专辑简介

This is the second album by Polish singer / songwriter / poet Marek Grechuta, one of the most iconic figures on the Polish popular music scene and the most important representative of the Music & Poetry movement in Poland. This is also his second and last album with the group Anawa, which he founded during his student years in Krakow together with fellow architecture student, pianist / composer Jan Kanty Pawluskiewicz. Anawa was an octet, an unusually large ensemble on the Pop scene, and included also bassist / flautist Jacek Ostaszewski, guitarist Marek Jackowski, drummer Eugeniusz Makowka, cellist Anna Wojtowicz, viola player Tadeusz Kozuch and violinist Zbigniew Paleta. The album includes nine tracks, five composed by Pawluskiewicz (including one instrumental), three composed by Grechuta and one by Jackowski (the instrumental intro opening the album). Grechuta wrote lyrics to three of the songs and the remaining four are by some of the Polish poets Grechuta admired: Jan Zych, Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski, Leszek Aleksander Moczulski (closely associated with the legendary Polish group Skaldowie) and Tadeusz Sliwiak. Musically the albums is light-years ahead of its time and completely different from anything else that was happening on the Pop / Prog scene at the time in Poland or anywhere else for that matter. It amalgamates seemingly conflicting elements like contemporary Classical music, Psychedelia, chanson and cabaret, Jazz and very strong Folklore and World Music influences. Anawa was among the earliest ensembles to be influenced by World Music and it´s not surprising that Ostaszewski and Jackowski would soon after create Ossian, the first full-fledged World Music ensemble in Poland. In addition there is also the omnipresent Polish melancholy, emphasized by the poignant lyrics and sensitive delivery. The short instrumental suite composed by Pawluskiewicz is an absolute masterpiece and a timeless gem in its own right. Grechuta is a master of his trade and his vocal delivery is simply sublime. Always somewhere in between singing and reciting, his interpretation of the lyrics is exquisitely intelligent and insightful. The entire band performs simply divinely, displaying obvious talents and sensitivity. Such combination of beautiful music performed as perfectly as here is indeed extraordinary. Therefore in retrospect this is simply one of the best Pop / Prog albums ever recorded in Poland and absolutely nothing recorded since comes even close to its perfection. It is completely untouched by time and constantly gets better in contrast to most music created today. It is an absolute must have for every lover of Polish music and no collection of Polish music will be complete without it. This expanded and remastered edition includes eight bonus tracks recorded by the Polish Radio, all of excellent quality, both sonically and musically. Perfection incarnate!