Poland - The North and the West

 We arrive in the port city of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea coast, where the Solidarity movement started with the dock workers strikes in the 1980's, which marked the beginning of the end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe.  This is where the global music band Annutara hail from.  They describe their music as of the world and the universe, inspired by Balkan, Gypsy, Ukrainian and Polish folk as well as Klezmer and traditional Arab music.  Here is the stirring title track from their 2015 album Ulisi:

Also fusing various global influences are folk band Dikanda from Szczecin in north-western Poland.  Their blend is mostly Balkan and Gypsy influenced, but also has Middle Eastern influences as well as Polish and Russian folk.  Here is a song from their 2017 album Devla Devla called Miłość (Love):

Polish-Ukranian band DAGADANA are based  in Poznan in the west of the country and they have been fusing their respective folk traditions with jazz and electronica since 2008.  Their 2018 album Meridian 68 was inspired by collaborations with Mongolian band Hassibagen and Ayis Song from China.  This a live version of a song from that album called U Poli Bereza:

Now for something a lot more contemporary from Poznan, dance music project Provinz Posen (the former German name for the province of Poznan).   They describe their efforts as Greater Poland dance music a hundred years later and take their inspiration from the likes of Brian Eno and Kraftwerk using mostly electronic sounds with soundbites of traditional instruments such as bagpipes, clarinet and violin.  Here is a track from their 2019 self-titled debut album called Strzały w mieście (Shots in the city).  

Finally in complete contrast, something very traditional.  I don't know anything about the accordionist Stanislav Stepniak or where he is from, even though I uploaded the following video onto YouTube some 10 years ago.  Anyway here is a Polish wedding mazurka with the picture featuring my friends Hyeon and Dorota, whose wedding we attended near Poznan many years ago:

This is it from Poland and I sign off for 2021.  Hope you are all having a great New Year and see you back in Germany next year.  As usual you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.

Poland - Warsaw and the Centre

 We move on to Warsaw the capital and largest city of Poland.  Apparently much of the historic centre was destroyed during the war, but what remains of it is now a UNSECO world heritage site.  First up we meet the band that is at the forefront of the Polish folk revival, the mighty Warsaw Village Band or Kapela ze wsi Warszawa.  They formed in 1998 as the Communist regimes of the former Warsaw pact started to crumble in an effort to preserve the traditions and cultures of Poland before globalism took hold.  They travelled the length and breadth of the country collecting old songs and interpreting them for a modern audience using traditional instruments such as frame drums, hurdy-gurdy and suka, a Polish folk fiddle.  The bands vocals are sung in a loud open-throated style reminiscent of Bulgarian throat singing, but also used by Polish shepherds communities.  Here's a live version of a song from their 2012 album Nord called Hola Byśki, Hola: 

And talking about the suka fiddle, one of the most prominent musicians reviving the fortunes of this ancient instrument is Maria Pomianowska, who was born in Warsaw in 1961.  She started out studying the cello before making various trips to Asia and learning various Asian string instruments, most notably the Indian sarangi.  She finally went back and in 1994 took an interest in the ancient instruments of her home country, the Biłgoraj suka and the Płock fiddle, reconstructing them with the help of a luthier.  As nobody knew what these instruments originally sounded like, Maria developed her own style, incorporating it into folk styles from around the world.  In 2020 she released an instrumental album called Sukotherapy and this a track called Pandemic:

Brand new folk band Zawierucha only started up last year in Warsaw.  Their name means turmoil or storm.  They aim to combine traditional polkas and other dance forms with jazz-rock and other modern music forms with much improvisation thrown in, although apart from the drumkit their instrumentation is made up of traditional strings.  This the opening track of their debut album OberTany called Wiwat Fortuna:

More established, folk band Werchowyna started out as an initiative of Warsaw students and the Student Circle of Beskid Guides in 1991.  However their focus is mostly on Ukranian folk with polyphonic singing.  Here's a track from their 1996 album Krynyczenka called Powedu Konyka:

