Formed in 1998, this wild and adventurous seven-piece group proudly embraces Polish folk traditions, but with a thrilling and raw edge. Using old instruments like hammered dulcimer, rarely heard in modern music, their energy and folk traditions are hard to resist.
Warsaw Village Band Photo: Supplied
As founder member Wojciech Krzak explains, “It was created by a bunch of students from Warsaw University, inspired by the traditional Slavic culture but open for different cultures, in search of new ideas.”
“It was just for fun and to learn something from the old musicians we had met on our road. And they inspired us, teach us, and also asked, ‘Hey guys, let’s play something, because our sons and grandsons don’t care about our music and our culture’. So it was a great impulse for us.”
But though the Warsaw Village Band draws on the music and traditions of their teachers, Wojciech stresses that the old musicians encouraged the young band to develop its own style, bring its own invention and imagination.
Produced and engineered by Graham Kennedy for RNZ Music
In session: Warsaw Village Band | WOMAD 2017
Trevor Reekie talks with Wojciech Krzak of the Warsaw Village Band, and the band overjoyed with being at WOMAD 2017 share some traditional Polish wedding songs. Audio
