The Polish-German “Images of Sound” music workshops began on Monday, July 9. Sixty young musicians from Poland and Germany are taking part in the classes organized by the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre–International Ceramics Centre. They have the opportunity to develop their skills under the guidance of artists such as: Wojciech Hoffmann, Maciej Gładysz (a guitarist who has worked, among others, with Edyta Bartosiewicz, Wilki and the band Human), Piotr Żaczek, drummer Lars Friedrich, Marek Bałata, popular vocalist Kasia Wilk and Lena Romul, a vocalist and saxophonist with Wojtek Pilichowski’s band.
The classes are held in four groups: electric guitar, bass guitar, vocals and drums. Piotr Żaczek, a member of the band Poluzjanci, teaches bass guitar. He has worked, among others, with Edyta Górniak, Kayah and Dorota Miśkiewicz. “In my opinion, he is one of the best bass players in Europe,” emphasizes Dariusz Uściński, the workshop coordinator representing BOK-MCC.
“I didn’t expect Bolesławiec to be so pleasant,” says Żaczek. “I have a wonderful group, and we get along brilliantly,” he adds. Every evening, jam sessions are held at the Jazzva restaurant. “They end very late, or rather very early, at dawn,” laughs the Poluzjanci musician. “And when the moment comes that the stage empties, the bass players take it over and play all the instruments themselves.”
Żaczek’s musical adventure began with... the double bass and classical music. “I started playing bass guitar relatively late. I love fusions, combining different styles: rock, jazz, dub and blues,” the musician says. “But generally, I know my place in a band. I’m not interested in playing solo at all.”
Vocal classes are led by Marek Bałata, an outstanding jazz vocalist. “Music is a field that you have to want to pursue yourself; nobody will force anyone into it,” the jazz musician points out. “No professor, no artist can ever turn another person into an artist. I can only show the way. I am here to tell these young people how to practise in order to improve their craft, how to find their own path and become individuals.
Wojciech Hoffmann, associated among others with Czerwone Gitary and the legend of Polish heavy metal, the band Turbo, teaches the guitar class. “He is a truly wonderful person; he immediately established an excellent rapport with the young people,” says Uściński. Hoffmann is leading guitar workshops in Bolesławiec for the first time. “Every class is a really great experience for me,” he says. “There are so many young, fantastic people. It is a shame that it will be difficult for them to find their place in the Polish show business.
“There are no conditions in this country for rock music to develop,” continues the Turbo guitarist. “There is no room for rock in nationwide media; this music is ignored. But despite that, there are still young people who want to play guitar. And that’s good—there is no point worrying about it; you have to do your thing.”
The music workshops are accompanied by image-recording classes. They are led by Apolonia Wieland (a Polish woman living in Görlitz) and BOK-MCC Film Education Workshop instructor Michał Szwed. The final results of the workshops will be a film chronicle and an exhibition. The latter will be available to view both at BOK-MCC and in Görlitz.
Blues Night for the fifth time!
The culmination of the music classes will be the concert Blues Night in Bolesławiec, which will take place on Saturday, July 14 in Bolesławiec’s Market Square. Among those performing will be Obstawa Prezydenta, Chłopaki z Ferajny (a band made up of friends who played together in the 1990s, during the heyday of Bolesławiec’s blues school), the Wrocław group 13 w Samo Południe, Mercedes Band (led by the charismatic Sławek “Zipek” Ziemkiewicz) and the band Freski from Görlitz.
It starts at 4:00 p.m.. Admission is free. This year’s Bolesławiec Blues Night will also feature three combos formed during the “Images of Sound” workshops.
(commissioned information)