Konrad Wiszniewski / Euan Stevenson
@ the PizzaExpress Jazz Club
13 November 2012

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Konrad Wiszniewski biography

Konrad Wiszniewski studied music at Strathclyde University, then Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He has worked extensively with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra since 2001, working with a host of performers such as Joe Lovano, Gary Burton and John Scofield.

He has been part of the renowned Scottish Jazz Outfit Brass Jaw since 2006, touring throughout the UK, United States and Europe, receiving the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Ensemble of the year 2011, Best Group and Best Album at the Scottish Jazz Awards.

Wiszniewski was awarded an Edinburgh Jazz Festival commission in 2011 to compose a new work along with pianist Euan Stevenson entitled New Focus, which features the Glasgow String Quartet.

Wiszniewski has appeared on BBC Television, ITV, Radio 3, Radio Scotland and most recently broadcast to Europe on a special BBC Radio 3 broadcast on New Years Day.

Outside of Jazz, Wiszniewski has toured / recorded with the following artists / ensembles: The RSNO, The RTE Concert Orchestra, The Brand New Heavies, The Peatbog Faeries, Deacon Blue, Hue and Cry, Martha Reeves, Aiden O Rourke, The Unusual Suspects to name a few.

Euan Stevenson biography

Conjuring the joyous swinging lines of Oscar Peterson, the rhapsodic chordal work of George Shearing and the understated lyrical beauty of Bill Evans, Euan Stevenson combines classical technique with mastery of the jazz piano tradition. Improvising arrangements on countless themes by composers such as Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin, despite his virtuosity he remains a faithful servant to the song, always melodic, never self indulgent.

His tasteful solo work has been enjoyed throughout Europe during his residency on board the exclusive luxury cruise ship The Hebridean Spirit. Top hotels at which Stevenson has performed include The Oberoi in Mumbai, Reid’s Palace in Madeira, and closer to home in his native Scotland, Skibo Castle, Gleneagles, The Balmoral and 1 Devonshire Gardens. He has played for Royalty on several occasions, most notably private dinner receptions at Holyrood Palace for Prince Charles. He has performed his own compositions and arrangements on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland as well as numerous live concerts in The Glasgow and Edinburgh International Jazz Festivals.

Appealing to the purist and the amateur music lover alike,
The Euan Stevenson Trio is arguably the most authentic, swinging jazz piano trio working in the UK today. With tight knit, dynamic arrangements, the trio is renowned for its uncanny ability to capture the energy and spirit of the popular piano trios of the 1950’s and sixties. Much in demand by jazz singers and instrumentalists alike, the trio has performed extensively in theatres and jazz venues throughout Britain.

All the musicians in the trio are highly accomplished professionals in their own right, and between them they have a collective CV that makes for impressive reading having performed with musicians such as Jamie Cullum, Larry Adler, Lesley Garrett, Matthew Ford, Lalo Schiffrin, Joe Lovano, Tina May, and Niki King to name but a few, not to mention playing for private parties hosted by Prince Charles, Sir Richard Branson and Earl Spencer.

As a composer/arranger Stevenson is equally prolific. He arranged trumpeter Colin Steele’s compositions for The 2010 Edinburgh Jazz Festival Orchestra. He arranged both his own compositions and those of Konrad Wiszniewski for jazz quartet and string quartet, receiving a 5 star review for the concert in the 2011 Edinburgh Jazz Festival, cementing his reputation as a serious composer/arranger for both jazz and classical forces.