Incoming concert or event:
2010-04-08, Poznań - Johnny Rocker

MAGDA PISKORCZYK

  Magda Piskorczyk
(pronounce: Peaskorchick) is a young singer with a mature, low and unusual voice timbre. Described in France as "la voix noire et au costume blanc" (Black voice in a white costume). She is a guitar, bass guitar and percussion player, as well as a song writer.

Magda performs music of Afro-American and African heritage. She is a two-time Semifinalist of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, USA. Four times readers of the Polish blues quarterly have chosen her the Female Vocalist of the Year. In 2009 Magda was invited to play with Konoba, an international band performing traditional West African music.
 
She has released two CDs: "Magda Live" (nominated to the Fryderyk Award, the most prestigious award of the Polish Phonographic Industry) and "Blues Travelling" feat. Michal Urbaniak, a reknown jazz violinist.

Magda has performed with many well-known musicians, such as Bob Margolin, Bob Brozman, Slidin' Slim, Greg Zlap, Billy Gibson and Engerling group. She regularly performs with her band and has given shows at many festivals almost all over Europe. She likes to involve the audience in collective singing, emotional shouting, hand-clapping or snapping their fingers.


MUSIC OF MAGDA PISKORCZYK

Magda Piskorczyk  
is her tasteful arrangements of funk, blues, gospel, soul, rock, jazz classics and her own original compositions as well. Despite her music being deeply set in the Afro-American tradition, it is very personal and innovative at the same time. Joy and humour, great emotions and energy are mixed with deep messages, melancholy and moving sincerity. An unusual, very expressive usage of voice and perfectly matched sounds of guitars, a Hammond organ, a saxophone, a violin, percussion or other instruments make this music unique and captivating.
 


MUSICIANS AND MEDIA ABOUT MAGDA

Bob Brozman after the concert with Magda at Dobrofest Trnava said: "She's a great future for the music. She's a great, great musician with very good groove and sense of music."

  Magda Piskorczyk
"Magda is an excellent, deep-voiced singer - her voice is somewhere between Koko Taylor, Charley Patton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Tommy Johnson) - capable of tackling well-known blues, jazz and gospel numbers alongside more contemporary songs from the pens of Jacques Brel, Paul Rodgers ('Muddy Water Blues' is a wonderful performance) and Tracy Chapman, and her style is distinctive, individual and unusual. So too are her arrangements, which certainly avoid the obvious and although they are acoustic-based, can be extremely powerful..."
   Norman Darwen CD "Magda Live", BluesArt-Journal

"Excellent music, beautiful voice, musicians in top form, our audience love it absolutely."
   Serge WARIN about CD 'Magda Live', Radio Canal Bleu, France

"I can hardly wait to see this lady live on stage!"
   Bobtje's Blues Pages, Holland

  Magda Piskorczyk and Bob Margolin
"That young and from Eastern Europe! Excellent! She is better than some Americans!"
   Rev. Rabia from Berkeley, USA, American blues singer

"Blues from Poland? Possibly the last place you'd expect to hear blues coming from. Magda Piskorczyk has a great bluesy voice, and you'd never guess that she was from Eastern Europe - although you might guess at Mississippi or Tennessee."
   Terry Clear, Blues Bytes
 


FROM BEGINNINGS TO THE STARS

  Magda Piskorczyk
Magda was born in Southwestern part of Poland. She studied computer science at Technical University of Wroclaw. Since the very childhood she kept singing everywhere and almost all the time. She listened to the music of different genres but blues, gospel and soul touched her most.
Her debut in 2001 at the festival in Bialystok was a great success - she won The First Prize in the competition. She sang with almost each top Polish blues band, singer or musician, but most often with Michał Kielak (harmonica), Aleksandra Siemieniuk (dobro guitar) and Arkadiusz Osenkowski (tenor sax.). She received The Blues Top Awards in 2003, 2004 and 2006 as a "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the readers of the most important Polish blues magazine "Twoj Blues" (eng. "Your Blues"). Since 2005 she has regularly performed with her own band.

In 2008 the first Polish Blues Stars Alley was opened in Sława near Zielona Góra. One of the stars belongs to Magda. She stamped her hand on the promenade too.


STUDIO ALBUM: "BLUES TRAVELLING"

  Magda Piskorczyk
Her first album was released in October 2005, during the biggest indoor blues festival in the world: Rawa Blues. Magda recorded it with her friends and special guest: legendary jazz musician and composer Michal Urbaniak (violin on "Tutu" album of Miles Davis).
It presents standards and less known compositions in fresh arrangements, such us: a touching gospel "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me" and an exciting version of Tom Waits' "Temptation" in which Magda plays the electric double bass. In aged-sounding jail "Work Song" her harsh voice is accompanied only on the sax and a simple beat of the drum.


