At Kindling Group Erin worked on "A Doula Story: On the front lines of teen pregnancy," which aired on PBS in October 2006. Erin’s involvement in documentary films includes work on "Center for Workers Education," "Rat Patrol" directed by Cheryl Lohrman about Chicagoans who build their own bikes from parts found while dumpster diving. “WORK,” a short observational documentary directed by Erin and written by Erin Greenwell recently screened as part of City College’s Cinema Cum Laude film festival. This summer Secret Fort Records is releasing Erin’s visceral documentation of The Coffee Achiever’s live performance at the Jazz Factory in Louisville, KY.
Erin receives her M.F.A. in writing, producing and directing from The City College of New York June 2008.
- Jeff Hoagland: Assistant Director
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Jeff Hoagland graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in Accounting and Finance and enjoys applying his dogmatic, regimented personality to projects with artistic credibility. An organized self-starter, Jeff enjoys Baudelaire, sestinas, quadratic equations and can play up to seven chords on any standard-issue six string acoustic guitar. A published freelance writer, Jeff co-wrote, co-edited, co-produced, and helped score the documentary "Sally Brown: Force of Nature", which aired on Kentucky Educational Television, before entering The City College of New York to pursue an M.F.A. in Film Production. Jeff currently works freelance for NBC Sports, the CW channel, and Winnercomm television, and thinks Zach Brock is very attractive.
- Janis M. Vogel: Director of Photography
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Janis M. Vogel was born in Heidelberg, Germany and grew up on Martha's Vineyard. A dancer, writer and photographer, she got her B.A. in Cinema Media Studies and International Relations from Wellesley College. She created her first short film, "World Ever After," during her studies at Wellesley and graduated Cum Laude. She is now working towards her M.F.A. in Film Production as a Cinematographer, Writer and Director at The City College of New York where she is currently directing her sixth short film. "Falling To Heaven," which she edited, was recently screened at The Sundance Film Festival. She is in pre-production as cinematographer on many productions including "Passion" with documentary filmmaker Erin Harper. Janis Vogel has also worked with documentary filmmakers, Danny Schechter ("Weapons of Mass Deception") and Marc Simon ("After Innocence"). She worked as a Story Developer for Julie Richardson ("Collateral") and her fluency in German and Spanish led her to work for the World Wide Department at American Public Television.
- Erin Greenwell: Editor
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Erin graduated with honors from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dramatic Writing. Erin went on to become an in-house producer/director of PSAs and community/cultural profiles for the largest public access center in the nation, Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Ms. Greenwell's producing/editing work includes Lead Dog Marketing, Unicef and the award winning PBS magazine format show, "In the Life." Erin recently served as an additional editor on "Cruel and Unusual," an unflinching documentary on the lives of transgender women in men's prisons. Ms. Greenwell is proud to have been senior editor on "Arranged", a feature narrative about a Muslim and Orthodox Jew who become friends as public school teachers. "Arranged" premiered at this year's SXSW film festival in the "Emerging Visions" category and was awarded "Best Narrative Feature" in the Brooklyn International Film Festival and will be theatrically released October 2007.
- Vincent Venturella: AC, 2nd Camera
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Vincent Venturella received his BA in Cinema from Binghamton University where he studied avant-garde film with experimental filmmakers, Martin Arnold and Vincent Grenier. Vincent continued his studies earning his MFA at City College of New York as a cinematographer and works professionally as a free-lance cinematographer and video artist. He worked as cinematographer for the film "hush" directed by Fernando Cordero which was awarded "Best Cinematography" at the 2007 Cityvisions Festival screening at the Director's Guild of America Theatre in Manhattan, New York. He was Producer and Director of Photography for Darren Methlie's film "Plain Jane" which won "Best Fiction Film," also screened at The 2007 Cityvisions Festival. Contributing his compositional and performance skills in experimental music, Vin has performed as a singer and guitarist for Connecticut's Indie rock trio, Irma Vep and plays bass in Brooklyn's Matter Antimatter. He is one half of the lo-fi pop duo Leopoldine with actress Joan Wolkoff.
- Maria Graziewicz: Production Manager (Poland)
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Maria graduated from the Polish Film School Silesia University 'Krzysztof Kieslowski', where she studied Film and TV production. She has worked professionally for Polish TV, Polish music television: MTV, 4funTv and as a freelance producer in documentary films, music clips, tv programs, news programs and adverts. Last year she worked as a production executive for her first feature film named "Fur".
- Jacek Plichta: Sound
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Jacek has been working as a sound man since 1994. For thirteen years he was doing nature films and documentaries. As a freelancer he works with Polish TV stations like TVP, Polskat, and TVN. He does sound in commentary and entertainment programs. Now Jacek works a few production companies, realizing sound in adverts, corporation films, and documentaries.
- Marlena Grzaslewicz: Associate Producer
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Ms. Grzaslewiz has over 25 years of professional dialogue/sound editing. Her illustrious track record includes "Capturing the Friedman's," "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" and "Carlito's Way". Ms. Grzaslewiz recently worked on Alan Ball's first feature film.
- Aneta Norek: Associate Producer
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Aneta started playing violin at the age of nine. Upon attending music school, Aneta graduated from the Academy of Economics in Cracow in 2002 and from the Music Academy in Cracow (violin class) in 2006. In order to combine her two passions, in 2002 she started working as the tour and promotions manager in the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow for the symphonic orchestra and mixed choir. Since May, 2007 she has been working in the Warsaw Philharmonic in the PR Department. Jazz is Aneta's main hobby. Since discovering Seifert's music for the first time four years ago, she has collected materials of his legacy. As a master thesis in the Music Academy she wrote the dissertation: "Influence of Karol Szymanowski music on works of Zbigniew Seifert - the most outstanding, Polish, jazz violinist." For analysis she used pieces such as Harnasie or 4. Symphony Concertante by Karol Szymanowski and Concerto for jazz violin, symphonic orchestra and rhythmical section (Jazz-Konzert für Violine, Sinfonieorchester und Rhythmusgruppe).
- Katarzyna Weclawiak: Interpreter
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Kasia finished graduate course work recently at Warsaw University (Poland) where she studied German philology. While finishing her master's thesis, she is also completing her MA in Dutch philology. Working as a free lance interpreter and translator for more than two years, her work concerns Dutch, English, German and Polish. Kasia has worked among others with German theater director Rene Pollesch, the native New York photographer Roger Ballen now living in Johannesburg, and has translated poems by Dutch poet FranS Bude. She admits to being an avowed jazz fan.