Polish Village Music

In 1995, released , a 25-track anthology of polkas, mazurkas, obereks, and other rural folk forms from northeastern central Europe recorded in North America during the years 1927-1933. It still stands as one of the very best samplers of traditional Polish dance music ever made available to the public in the digital format. There are a lot of treasures on this superb compilation. One of the most irresistible is ("Devil in Captivity" or "Devil in Jail"), a mazurka for solo accordion performed by , who also sings a song describing a young man whose fondest wish is to examine elastic garters while they are being worn by an attractive female companion. is a captivating oberek played by . The collection's insightful liner notes describe this as a "cheerfully infanticidal tune." The ensemble, recording under a pseudonym for greater appeal to the Polish-American public, was actually the , with marvelous "oy-yoy-yoy" enhanced singing by and . A dexterous squeeze box handler who sang in a funny, high-pitched voice without ever using any words, recorded his and several other numbers on July 9, 1928 but none thereafter, as he sustained damage to his larynx during a mugging. In one of those multicultural chain reactions that make life so rewarding, in 1934, used s as the basis for the song that would make famous during the '40s. a fine example of southeastern Polish goral or highland fiddling, is spun out by . This style is said to be endemic to that portion of the Tatra Mountains, and s recordings were the first to document it for the public. The notes tell us that "contemporary gorale still hold him in high regard". ("The Golden Fish") is a polka done up by from Tarnow with vocal by . Tarnow is in southern Poland between Krakow and Rzeszow. was recorded in 1929 by the , a clarinet, violin, and string bass trio, and vocalist . In 1932, violinist performed an oberek with a title that translates as "In the Bean Field." The song is sung by one ; s biggest hit would prove to be his which he introduced in 1930. Performed here by singing squeeze box handler , ("Charlie in Jail") is another polka that became enormously popular in the U.S. as variously and, best of all perhaps, a totally overlooked interpretation by Austrian/Slovakian/American clarinetist , which has yet to resurface on CD or MP3. brays like a donkey during his somewhat cynical-sounding vocal. During the years 1917-1930, emitted a perfect stream of solo accordion records. He is heard on this collection with his performing an oberek named a common name that was often anglicized into Stanley as Poles immigrated to North America. In 1928, recorded an at that time a rural community southeast of Krakow, not far from the Slovakian border. On the same day, clarinetist and his little string band recorded a presumably at the same studio in Chicago. It is quite likely that is the clarinetist heard with s group. , a music publisher, music shop owner, and violinist from Philadelphia, recorded a polka in 1933 entitled with vocal by and a perky little ensemble of trumpet, clarinet, piano, and string bass. refers to cavalrymen who customarily carried sabers and lances. This polka was sung by a Chicago-based character billed as (John the Drinker) with backing by the . In connection with this particular recording, the excellent and informative liner notes by explain that "a particularly appealing feature of Polish village dance tunes is the melodic structure, which can shift between several keys, and between the major and the minor." also sings on with the , a group from the village of Makow (due north of Krakow), operating under the direction of . sings a rather misogynistic that compares domestic discord with large-scale ethnic and national tensions which stemmed from the ever-changing boundary lines of the perpetually contested motherland: "My wife came from the German partition/I'm telling you, she is a witch/She always complains/that I came from the Russian partition/It's like Europe at home." A soldier's song entitled sung by has an opening verse that is virtually incomprehensible even to those who understand Polish; the main body of the lyrics consist of these sobering words: "Oy, I live, I live, I don't know what for/I was drafted, I don't know what for." Altogether, this album is a gold mine of great, old-fashioned Polish entertainment, and every single track is well-worth experiencing time and again. The records sold well in their day not least because retailers found them to be useful for demonstrating phonographs, as the rhythmic booming of the bowed string bass made quite an impression upon the listeners. ~ arwulf arwulf