Menu

VOLOSI / Volosi

NOW AVAILABLE! FIND IT ON:

TRACKLISTING

  1. Ruben
  2. Od Morawy Deszcz Idzie
  3. Transylwania
  4. Zmierzch
  5. Szumi Dolina
  6. Pełnia
  7. Polka Ostateczna
  8. Pożegnanie z Sałaszem
  9. Tango Stefana
  10. Przejście
  11. Sigut Techno
  12. Gajdy

Volosi combine the seemingly disparate worlds of traditional and classical music to create a completely new musical entity. Volosi are musicians from Silesian Beskids who previously played with Zbigniew Walach in the band Walasi. Jan Kaczmarzyk, Zbigniew Michalek, and Robert Waszut were born and grew up in Trojwies which is a triangle of three villages: Istebna, Jaworzynka, and Koniakow. It’s a region where tradition is more than simply alive – it’s vibrant, it’s thriving, and it continues to be passed on down the generations. Hardly any musical occasion goes by without traditional melodies being played on violins and gaidas, and Silesian Beskids is rich in pastoral instruments too such as the archaic trombita.

Volosi is a name that puts the musicians firmly in touch with a tradition that is hundreds of years old. The settlers from historical Wallachia (territory of modern day Romania and Moldova) who came to Silesian Beskids in the 15th and 16th centuries made a huge mark on the local musical culture. The common cultural heritage is evident both in melodic and stylistic similarities. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that the melodies played by Volosi bring to mind the music of Romanian lautari? But that Carpathian element is just one of the inspirations in this multi-plot story. The traditional musicians, Volosi, are joined by city born-and-bred classical musicians Krzysztof and Stanislaw Lason. They’re associated with the Music Academy in Katowice, where Krzysztof is an assistant professor and his brother Stanislaw is a recent cello graduate. They too are part of a musical dynasty – their father, Aleksander Lason, is a composer and an acclaimed conductor, and a member of generation ‘51. Music has constituted a natural part of their lives, but thanks to the influence of their father, they got to know it from a completely different perspective to Volosi. Despite the all-encompassing definition of the world-music genre, the music played by Volosi cannot simply be labelled world music.

The virtuosity and mutual understanding between the musicians creates a magic which takes their art to a completely new level. Tradition is the starting point for the journey, a creative inspiration for their own compositions. Melodies from Silesian Beskids are quite pronounced, but the pervading musical character is broadly Carpathian. The true value of their art is in how the musicians adapt these elements and put them together to create new musical experiences. Improvisation is key to their performances. It takes maturity and a rare talent to balance such technical skill and imagination, but the music on this album proves that Volosi have it balanced to perfection.


Grupa Vołosi wyznacza na polskiej scenie muzycznej zupełnie nową jakość. Ten improwizujący kwintet smyczkowy swoje niezwykle charakterystyczne brzmienie zawdzięcza współpracy muzyków klasycznych (bracia Krzysztof i Stanisław Lasoniowie), z pochodzącymi z Beskidu Śląskiego muzykami ludowymi (Jan Kaczmarzyk, Robert Waszut i Zbigniew Michałek). Efekt końcowy nie mieści się jednak w kategorii popularnej muzyki folk. Podobnie jak rumuńskie Taraf de Hajdouks, zespół czerpie siłę z ludowej tradycji muzycznej Karpat. Nie tracąc swojej naturalnej żywiołowości, wzbogaca ją wysmakowanymi aranżacjami i klasycznym kunsztem wykonawczym.

Muzycy zespołu koncertowali w niemal całej Europie i części Azji (m.in Indie, Nepal, Cejlon). Mają na koncie wiele sukcesów, zdobyli m. in. Grand Prix, Nagrodę im. Czesława Niemena, oraz nagrodę publiczności na Festiwalu Folkowym Polskiego Radia Nowa Tradycja 2010. Bieżący rok przyniósł grupie uznanie najważniejszych europejskich dziennikarzy muzycznych. Kompozycja „Zmierzch” znajdująca się na płycie, zdobyła Grand Prix w konkursie Europejskiej Unii Nadawców Svetozar Stracina 2011 w Bratysławie na najlepsze europejskie nagranie folkowe.

Personel:

Zbyszek Michałek / violin
Krzysztof Lasoń / violin
Jan Kaczmarzyk / alt violin
Stanisław Lasoń / cello
Robert Waszut / double bass

Production / Vołosi
Mix & Mastering / Ewa Guziołek-Tubelewicz
Graphics & layout / Hubert Czajkowski
Photos: Maria Kulik, Grzegorz Śledź

Album Reviews

...Joining forces, the quintet evoke not only Beskidian village music but a Central European velvety darkness drawing parallels with fellow-Poles Kroke from another southern city, Kraków, in reflecting the continuum of musics and memories along the sweep of Carpathians eastward to Romania, and their awareness of a wider musical world. It’s sparkling, full-blooded and glorious-toned, a heart-lifting surge of brilliantly-played, slithering, thrilling, scampering, surging, sobbing fiddles and chugging bowed bass. A wild polka, a poised and lyrical melody in the hesitating Rain Comes From Moravia, an embrace of the wayward sounds of the highlanders’ bagpipe in Gajdy, or a burst of passionate, fluttering tango. A splendid CD, in a very nice hardback book-style package, from a young, strangely-named label that’s proving to be one to check for the new Polish roots-related music.
Andrew Cronshaw / fRoots Magazine