MANIUCHA & KSAWERY (PL) Avant-garde approach to tradition The project by Maniucha and Ksawery is an extraordinarily inspiring encounter of two musical personalities. Maniucha Bikont conducts field research in the Polesie region of Ukraine, experiencing songs associated with the cycles of nature and human life, rituals and everyday existence, which she then shares with the audiences on stage. In this project, she is joined by Ksawery Wójciński, bassist, composer and improviser. Maniucha and Ksawery perform songs of spring and harvest, songs for the wedding and those sung once by vagabond beggars, carols and lullabies. The traditional female vocal converses with the improvising double bass, which offers a splendid, male counterbalance for the singing. Their music is sparing in its form, and at the same time natural and vivid, characterised by extraordinary power of expression. Concerts of the duo are a proof of the incredibly close bond between the human being and the song. The artists reflect and meditate on it, demonstrating a tremendous amount of work they have done with the musical matter as well as its profound comprehension. Selected concerts: Ethno Port 2017, Enea Spring Break Showcase Festival 2018, Ethniesy Festival 2018, MENT Ljubljana 2018 Line up: Maniucha Bikont – vocals, Ksawery Wójciński – double bass, vocals FB https://www.facebook.com/ManiuchaKsawery/ Video / Audio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHaJKvJm-F8TUPgRxTmJAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbOCTHYRxbM UWOLNIONE DŹWIĘKI - RELEASED SOUNDS (PL / DE) Music inspired by Polish and European paintings Maciej Rychły began his forays into reading the musical notation in paintings by studying old works with music-related scenes, where a group of musicians gathers around the invisible phenomenon of music. Maciej is a musician, psychologist, co-founder and leader of Kwartet Jorgi, a group creating music rooted in the European traditions. Plays shepherds’ instruments, most of which he has built himself. Since 1985, he has dedicated his skill and knowledge to reconstructing instruments based on archaeological data. The several years of collaboration with the Pieśń Kozła Theatre yielded music to a number of their performances: Songs of Lear, Cherry Orchard and Return to the Voice, which was splendidly received by the audience of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 and many others. In 2019 he composed and recorded music for few episodes of the last season of Vikings series for History Channel. Elisabeth Seitz studied psaltery and early music in Linz, Munich and at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague. Through her contribution in the French ensemble L'Arpeggiata, the singular instrument she plays gained crucial recognition and found a permanent place in the landscape of European art music. She has performed and recorded early, contemporary and world music. Mateusz Rychły is a guitarist playing folk, blues and Celtic music. His inspirations come mainly from the sounds of the British Isles, America, the Balkans and Poland. In 2019 the Released Sounds started to work on a new project named Music of Saint Lakes. Selected concerts: ZAMEK Culture Center (residency), Les Fifres de Garonne de St Pierre Festival, Brave Festival, National Gallery London Line up: Maciej Rychły – flutes, bagpipe / Elisabeth Seitz – psaltery / Mateusz Rychły – guitar, tambura FB https://www.facebook.com/releasedsounds/ Video / Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPT8mNIZEbc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtGdG8zT6U4 KAPELA MALISZÓW (PL) Tradition and improvisation A family band from Męcina Mała, a small village in Beskid Niski, comprising multi-instrumentalist Jan Malisz and his children - Zuzanna and Kacper. The band is inspired by traditional music of their region: folk songs and dance music from many different regions of Poland. The music is traditionally performed “archaic style” on a violin, a basolia (a folk instrument similar to a cello) and a drum, with a great degree of freedom, joy and improvisation – it’s not just an academic reconstruction of old melodies. Kapela Maliszow also compose their own music, inspired by Polish tradition and characterised by their distinctive style - influenced by jazz and world music. Interestingly, the violin and baraban (the drum) have been in the family for generations, handed down to Jan Malisz from his father, Jozef. Jozef also taught Jan the basics of many other instruments that could be found around the house. That’s why the band called this music “Father’s notes”. Apart from making music, the band also make instruments. In his workshop, Jan Malisz builds violins, hurdy-gurdys, nyckelharpas, pipes and many others. The group’s latest album “Village Jazz” was voted the best Polish folk CD of 2017 in the Polish Radio’s annual contest “Folk Phonogram of the year”. The very same album also scored the people’s choice award “Wirtualne Gęśle” for the best Polish folk CD of 2017. It was also voted 4th