The man-icon has passed away. The 88-year-old jazzman was struggling with cancer. “A few years ago, an arthropod attached itself to me. It used heavy weapons, but the doctors, with some acceptable losses, repelled it, even though it was the dominant one. So it ambushed me again. This time it was cunning, it was so seemingly nothing that maybe no one would notice. remarks. He got hit in the head with a laser or something else and had to blow the horn in reverse, far beyond the predetermined positions,” he wrote in 2022.
In 2023, the musician underwent two surgeries. He then had to cancel one of his performances. “Unfortunately, nothing will come of my performance. I am currently recovering after two emergency surgeries. Besides, I am physically eliminated from playing for some time,” he wrote.
Just before noon on May 7, 2024, Jan's family announced his death on the artist's Facebook fanpage. Thus, an era in the history of Polish music ended.
Ptaszyn's playing style was distinguished by the characteristic timbre of the saxophone strong swinging — his trademark.
“In jazz, the most important thing is improvisation: what the musician will do with this topic, how far he will go, how interesting, how exciting. (…) in jazz, the topic itself is not important – of course, it is better if it is done well – but that's what what follows and how it develops, which, as we know, can be very risky. Improvisation is improvisation: one day it will come out, the next it won't,” Ptaszyn explained the essence of his beloved music in a conversation with Denis Shnurov in 2020 .
His professional debut on the jazz scene took place at the Jazz Festival in Sopot in 1956, when he performed with the legendary Komeda Sextet. He was part of the team until it was disbanded. It was Krzysztof Komeda who gave him the nickname “Ptaszyn”.
He was the first Polish jazz musician after World War II who went to the United States to listen to local jazz. Wróblewski created the music for the first one Roman Polański's film “Two Men with a Wardrobe”. In 1967, he took over the management of the Polish Radio Jazz Studio orchestra. His songs were performed by, among others, Maryla Rodowicz, Ewa Bem, Łucja Prus and Andrzej Zaucha.
For over He hosted the program “Three Quarters of Jazz” for 46 years on Radio Three.
“The bird has flown away! A great loss for Polish culture, the end of an era. Deepest condolences to the entire family,” wrote Paweł Brodowski, editor-in-chief of Jazz Forum.
“For me he was a jazz professor, an institution, a real encyclopedia, full of knowledge that surprises you every time“what areas of music he explores,” wrote Wojciech Mazolewski, a Polish jazz bassist and double bassist, about Ptaszyn.
Marek Napiórkowski, jazz guitarist, musician and composer, points out that “what's amazing and unobvious is that he was a man everyone loved”. “This is the end of an absolutely incredible era of Polish jazz. “It's the passing of a man who was 'Mr. Jazz' in this part of the world.” – added the musician.
“Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski is an icon, a legend, one of those jazz musicians, who laid the foundations for the popularity of jazz in Poland. (…) Ptaszyn left behind many great works, but also a lot of good,” said the composer and jazz pianist Włodek Pawlik.
“This is the end of an era. A symbolic figure, supplying light to all Polish Jazz love, carefreeness, wisdom, kindness and deep knowledge of things. He walked away standing tall, with a saxophone around his neck. Giant, brother, champion and friend. “Bird, we thank you for everything,” wrote the grief-stricken jazz pianist and composer Leszek Możdżer.