Kosz Mieczysław, *10 February 1944 Antonówka (near Tomaszów Lubelski), †31 May 1973 Warsaw, Polish jazz pianist. He lost his sight as a child. He began learning music at the Primary Music School for blind and visually impaired children in Krakow; in 1964, he graduated from the State Secondary Music School there, where he studied piano with R. Witeszczakowa. It was then that he became interested in jazz. Due to financial reasons, he did not pursue music studies. He soon began playing professionally in Krakow cafés, restaurants, and the Helikon and Jaszczury clubs. In 1967, he moved to Warsaw, where he worked as a pianist at the Nowy Świat café; in the same year, he made his first recordings for Polish Radio and made his debut at the Jazz Jamboree as part of the Nowe twarze w polskim jazzie [“New Faces in Polish Jazz”] concert. His successful performance at the festival enabled him to make further concert recordings; at that time, he also received a scholarship from the Polska Federacja Jazzowa [Polish Jazz Federation] for 1968.
He performed solo and in a trio with various rhythm sections, including B. Suchanek and J. Stefański (Reminiscence album, 1972); he collaborated with M. Wróblewska (Sound of Marianna Wróblewska, 1972) and J.P. Wróblewski. He was a laureate of jazz festivals in Vienna in 1968 (Kosz’s trio received first prize in the international category) and Montreux in 1968 (third prize). He performed in Poland and abroad, including Hungary, France, FRG, Austria, and Switzerland.
The pianist’s death was caused by a tragic accident (or suicide). Since 1974 the M. Kosz International Festival of Jazz Pianists has been held in Kalisz. The artist was commemorated in the movie Ikar (2019, dir. M. Pieprzyca); the musical excerpts for the soundtrack were prepared and recorded by L. Możdżer.
Kosz was one of the most original talents in the history of Polish jazz piano. His style was influenced by Romantic and post-Romantic music (Scriabin’s harmonies) and jazz pianists, especially B. Evans; his playing also echoes E. Garner, A. Tatum, O. Peterson, and K. Jarrett can also be heard in his playing. He performed jazz standards, paraphrases of themes taken from classical music (Liszt, Chopin, Borodin, Brahms), popular and film music, as well as his own compositions. His interpretations are characterised by lyricism, nostalgia, sensitivity to colour and dynamic nuances, and excellent technique.
Literature: R. Kowal Polski jazz. Wczesna historia i trzy biografie zamknięte. Komeda – Kosz – Seifert, Krakow 1995; Krzysztof Karpiński Tyko smutek jest piękny, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Krakow 2019.
