Polish reggae

Reggae is one of the more popular music genres in Poland. Polish reggae is influenced by rastafari philosophy. The majority of songs are in Polish. The most popular performers are Natural Dread Killaz, Daab, Love Sen-C Music, Habakuk, Indios Bravos, Vavamuffin and others. The reggae group Izrael, from Warsaw, which formed in 1982 and released at least three albums on Tess Records, has been cited as an example of reggae's popularity in Poland. ["South by Southwest '92", "Austin American-Statesman", 1992-03-12, p. 18.]

The Warsaw Village Band has been noted to take traditional Polish folk songs and add a reggae touch. [O'Neil, Caitlin. "Trad is fab, but modern rules: Warsaw Village Band and its mission to save Polish folk music – one juiced-up, tranced-out, reggae-inflected oldie at a time", "Boston Globe", 2006-05-11, P. 4.]

History

Bob Marley's music is credited as introducing reggae to Poland, and beginning a vibrant reggae movement there. [French, Howard W. "Celebrating Bob Marley, Voice of the Dispossessed", "New York Times", 1991-05-13, p. C11.] According to reggae studies professor Carolyn Cooper, Marley's lyrics of "resistance against the system" have been a basis of inspiration for some human rights demonstrations in Poland. [Cooper, Carolyn. "Unconventional hero", "Newsday", 2005-02-06, p. A35.] In the 1980s Polish rastafarians appeared. The first Polish reggae song was performed by the band Budka Suflera in 1974 - "Sen o dolinie", music by Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine, Polish lyrics by Krzysztof Cugowski. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1tkwykWu0s&feature=related youtube] "Sen o dolinie" by K. Cugowski live music] The first homegrown Polish reggae groups started in the 1980s,Heim, Chris. "Reggae ambassadors: Bands worldwide adopt Jamaica's musical language", "Chicago Tribune", 1988-12-20, p. 3.] [Stewart, Linda. "In Poland, all Canadians are long-lost relatives", "The Globe and Mail", 1985-07-20, p. T5.] and some even took on the reggae look, complete with dreadlocks. [Connolly, Sean. "Schuylkill dancer gets to see the life of Soviets, Poles", "The Morning Call", 1987-10-08, p. N3.] Some Polish reggae groups were included on the compilation album "MUP: Reggae from Around the World", on RAS Records. In 1999, reggae music was a prominent part of Woodstock Junction, an annual music festival in Żary, Poland. [Pasek, Beata. "Poland's '99 Woodstock imitation of the original", Associated Press, published in "San Antonio Express-News", 1999-08-08, p. A10.] Polish-language reggae has retained its popularity over the years, [Ambrose, Robert. "A hitchhiker's guide to a world of music after dark", "Anchorage Daily News", 1996-04-05, p. H23.] and an all-Polish-language station in New York state is more likely to play reggae music than polka music. [cite journal|journal=New York Times|author=Purdy, Matthew|title=Roll Out the Barrel... for the Traffic Report?|date=2002-09-22|pages=p. 41|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEED91639F931A1575AC0A9649C8B63]

References