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own language”. It led to him forsaking
We can play with
I wonder to what extent the instru-
blues and electric guitar, visiting village mentation defines WVB’s style. “On Infinity
musicians, becoming fascinated by their it was not so important to have the old
music and learning to play it with high skill
Polish traditional
scratchy tunes and instruments. Because
and spirit on fiddle and hammered dul- this album is a different way of thinking
cimer. The recorded result is the very fine about the music. But on People’s Spring,
2008 Janusz Prusinowski Trio CD Mazurki,
reviewed in fR309, in which Prusinowski,
music as we want. I
Uprooting, Hopsasa, yes, instruments were
very important at that time, because the
flute and shawm player Michal Zak and scratchy tunes were the sign of Warsaw Vil-
baraban, tambourine and basy player Piotr
Piszczatowski, plus singers Maria Pezik and don’t listen to that
lage Band, the description. Nowadays we
are more open. Let’s say we have closed
Maria Siwiec, dig into the roots of the that period, because everyone knows what
wild, lurching Mazovian mazureks that in
a smoothed out form became the elegant
kind of music. In fact
the band is, and now we’re able to go like
we are doing now. We can try to have fun
mazurkas of Chopin and polite European with more different kinds of things.”
society. These and other Polish three-beat
dances have strong kinship with Swedish
I really don’t like folk
“Each of us is very different. We’re
not purists, and I think that’s why we can
polskas; indeed WVB themselves make a
connection between Polish kujawiak and
Swedish polska in Polska Från Polska on
music… we are not
play with Polish traditional music as we
want. I don’t listen to that kind of music.
In fact I really don’t like folk music,
their most recent CD Infinity, including
Wojtek playing Swedish nyckelharpa.
much into keeping
because sometimes it’s very closed. For me
the best description of what we would
The BBC Award and Uprooting led to like to do is the process of John Mayall
much more world touring, followed by a
gigging hiatus while Maja, who is Wojtek’s
tradition alive.
hearing about black music in the USA, tak-
ing it and changing it into something very
partner, had their baby. During that period fresh and new. And personally that’s what
Upmixing, an album of often reggae-influ- I want to do when I’m hearing the old tra-
enced remixes by various worldwide of work. It could have been really fast, ditional fiddlers; I can almost hear ele-
remixers, was put together and came out because I made music with Maja and it was ments of Mississippi Delta, such a pure
in early 2008, winning another Fryderyk like six months and it was done, but then energy. And in the music we want to cre-
prize. The band’s godfather, and baby there were contract discussions with the ate something brand new.”
Lena’s proud grandfather, Wlodek Kleszcz labels, so it was two years.”
“So Polish tradition is just inspiration,
says of it, “Upmixing is a kind of Trojan
They brought in guests, but not the but really we are not much into keeping
horse for all these children who love club-
international cast some bands move to tradition alive. I know for many Polish
bing music. It’s a kind of education via dis-
after a few albums; these are all Polish, people, especially abroad, we are a band
cotheque. We did that with Twinkle Inna
including Tomasz Kukurba from Wojtek’s that takes them home – they can close
Polish Stylee 16 years ago too.”
favourite Polish band Kroke on vocals and their eyes and can see the landscapes.
The next proper album, late 2008’s viola for one track, and vocals on another That’s great, fantastic. But mainly this
Infinity (see my review in fR305) brought from Jan Trebunia Tutka of Trebunie music, especially nowadays, is about the
some changes. While most of the lyrics are Tutki, a group he also holds in very high future. That’s why I think now in Poland
traditional, the music was largely written regard. “Very good music, and mountain Warsaw Village Band is a bit more popular
by Maja and Wojtek, who produced and music is absolutely fantastic. It’s probably than a few years ago. We have many
put together the whole thing. “It was a lot our last living style.” bands, folk bands, in Poland, but there are
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