Aquarelles, seductively, lure us with their pastel fleetingness, their illusive simplicity. Watering down all contours, they hold us captive. Watercolors require mastery: like water that gives it life, an aquarelle is transparent: that which has once been painted cannot be hidden under another layer of paint. It is honest; it brings us closer to the truth. Reality, which we try to frame in sharp contours of our convenience, proves liquid when put to the test of an oceanic experience. The sea is a watercolor master: it blurs all contours, it questions sharp distinctions, it casts doubt on the truth that may be retouched. Seductively, the sea lures us with its pastel fleetingness, its illusive simplicity. Watering down all contours, the sea holds us captive. The sea is an essence, a transparent actuality, it paints the world that is real. Aquareal. *** Akwarela ujmuje nas pastelową ulotnością, uwodzi iluzoryczną prostotą, łagodzi kontury. Akwarela, przezroczysta jak woda, która daje jej życie, wymaga mistrzostwa. Tego, co raz namalowane – nie da się już ukryć pod kolejną warstwą farby. Szczerość akwareli przybliża nas do prawdy. Rzeczywistość, której dla wygody staramy się narzucić ostre kontury – okazuje się płynna gdy poddać ją próbie oceanicznego doświadczenia. Morze jest mistrzem akwareli: rozmywa kontury, kwestionuje jaskrawe podziały, poddaje w wątpliwość prawdę podlegającą retuszowi. Morze ujmuje nas swoją pastelową ulotnością, uwodzi iluzoryczną prostotą, łagodzi kontury. Jest esencją, przezroczystą rzeczywistością. Maluje świat realny. Akwarealny. *** Aquarelles. Elles nous séduisent par leurs pastels fugaces, leur fausse simplicité. En diluant leurs contours, elles nous retiennent captifs. L’art de l’aquarelle nécessite de la maîtrise: comme l’eau qui lui donne naissance, l’aquarelle est transparente: une fois peinte, elle ne peut être retouchée. Elle est intègre; elle nous rapproche de la vérité. Cette réalité que nous tentons de reproduire avec précision devient floue lorsqu’il s’agit de représenter l’océan. La mer est un maître de l’aquarelle: elle estompe les contours, efface les détails, elle rend inutile la recherche de la perfection. La mer nous séduit par ses pastels fugaces, sa fausse simplicité. En diluant ses contours, elle nous retient captifs. La mer est une essence, une transparente réalité, elle peint le monde tel qu’il est. Aquaréelle. *** Banana Boat is a Polish a cappella sextet, authoring and performing original songs representing the genre of neo-shanties. Being one of the pioneers of the new genre, the group retains its simultaneous focus on contemporary interpretations of traditional sea shanties and maritime music. Owing to its characteristic six-part, jazzy harmony, departing from the traditional sound of the music of the sea, the group has become one of the emblems of what the international artists of the maritime stage have informally come to dub as the Polish style maritime song. With maritime music constantly in the focus of its activity, since 2004, Banana Boat has also been experimenting with other musical genres, including popular and jazz compositions, inviting other artists to participate in individual projects. The group is a Member of International Seasong and Shanty Association (ISSA); Biography Banana Boat evolved from a multi-member formation Jack Steward, founded by Maciej Jędrzejko and functioning in the years 1993-1994. The line-up of the formation was composed of maritime culture aficionados - high-school students from the city of Sosnowiec, mainly representing the Stanisław Staszic Grammar School in Sosnowiec, the Emilia Plater Grammar School in Sosnowiec, and the Technical High School of Mechanical and Steel Industry in Sosnowiec. The central idea behind the singing youth's efforts was to organize a sailing expedition, whose objective was to circumnavigate Iceland. The musical project itself was intended to encourage teachers to take interest in the richness of maritime culture as a vast educational resource and - with their help - to gain the support of the municipal and (then still budding) corporate sponsorship for the idea of the expedition. Even though the Iceland project never came to pass, and Jack Steward eventually ceased to exist in 1994, Maciej Jędrzejko invited Paweł Konieczny, Aleksander Kleszcz and Karol Wierzbicki of the ex-Jack Steward's line-up to help form a new group, which, since 1994, already as an a cappella quartet, adopted the name of Banana Boat. Thus formed, Banana Boat made its debut on the stage of the 1994 Tratwa Festival in Katowice and, subsequently, it gained its early recognition by winning (among others) the Commander Zbyszek Sowiński Award (Tratwa'94), the Main Prize of the 1994 edition of the Prosiak