Early years Szukalski studied
clarinet but preferred to perform on
tenor saxophone,
soprano saxophone and on special occasions on
bass clarinet or
baritone saxophone. Being experiment friendly, he once tried a
chainsaw. Szukalski began his career in the jazz orchestras of
Zbigniew Namysłowski and
Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski. Other members of the bands included
Tomasz Stańko,
Zbigniew Seifert,
Adam Makowicz,
Włodzimierz Nahorny,
Janusz Muniak,
Michał Urbaniak and Tomasz's lifelong mate
Wojciech Karolak.
Tomasz Stańko, ECM and SBB In the 1970s, Szukalski's performances became more
avant-garde and
free. While he continued to perform with
Tomasz Stańko, he also worked with
Peter Warren and
Edward Vesala as well as
Arild Andersen,
Dave Holland,
Palle Danielsson,
Palle Mikkelborg,
Terje Rypdal,
Juhani Aaltonen and
Antti Hytti. During this period, in 1975, he recorded with Stańko on the trumpeter's album entitled
"Balladyna" for
ECM. Parallel to touring Scandinavia and West Europe with other jazz musicians, Szukalski performed in Poland with the
Silesian rockband
SBB.
The Quartet and Józef Skrzek In 1977, Szukalski consolidated his own band
The Quartet, which soon gained high reputation. His bandmates were
Sławomir Kulpowicz,
Paweł Jarzębski and
Janusz Stefański. Some of the last concerts of this famous constellation were performed according to various sources in 1979 or 1980 at
Village Vanguard in
New York. In the years 1980-1981 Szukalski continued a duo cooperation with
SBB's leader
Józef Skrzek. The planned bookings for autumn 1981 joint performance of
SBB and his own
The Quartet at the
Jazz Jamboree festival, due to the
tense political situation in Poland, were not finalized. The duo realized the album
"Ambitus Extended" and Szukalski also performed with
Józef Skrzek and his short living project
Józef Skrzek Formation. They toured across
Polish People's Republic and
Czechoslovakia and performed the soundtrack for the science-fiction movie
"The War of the Worlds: Next Century" (1981). Just weeks before the onset of
martial law in Poland Tomasz performed with
Józef Skrzek,
Andrzej Ryszka,
Sławomir Piwowar,
Andrzej Urny,
Dean Brown and
Gil Goldstein in
Warsaw and with his
The Quartet mates at a workshop in memory of
John Coltrane ''"We'll Remember Coltrane" (New Jazz Meeting)
, organised by Joachim-Ernst Berendt at Südwestfunk'' in
Baden-Baden, where also
Tomasz Stańko,
Albert Mangelsdorff and John Coltrane's drummer
Rashied Ali were present. During his stay in
Vienna, following December 1981
Czechoslovakia tour (performing
"Ambitus Extended" with
Józef Skrzek),
martial law was imposed and Szukalski returned home.
Martial law - Time killers To survive the
martial law in Poland Szukalski re-joined the orchestra of
Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski playing known American standards. In 1984, he recorded with his old mates
Wojciech Karolak and
Czesław Bartkowski the groovy
"Time Killers", which instantly became a hit. In 1985, Tomasz consolidated his new quartet with
Piotr Biskupski,
Andrzej Cudzich and
Andrzej Jagodziński and eventually his friend and neighbour, the drummer Marek Stach, but the new quartet did not survive due lack of performances and the atmosphere of martial law. Tomasz's custom made
Henri Selmer Paris tenor saxophone and
Julius Keilwerth soprano saxophone have been stolen in Warsaw a couple of months before he moved to his cabin outside Warsaw.
Artur, Alain, Antti, Apostolis, Arild After 1990, Szukalski performed in various constellations, recorded as sideman and special guest, and started a long lasting cooperation with the young pianist
Artur Dutkiewicz. During the last decade of the 20th century and the first of the 21st century, Tomasz performed with
Artur Dutkiewicz,
Wojciech Karolak,
Alain Brunet (the French jazz trumpeter and vice minister of culture),
Tadeusz Nalepa,
Piotr Wojtasik,
Wojciech Majewski,
Tomasz Stańko,
Palle Danielsson,
Janusz Skowron,
Karin Krog and
Antti Hytti and again as special guest of the reunited rockband
SBB. During 2007 and 2008 Szukalski with his young Polish drummer
Krzysztof Dziedzic and his Norwegian friend, the bassist
Arild Andersen, toured with
Apostolis Anthimos as
Apostolis Anthimos Quartet. At his hermitage cabin outside Warsaw Tomasz was visited by his friends and musicians inviting him to their recording sessions and performances, most often by the pianists
Artur Dutkiewicz and
Wojciech Majewski who always relied on ''"uncle Tom's"'' advice. Tomasz only occasionally visited Warsaw, e.g. to meet the ill
Czesław Niemen just a couple of weeks before his death.
Death Szukalski lost his father's home (occupied by soviet invaders), divorced and spent nearly two decades in his primitive cabin outside
Warsaw, where he lived permanently since 2003. Even at his rural hermitage the soviet provocations, invigilation and robberies didn't stop and Tomasz was even visited by a policeman demanding to teach him playing a trumpet and staying at Tomasz's cabin overnight. After one such visit Tomasz's driving licence was revoked.
The Quartet reunited and performed a few concerts across Europe in 2006 and 2007 but soon
Sławomir Kulpowicz died. Around 2009, homeless and ill, Szukalski gained some attention from friends, especially from
Artur Dutkiewicz, who organised
"The Day of The Jackal" (Polish:
Dzień Szakala)
benefit concerts in several major Polish cities. The last and most extensive, organised in
Warsaw on November 21, 2010, became the greatest jazz performance of this year in Poland, outperforming even the venerated
Jazz Jamboree. The following musicians performed at the last benefit and some of them helped Tomasz find a place at an
artists asylum in Skolimów outside
Warsaw: •
Michał Barański - double bass •
Ewa Bem - vocal •
Danel Biel - double bass •
David Dorůžka - guitar •
Urszula Dudziak - vocal •
Artur Dutkiewicz - piano •
Tomasz Grzegorski - sax •
Krzysztof Herdzin - piano •
Borys Janczarski - sax •
Paweł Jarzębski - double bass •
Kazimierz Jonkisz - drums •
Wojciech Karolak -
Hammond organ •
Tomasz Krawczyk - guitar •
Sławomir Kurkiewicz - double bass •
Robert Majewski - piano •
Adam Makowicz - piano •
Michał Miśkiewicz - drums •
Leszek Możdżer - piano •
Łukasz Poprawski - sax •
Wojciech Pulcyn - bass •
Janusz Stefański - drums •
Józef Skrzek - piano,
minimoog, harmonica, vocal •
Jorgos Skolias - vocal •
Tomasz Stańko - trumpet •
Krzysztof Ścierański - bass, guitar •
Jarosław Śmietana - guitar •
Jan Smoczyński - piano •
Michał Tokaj - piano •
Michał Urbaniak - violin •
Marcin Wasilewski - piano •
Aga Zaryan - vocal •
Łukasz Żyta - drums After a couple of months spent at artists asylum, Szukalski died on August 2, 2012, at a hospital in
Piaseczno,
Poland His funeral was held on August 8, 2012, at
Bródno Cemetery, just one kilometre, less than a mile, from his family's stolen and occupied home. In 2012, Szukalski was posthumously awarded with the
Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis for his achievements for the Polish culture and in 2013 with
Fryderyk (in Gold), the Polish equivalent of the
Grammy Award, for the works of his lifetime. ==Heritage==