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sounding as they would have when they now much more like in a museum, it’s not
were younger. Stanislaw Klejnas would developing. It’s like a butterfly on a pin.
have smiled in his Raducz grave. Educated people, people who want to be
Only Katarzyna Szurman and frame-
fashionable, can hire some young people
drum player Maciej Szajkowski were still in
W
hile for the general Polish
public this may be the
case, pioneers such as
Kwartet Jorgi and Osjan
were to some extent mak- to play this music at their weddings, but it
the band by the time of the next album,
ing world fusions. Wlodek Kleszcz has doesn’t exist apart from that. There’s no
2002’s People’s Spring, which was picked
been playing world and fusion music on context for the music, it’s in the middle of
up for license by Uli Balss of Jaro and so
Polish Radio week in week out for years nowhere. There’s disco polo – you know,
was the first under the English-language
and is responsible for Trebunie Tutki’s reg- like Russian disco music – that’s the village
version of the band name, Warsaw Village
gae fusions; a number of today’s bands music now. And in the next 20 years the old
Band. This was a much heftier, ambitious
are influenced by musics from other parts players will disappear.”
affair. It opens with hammered dulcimer
of the world. The guest concerts at Nowa
Did he learn from traditional players?
and trumpet, both played by guests rather
Tradycja are by foreign bands and there
“Yeah. I never tried to learn the violin in
than band members, but the dulcimer,
are signs of increasing audience aware-
school; I always played in the traditional
played on the album by Marta Stanis-
ness of the international world-music
way. My way was really influenced by that.
lawska, soon became a live component
scene, at least in the development of festi-
I can’t say I am a pupil of the old players,
played by Magdalena Sobczak. It’s surpris-
vals such as Poznan’s Ethno Port.
not note by note, tune by tune learning. I
ing that the trumpet didn’t too; it made Following the BBC Award, a new was just watching them, and for me it was
such an effective articulating foil for the album, Uprooting, came in 2004. Released the feeling, and that was absolutely amaz-
bowed strings. Then it launches into a wild, by Jaro in association with Harmonia ing. In music from Mazovia there’s some-
relentless ride with the trademark big Mundi’s World Village label, it was defi- thing pretty strange. It’s not very often – in
churning, grinding fiddles and hammering nitely international in its reach, and gar-
the last two years I’ve been perhaps once
drum sound with Katarzyna’s accordingly nered attention at home too, winning a
in that area – but when I’m sitting there
and necessarily more strident vocals, all Fryderyk award. By then Katarzyna Szur-
listening to it I can feel this whole history;
underpinned, replacing the more limited man had left, and the vocals were shared
in one place I have the history of the
basy, by the meaty slithering cello of one of by the three women members, Maja
whole area. Because it was very poor, they
the new members, Wlodek Kleszcz’s young Kleszcz, Sylwia Swiatkowska and Magdale-
didn’t have money for good instruments,
teenage daughter Maja. Also new were na Sobczak. It’s a very tradition-rooted
and that’s why this music is so barbarian.”
fiddlers Sylwia Swiatkowska and Wojtek album, more varied, far less wall-of-sound Worldwide, of course, there’s plenty
Krzak, and Piotr Glinski took over the bara- than People’s Spring, in some ways like a of great music made on home-made or
ban bass-drumming and cymbal-tishing. beefier version of Hopsasa, and is dedicat- cheap instruments. In the Polish Radio
“When we started to play abroad and
ed – as strong influences on the band’s Mazovia recordings, while the basy and
won the BBC Award we were still unknown
songs and instrumentation – to traditional drum accompaniments are pretty basic
in Poland,” says Wojtek. “In Poland there
Mazovian musicians Janina and Kazimierz the musicianship of the lead players and
was the stereotype that if you’re playing
Zdrzalik from Strykowice Górne, who the tunes have considerable subtlety, par-
traditional music you’ll play some kind of
appear in their own short tracks as does ticularly in rhythm. Though the forms are
village concert, while people are drinking
traditional trio the Marian Pelka Band. different one could compare it in some
and eating cabbage. And suddenly some I ask Wojtek about the state of tradi-
respects to raw field recordings of Hun-
new strong words about Warsaw Village tional music where he comes from. “I was
garian village bands.
Band changed, a little bit, this mentality. It born in the Radom area, in Mazovia, and in Seeing Andrzej Bienkowski’s 1986 film
showed that Polish music can be interest- my neighbourhood, say 20 kilometres of Mazovian village group the Józef
ing for the outside world. But in Poland around, I could find now three traditional Kedzierski Band was certainly a revelation
something like ‘world music’ doesn’t exist. players still active. But their life was con- to musician Janusz Prusinowski, a realisa-
Maybe folk music, that’s all. And African nected with weddings. And they’re about tion that the “authenticity, intensity and
maybe. They don’t know anything about 80 years old now, so this is the last moment ease that I had been looking for through-
world music, about mixing cultures.” when we can find them. It still exists, but out the world existed right here, in my
Warsaw Village Band 2009. Spokesman Wojtek Krzak squatting.
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