Festival and, importantly, an honorary mention of the jury of the 1996 edition of the prestigious Shanties Festival in Cracow, Poland. In the years 1996-1998, the group - whose members, by then, had commenced their university education - suspended its activity, only to return to the maritime stages of Poland by the end of 1998. At this stage, Banana Boat made its name as an a cappella quintet, which - reinforced by the former bass singer of the famous Polish group North Cape, Piotr "Qdyś" Wiśniewski - transformed into the present-day sextet at the turn of 2008 and 2009. Today, Banana Boat consists of the following musicians: Maciej "YenJCo." Jędrzejko, the group's founder, frontman and leader; Paweł "Konik" Konieczny, the formation's co-founder, composer and high tenor; Paweł "Synchro" Jędrzejko, the author of the majority of the band's original lyrics and performer of bari-tenor parts; Tomasz "Mundry" Czarny, the Banana Boat's arranger, composer and bari-tenor; Michał "Ociec" Maniara, the manager of the Art Agency BananaArt.Pl Art and performer of baritone parts; Piotr "Qdyś" Wiśniewski, the group's bass singer. The present-day Banana Boat members are active yachtsmen: Paweł Jędrzejko (formerly a professional navigator), holds an ocean-going yachtmaster's licence; his younger brother Maciej, the group's founder, is an ocean skipper, while other Banana Boat members all hold offshore licenses, which largely contributes to the positive reception of the Banana Boat songs. Professionally, the Banana Boat musicians represent such disciplines as medicine and dentistry, banking and law, trade and academic literary and culture studies. Since 1998, the group has been awarded the most important prizes of the Polish festivals of maritime music, recorded two albums and participated in numerous collective projects. Currently, Banana Boat gives concerts and recitals in Europe and outside of it, performing both for the audiences of small-audience clubs and those of large international festivals. Organizational, propagatory and charitable activity - In the years 2002-2007 Banana Boat, working in collaboration with the Municipal Cultural Center in Łaziska Górne (Poland), acted as the organizer of the International Festival of Seasong and Shanty "Zęza"; - In 2006, the groups participated in an all-Polish charity project To See the Sea, the proceeds from which supported the medical treatment of Polish shantymen in need; - In 2008, Maciej Jędrzejko, the group's leader, was appointed as the artistic director of the International Festival World Music Fusion - Euroszanty & Folk in Sosnowiec (Poland); - Every year, Banana Boat participates in the charity events of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity; - Maciej Jędrzejko is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the "Free Sea-Shanty Portal Szantymaniak.Pl" and Editor-in-Chief of the "Szantymaniak Magazine" (in Polish); - Each year, individual members of the group are appointed as jurors of sea-song festivals; they reqularly offer workshops to other musicians of the Polish maritime stage and sea-song fans. - Banana Boat participates in the charity educational program "Tunes to Teens," sponsored by Contemporary A Cappella Society of America. Concerts world-wide and international cooperation Apart from numerous concerts in Poland, Banana Boat has performed in the Czech Republic, in Italy, in France, Ireland, Belgium, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Canada. As a member of ISSA, the group collaborates with international artists associated within the organization. In 2008, songs by Banana Boat were published on albums of a collective charity project Lafitte's Return (USA). Banana Boat's music has been broadcast by numerous radio stations in Europe and beyond. In the beginning of the year 2009 the group has finalized miniproject entitled A Little A Cappella - Polish-Irish Harmony in partnership with the Irish star of the musical stage, Eleanor McEvoy. The song "Little Look," (written and composed by Eleanor McEvoy and arranged by Tomasz Czarny) entered the most prestigious Polish hitlist, Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego, immediately after the single had been released. Awards and prizes Apart from numerous Grand Prix awards, First Prizes and Audience's Favorite's Prizes awarded by the jury panels and audiences of all of the most important maritime music festivals in Poland, Banana Boat has become a double first runner-up for the CARA Award of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America in the categories of The Best World/Folk Album 2005 (for the album A morze tak, a może nie...) and The Best World/Folk Song 2005 (for the song "Arktyka" of the mentioned album). (Source: Wikipedia)