COTM - #70 - Czesław Niemen

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

Hello Mooniverse.

This week I am going to rejoin the progressive rock wave in Poland during the early 70's. When last we met, I was playing SBB. Just prior to their first album they had teamed up with one of the most popular vocalists in Poland. Known for his pop hits and strong voice, he had ventured into the world of jazz, psychedelic and progressive rock in 1967. He garnered a lot of attention for his 1969 album Enigmatic.

In 1971 he collaborated with the three members of SBB (Apostolis Anthimos / guitar, Jerzy Piotrowski / drums, and Jozef Skrzek / keyboards), along with Double Bassist Helmut Nadolski. They went into the studio and basically improvised enough material to release two separate albums: Nieman Volume 1, and Volume 2. This was later released together as Marionetke.

SBB would record two other albums with Czeslaw entitled Strange Is This World and Ode To Venus. After that, SBB went back on their own and made their own history. Czeslaw put together another group and released perhaps his best album Aerolit in 1974.

Today I am going to play selections for Marionetke, Ode to Venus and Aerolit. You'll see the transition from very experimental and improvised, to a very clean but intricate composition, all of which is surrounding his distinctive and powerful voice (in both emotion and strength).

I hope you can catch this episode to listen to a rare and important part of the history of Progressive Rock.

dale