Edward Mąkosza: A Biography and Activity of the Composer

Edward Mąkosza (born on 13th November 1886 in Lisków, died on 25th April 1973 in Częstochowa) was a Polish composer, pedagogue, conductor, organist and ethnomusicologist. He was the main organiser of the musical life in Częstochowa. He is an author of circa 1000 compositions. He received numerous commendations and was a hero of the Jasna Góra Monastery. The article, presenting Edward Mąkosz’s biography, is to serve as an intro-duction to the comprehensive study of his work. The subsequent periods of his life (childhood, youth, professional work until World War II, professional work after World War II) are discussed. Then, we focus on the composer’s broadly understood activity: social, pedagogical and artistic undertakings. The article aims to show the professor’s entire life.

The Reception of American Jazz in Japan: An Outline of the Problem

The following article presents the history of Japanese jazz from the first musical contacts to contemporary successes and problems of the jazz music market. For the development and evolution of jazz in Japan, an important role was played by the presence of American military forces in the Philippines (even before the post-war occupation of Japan), which as an American dependent territory had the opportunity to remain in cultural contacts with the United States, where jazz was born at the beginning of the 20th century and became one of the most popular forms of music. Beside the contact with Filipino musicians, who were the first from whom the Japanese learned jazz, the establishment and development of jazz cafes (jazzu-kissa) were also important for the development of jazz in the Land of the Cherry Blossom, which played a huge role in the strengthening the interest in jazz and the shaping of musical tastes. The article also shows the influence of jazz on the formation of a modern, American-based lifestyle of middle-class representatives in Japan. In addition, the article discusses the complex issue of the authenticity of Japanese jazz in relation to American jazz and the influence of world-famous Japanese musicians, such as Toshiko Akiyoshi, on overcoming a given stereotype. The aim of the article is to show the universality and at the same time the locality of contemporary Japanese jazz as well as to show what the specificity of jazz in Japan is.