CONCERT RECORDING: "MAGDA LIVE"

  Magda Piskorczyk
The album titled "Magda Live", released in 2008, was recorded at Radio Gdansk with very active participation of the audience which was regularly involved in collective singing, hand-clapping, stamping their feet or emotional shouting.

The CD contains 13 acoustic songs. Magda serves her own tasty arrangements and personal interpretations of standards taken from various genres, for example: jazz ("All of Me"), blues ("Walking Blues"), gospel ("Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"), as well as modern compositions of the authors such as: Tracy Chapman ("Crossroads") or Paul Rodgers ("Muddy Water Blues").

  Magda Piskorczyk
A very unique element of the album is a jazzy version of Jacques Brel's song with English text titled "Hearts" which has reached number one on the Radio Cracow ALP List. The CD contains also multimedia with 15 minutes video filmed at the presented concert.

The CD was nominated to the Fryderyk Award 2009 (the most prestigious award of the Polish Phonographic Industry) for the Blues Album of the Year in Poland.


 


INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE

In 2004 Magda Piskorczyk was qualified to take part in the biggest blues contest in the world: International Blues Challenge 2005 in Memphis, Tennessee, in which she received very good comments of the Jury. Magda was also informed that she was the first artist who came stright from Europe fr the contest.

Magda Piskorczyk  
   Notes of the 2005 IBC Jurors:


"You have a great "raw" sense of the music you're playing. I'd like to hear you on a full body guitar. I love your vocal phrasing"
   Steve Clark

"Innovative, quirky and fun"
   William Beard

In 2006 Magda was again invited to take part in the International Blues Challenge contest in Memphis. And also this time she got great reviews of her performance from the Jury as well as the audience.

   Notes of the 2006 IBC Jurors:

"Your Muddy Water Blues was GREAT. I'll remember it for a long time. Great!"
   John Pfeiffer

"Very engaging performance - I like the way you bring the audience into your act - great sounds - very earthy, gutsy - this is what I think the blues should sound like! Good variety of songs - in your set - very nice - fast, slow, happy, sad - makes for a much more entertaining show!"
   Mark Loft. 





GOSPEL

  Magda Piskorczyk, Paks, Hungary
Magda Piskorczyk appreciates achievements of many gospel singers, but the output of Mahalia Jackson is the most appealing for her. At the beginning of 2007 she prepared a special program titled "Tribute to Mahalia Jackson" with new versions of the songs known from Mahalia’s records. Wojciech Karolak, the most respected Hammond organ virtuoso in Poland, took part in this project as a special guest.

Distinctive concerts of gospel standards have been performed in Poland, Germany, Hungary and France at Blues Sur Seine Festival. In 2008 Magda took part in the City Sings Gospel Festival in Liverpool, England. She gave a series of concerts in various places, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Hope Street Fest.

Such shows are known for gripping energy and dynamics, original arrangements, excellent contact with the audience, which is alternately involved in spontaneous amusement and deep reflection.







MAGDA AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS

  Magda Piskorczyk with Konoba
Magda has given shows at many international fests,
for example:

Trossinger Blues Fabrik, Germany (2009)
Prerov Jazz Festival, Prerov, Czech Rep. (2009)
Gastroblues, Paks, Hungary (2009)
Satyrblues, Tarnobrzeg, Poland (2009)
City Sings Gospel, Liverpool, UK (2008)
Blues Goes East, Karlsruhe, Niemcy (2007)
Bluestracje - Polish Blues TOP, Chorzów & Zakopane (2007)
International Blues Challenge, Memphis, USA (2005, 2006)
  Magda Piskorczyk, Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool
Buezzfest, Burgas, Bulgaria (2006)
Blues Sur Seine, France (2006)
Dresden Blues Festival, Germany (2006)
Dobrofest, Trnava, Slovakia (2005)
Rawa Blues Festival, Katowice, Poland (2003, 2005)
Berlin Bluesfestival, Germany (2004)
Potsdam Bluesfestival, Germany (2004)
Blues Alive, Sumperk, Czech Republic (2002)









  Magda Piskorczyk

Materials for the media and concert organizers,
such as info, press kit, large photos, technical riders
can be found in the section: INFO




Magda Piskorczyk video - youtube.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/magdapiskorczyk


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www.cdbaby.com/cd/piskorczyk

photos: Irek Graff


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