Jan Kopinski is a tenor saxophonist and composer, playing cross-genre music, ranging from Free-funk to contemporary European jazz. Jan specializes in improvisational music drawing on jazz and influences from Eastern Europe and contemporary music.
” Kopinski is one of Britain’s few authentic voices on saxophone” Hi-Fi News & Record Review
Jan is a singular musician who has followed a personal path in a search of an expressive voice earning him a reputation as a true original. A UK saxophonist, composing and performing cross-genre music, ranging from leftfield improvisations to modern European jazz, his influences include archaic and contemporary music from Eastern Europe, and modal and harmolodic jazz.
He leads award winning jazz group PINSKI ZOO touring the UK, Europe, New York and Poland, playing at major jazz festivals, concerts and jazz clubs to critical acclaim.
” …a compelling power unique in English Jazz” – The Wire
He travels regularly to Poland, for both research and touring projects –including international trio, ZONE K. With REFLEKTOR he composes and performs to silent films and to projected video mixes such as MIRRORS – a dream journey with Polish imagery, commissioned by Opera North.
He has recorded several radio and TV broadcasts, 14 albums on various record labels, including live recordings from concerts in Poland, Austria, New York and UK. Jan also collaborates with musicians in the UK , Poland and Austria.
His numerous projects include PINSKI ZOO, MIRRORS, REFLEKTOR, ZONE K, PZBASSCORP, JAN KOPINSKI QUARTET, MUSTARD PIE, KOPINSKI/DONIN/HOLUB Trio.
Jan is also an experienced educationalist, leading workshops, masterclasses, Research Fellowships and Artist in Residencies here and abroad.
“Pinski Zoo are still out there and still on cracking form. Organic, no-surrender, spiritually uplifting music, After Image is probably the best album the band has released to date. After 25 years at the barricades, that’s an astonishing achievement”... ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM
“Kopinski has a sensitivity to visuals as reflected in other scores he’s performed for silent movies. And by using his own family in the band Kopinski evokes the intimate, inexplicable binds/bonds of family life that are integral to Dovzhenko’s silent film…; he evokes Slav folk music, melancholic and lost to an irrecoverable past,” … JAZZWISE
“Zone K…The trio’s sound is vast, dominated by Kopinski’s declamatory, occasionally banshee, saxophone” … JAZZ JOURNAL