On December 14 Ambassador Jones ushered in the holiday season at his residence in Warsaw by hosting a festive jazz concert for distinguished guests from Poland’s cultural world. The convivial evening began with outstanding performances by students from the Bednarska Jazz College of Poland’s Frederic Chopin State Music School accompanied by the Chicago-born Polish-American vocalist Klaudia Siczek. Afterwards, Ambassador Jones opened the stage to an extemporaneous jam session and some of Poland’s most illustrious jazz and blues musicians — like Piotr Baron, Krystyna Prońko, Michał Urbaniak, and Gabriela Kulka — answered the call with sizzling performances. Michael “Patches” Stewart, a resident American trumpet player from New Orleans and the renowned blues guitarist Piotr Ruciński joined the Polish-American stage for a magical evening. Dorota Rucińska exhibited her jazz photography after the concert, a collection of photos of visits to Poland of American jazz celebrities. Guests included, among others, Pawel Brodowski, Tomasz Tłuczkiewicz, Maria and Krzysztof Sadowski, Marian Turski, Radzimir Dębski (Jimek) Halina Szpilman and Włodek Pawlik. Thoroughly enjoying the evening, Ambassador Jones said that “jazz is yet one more fantastic example of the many people-to-people bridges that unite Poles and Americans.”
