Komeda

A Private Life in Jazz

by Magdalena Grzebalkowska and translated by Halina Maria Boniszewska

Book cover: Komeda

Extent: 512 pages

Publisher: Equinox Publishing

Subjects: Music & Performing Arts, Slavic Studies

Series: Popular Music History

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(July 2020)

ISBN: 9781781799451

6.1 x 9.17 inches

Price: $20.00

In stock

This is the biography of Krzysztof (Trzci?ski) Komeda (1931-1969), composer of no fewer than 40 soundtracks, including film scores to all of Roman Pola?ski’s early films such as Knife in the Water and Rosemary’s Baby; and revered figure in the world of jazz, which regards his album, Astigmatic (released in 1966), as a key album in the history of European jazz. The book is full of interviews between the biographer and people who worked with and knew Krzysztof Komeda personally, and, while thoroughly-grounded in primary sources, it is written in a playful, questioning, engaging style.


Komeda: A Private Life in Jazz is the biography of Krzysztof (Trzciński) Komeda (1931-1969), composer of no fewer than 40 soundtracks, including film scores to all of Roman Polański’s early films such as Knife in the Water and Rosemary’s Baby; and revered figure in the world of jazz, which regards his album, Astigmatic (released in 1966), as a key album in the history of European jazz. This biography of Komeda, originally published in Polish by Znak in 2018, the first to be published in the English language, not only traces Komeda’s life, but also the development of Polish jazz during this period, showing how this arose in large part out of a need for self-expression and personal freedom during a repressive period of Soviet communist dominance. The book is full of interviews between the biographer and people who worked with and knew Krzysztof Komeda personally, and, while thoroughly-grounded in primary sources, it is written in a playful, questioning, engaging style.

  • By (author) Magdalena Grzebalkowska
  • Translated by Halina Maria Boniszewska

"Award-winning journalist and author Magdalena Grzebalkowska's book was published in Polish in 2018, but thanks to Equinox Publishing and a first-rate translation by Halina Maria Boniszewska, a rounded picture of Komeda emerges for international readership that places his achievements in context. . . .A highly readable tome that will likely serve as the main reference on Komeda for many years to come."

— Ian Patterson, allaboutjazz.com