best Folk album of the past 5 years by Songlines. Kapela Maliszow has been nominated to Songlines Music Awards in "best group" category twice, in 2017 and 2015. Both of the band's albums were listed high by Transglobal Music Chart: "Village Jazz" scoring 5th place in Top 40 World Music Albums of January 2018, "Inconceivable Mazurkas" scoring 15th in Best of The World in 2015. Selected past concerts: WOMEX 2017, Rainforest Festival, WOMAD, Rudolstadt, Colours of Ostrava, Viljandi Folk Festival, OFF-Festival, Gooikoorts Folkfestival, Budapest Ritmo, Ethno Port Poznań, Crossroads Festival Kraków, Globaltica Festival, Etno Kraków Festival, Euroradio Folk Festival, Fanø Free Folk Festival and more. Selected prizes: “Folk Phonogram of the Year” 2017; “Wirtualne Gęśle” 2017, 1st prize – International Folk Music Festival “Mikołajki Folkowe” 2014; 2nd prize – Polish Radio Folk Festival New Tradition 2014 and a special award „Golden Violin” for Kacper Malisz, the best musician in the competition; 1st prize and the Audience Award – Old Tradition 2013 – Mazurkas of the World Festival; 1st prize – Folk Singers and Bands Festival Kazimierz 2013 Line up: Jan Malisz - basolia, accordion, vocals / Zuzanna Malisz - baraban drum, frame drum, vocals / Kacper Malisz – violin. FB https://www.facebook.com/kapelamaliszow/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kapelamaliszow/ Video / Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTxtoPE9Tn8, https://open.spotify.com/artist/1HS9CtXIY0zwXbl8Dh3vJu?si=TmzMqCuwQK-yqDHkzKmpEw Michał Fetler POLMUZ (PL) Contemporary interpretations of folk music from Poznan and neighbourhood Polmuz is the outcome of Michał Fetler’s artistic residency at Zamek Culture Centre in Poznań. The project set out from a collection of archival recordings of folk songs and compositions from the Greater Poland regions, contained on a unique set of shellac gramophone records from the turn of the 20th century. The artists invited to contribute in the project speak quite distinct musical idioms, while their sensibilities and temperaments differ as well. Their task was to come forward with contemporary interpretations of folk music from the areas of Śrem, Pleszew and Poznań. The musicians decided to draw on the nature of archival recordings and the manner of music-making from a century ago, creating open and unrestrained, quasi-jazz compositions with a large dose of primeval improvisation, ritual trance and a narrative based on Greater Polish folk motifs. In 2018 POLMUZ won 1st prize and Special Award of the Polish Radio 2 competition „Nowa Tradycja/New Tradition ”. They performed also at Ethno Port 2017, Spring Break Festival 2019, Off Festival 2019, Solidarity of Arts 2019, Polish Radio Concert Studio, Line up: Michał Fetler - alto sax, baritone sax, bass sax Rafał Zapała - Polivoks soviet synthesizer, programming Ksawery Wójciński - double bass Rafał Igiel - drums and percussions FB: www.facebook.com/polmuzyka Links: https://polmuz.bandcamp.com/ https://youtu.be/SVTl2fH198Y https://youtu.be/Fo44SsjNSvc https://youtu.be/F_gEsWjMsuE www.michalfetler.com Jacek Hałas & NOISEBAND (PL) Family Folk Orchestra and Theater Jacek Hałas and Alicja Choromańska-Hałas - couple of artists who have been researching the most interesting traditional forms of Eastern European music, dance and craft. Their area of expertise are: instrumental music, chain and turning dances, storytelling, workshops and education. Their uniqueness is the sum of learning from village masters, studying of ethnographic materials, constant musical activity, theatrical and fine art experiences and collection of folk instruments. Jacek is a pioneer of the revival of the tradition of wandering singers (Dziad) and practicing singing with a hurdy-gurdy. Besides, he writes and records music for theater, film and dance. With four teenage children (Julia, Antoni, Jonasz and Jakub), they made theater performance "The Clock Strikes" based on old folk songs, and played it for several seasons on stages and festivals in Poland and abroad. Now they create dance music coming from village traditions, with taste between ethno, classical and theater. Concerts: Jacek/Alicja - Womex (HU, PL), Womad (Chile, England), Sur Jahan (India), Jeonju International Sorifestival, Cheoyong World Music Festival Ulsan (South Korea), USA Tour, Czech Tour, Japan tour, Danmark tour. Noiseband - Balls a placa (Catalunia), Le Printemps en Chantant (France), Ethno Port Poznan, , EtnoKraków Rozstaje, Jarmark Jarosław, Filharmonia Szczecin (PL). Line up: Jacek Hałas - accordion, singing, hurdy-gurdy, dance leading / Alicja Choromańska-Hałas - baraban (folk drum), gardon /Julia Hałas - xylophone, snare drum, bells / Antoni Hałas - cello, musical saw / Jonasz Hałas – trumpet / Jakub Hałas – accordion FB https://www.facebook.com/Jacek-Ha%C5%82as-571389806246052/ Video / Audio: https://www.facebook.com/etnokrakow/videos/vb.878903962165689/518730445261062/?type=2&theater https://www.facebook.com/1062103443/videos/vb.1062103443/10216005839753120/?type=3 .