Folk trio WoWaKin was established in Warsaw by Paula Kinaszewska Bartłomiej Woźniak and Mateusz Wachowiak in 2016, whose surnames make up the name of the group.  Their music is made up of Mazurkas and other rural dance tunes from the plains of central Poland.  Here is a song from their 2020 album Wiązanka called Rutka:

Next we're heading into the Radom region, south of Warsaw.  Last year a compilation CD was released of the traditional music from this richly varied region called simply Muzyka spod Radomia.  One of the bands featured is the Kapela Niwińskich and here is a sequence of songs and dance tunes by them performed live:

Finally we are heading west of Warsaw to the city of Włocławek, where singer/songwriter Monika Żelazek comes from.  I don't actually know much about her, nor does she have much music on official release as a solo artist, however I like the songs that are out there.  Here is a beautiful ballad called Czego się boisz serce (What are you afraid of heart):

That's it from central Poland, next stop the north and west of Poland.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual trip on my Tripline map.

Poland - The East

 Before leaving the south of Poland we make a stop at the village of Meçina Mała where the family folk band Kapela Maliszów hail from.  They are inspired by the traditional music of Beskid Mountain and Pogorze regions of the south of Poland.  Founded by Jan Malisz and his son and daughter Kacper and Zuzanna there main instruments are the traditional violin, the basolia (a cello-like folk instrument and a drum made by Jan's father.  Here's a live performance of a song called Chmiel from their 2017 album Wiejski Dzez:

Next stop is the city of Lublin in eastern Poland, where we encounter contemporary folk band Orkiestra świetego Mikołaja.  They have been in the forefront of Polish folk music since 1988, blending traditional Polish sound on a variety of stringed acoustic instruments with contemporary rhythms.  Here is a collaboration with Warsaw producers Studio as One, which appeared on a 2009 compilation album Polska Rootz, called Kolomyjka Jarocinska Remix:

Moving on to the village of Gardzienice, where the Centre of Theatre Practices is located and is home to the female folk trio Sutari.  Here is a review from Songlines Magazine of their 2017 album Osty:

The female trio Sutari have a unique sound world on the Polish music scene. The lyrics and music are largely traditional, but Basia Songin, Kasia Kapela and Zosia Zembrzuska transform them into three-part polyphonies, softly sung – almost whispered – inspired by the Lithuanian sutartines from which they take their name. They accompany themselves on violin, bass and percussion. It's nothing like the punchy, powerful vocals of Warsaw Village Band or Värttinä, but something quieter and more elusive.
Sutari come across as free spirits of nature – haunting, mischievous and hard to pin down. Their first album, 2014's Wiano, featured sounds from the natural environment: forests, lakes and dripping water. On this one, Osty (which translates as Thistles), their songs are from a woman's perspective but often hard to interpret – although there are helpful English translations in the booklet. Thistles are prickly weeds, but also beautiful practical herbs with healing qualities. Their songs often melt into mischievous laughter: ‘Oh people say love is not good for you/No one died of love, and many were born!’

This is a song from that album called Siostra (Sister).  The photography in the video reminds me of Vermeer paintings:

 

Basia Derlak was born in the city of Chełm and is the lead singer of folk/jazz band ChłopcyKontra Basia, which as the name suggests has a double based and Basia's vocals at it's centre.  The ensemble was actually formed in Kraców in 2009 and they mostly write their own music, but leaning on Serbian, Ukrainian and Belarussian folk traditions given a contemporary twist.  Here's the title track if their 2013 album Oj Tak! (Oh yes):

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Karolina Cicha was born in 1979 in Byałystok and is described as one of the most exceptional musicians of her generation.  She plays the piano, accordion and harpsichord and sings in a numerous languages.  Her genres vary from rock, to theatrical pieces to folk.  In her 2013 album Wieloma Jezykami / 9 Languages she returns to her roots of the multi-cultural Podlochia region with songs sung in Ukrainian, Belorussian, Lithuanian, Russian, Tatar, Yiddish and Esperanto.  This is a song in Yiddish about her birth city called Bialystok, Majn Hejm:

That's it from Eastern Poland, next stop the centre of the country.  As usual you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.

