b. 9 September 1939, Warsaw, Poland. Namyslowski’s Lola, recorded during his visit to the UK in 1964, caused quite a stir, since few people in Northern Europe were aware of the state of the jazz art in Soviet bloc countries (formerly). However, it was not simply the surprise of Eastern European musicians playing modern, post-bop jazz at all that impressed: Namyslowski was very good indeed, with a hard, emotional tone and considerable facility on the alto saxophone. He had begun his musical studies on piano at the age of six, switching to the cello at 12. He also plays soprano saxophone, flute and trombone. He studied music theory at the Warsaw High School of Music and began his career playing trombone with a trad band and ’cello with a modern group. Concentrating on alto, he set up his quartet in 1963 and toured Europe, Asia and Australasia as well as the USSR. He plays with the kind of intensely personal passion one associates with Jackie McLean and Mike Osborne, weaving in strong strands of Polish folk music in both his writing and improvising. In the late 70s and early 80s he moved away from the more avant garde side of his style and, without losing his individuality, used rock-fusion elements. There was also an adventurous album, Zbigniew Namyslowski, for orchestra and large jazz group. By the late 80s, he was back in the hard-bop mainstream, sounding a little less dangerous than in his early days, but just as sincere and inventive. He has also worked with Krzysztof Komeda and Air Condition, the fine Polish fusion band that he led in the early 80s.