Poland - The South

 I've only been to Poland once in the early 1990's for a wedding in a small village in the west of the country and my memories are hazy as there were copious amounts of vodka being served.  I've gone off vodka ever since.  Anyway, we backtrack our journey through the Czech Republic a bit and start our virtual road trip of Poland in the village of Istebna in the Silesian Beskids mountains, where string folk band Vołosi hail from.  The band started in 2004 by Krysztof Lason to play traditional Highland music at his wedding.  They were later joined by some classically trained musicians and have gone from strength to strength, touring both nationally and internationally.  Here's quite a rocky tune called Crawler from their 2015 album Nomadism:

Celtic folk band Beltaine were founded in Kattowice in 2002.  Whilst their initial repertoire consisted mostly of Scottish and Irish tunes on traditional instruments, they later included other influences and instruments to develop their own unique style.  Here is a tune from their 2015 album Miusjik called Pol(s)ka:

Also from Katowice is folk band WoWaKin Trio, founded in 2016 and named after the surnames of the band members: singer and violinist Paula Kinaszewska, accordionist Mateusz Wachowiak and and guitarist Bartolomiej Wozniak.  Both the men double up on a variety of other instruments.  They play traditional Polish village folk from the Radom, Kielce and Sanniki regions of Poland. Here is the title track from their 2020 album Wiązanka:

The city of Kraków has a long and distinguished history and is Poland's second largest city, having even functioned as its capital at times.  However the saddest part of its history is the one many people still associate with the city, the establishment of the infamous Kraków Ghetto, where the Jewish population were forced to live under the Nazi occupation.  It is therefore good to still see Jewish culture being celebrated in modern times with a number of Klezmer bands being active in the city.

One of those bands is Kroke, named after the Yiddish name for Kraków.  They were established in 1992 and have since their inception branched out into fusing klezmer with influences from all over the world including collaborations with English violinist Nigel Kennedy, Mongolian singer and yangqin player Urna and Norwegian folk band Tindra.  Here is a tune from their 2011 album Ten Pieces to Save the World called Light in the Darkness (T4 2):

Another klezmer band from Kraków is the Bester Quartet.  They formed in 1997 as the Cracow Klezmer band and changed their name in 2007.  They seem to have seized activities since, as their web-site is longer live and their last recording, the album Krakoff, was released in 2013, and is now hard to get hold of.  This is the opening track of the album called Hope:

Also based in Kraków is the Motion Trio, who are according to their own claims 'the most famous accordion ensemble in the world'.  They describe their style as 'crossover' containing elements of jazz, world music, rock and classical.  Here's a lively tune from their 2018 album Accordion Stories called Happy Band:

 Self-described 'regressive dark folk band' Daj Ognia are also from Kraków and list their influences as roaming somewhere between Poland and Scandinavia.  This song called KIR is from their 2020 album Wykrot:

Finally we head into the Tatra mountains to the town Zakopane for something altogether more traditional.  The area is home to an ethnic group known as Goral.  The folk group Zakopower introduces us to the culture and music of the region in a whole series of mini-documentaries.  Here is one of them:

Another proponent of Goral folk music is the Trebunia Family Band (Trebunie-Tutki  in Polish) from the nearby village of Biały Dunajec.  Here is a Goralski dance sequence from their 1995 album Music of the Tatra Mountains.

And that's it from the south of Poland for today, next we're exploring the east.  As usual, you can follow my virtual rambling on my tripline map.  Apologies for the long gap in posts, I have been away on some real travels.