Skaldowie

Skaldowie came into existence in the summer of 1965. Officially, the band made their debut on a contest called II Krakowska Gielda Piosenki in October of the same year. They won that year's contest as well as the next two. From this time on a series of successes began for the band. They won some major contests in Poland (in Opole, Gdansk),and participated in two films. In 1967 they released their first, self-titled LP. In the same year they appeared on TV, and finally their lineup was established as follows: Andrzej Zielinski ( org, pno, voc ), his younger brother

Jacek Zielinski ( voc, tp, viol ), Jan Budziaszek ( dr ), Jerzy Tarsinski ( g ), and Konrad Ratynski ( bg, voc ). The next year the band began with participating in another film, and in March they recorded their second album, "Wszystko mi mowi,ze mnie ktos pokochal". Then they left for their first tour outside Poland, in the USSR.

In 1969 they released "Cala jestes w skowronkach". Almost all the songs from this album became hits. In August and September of that same year SKALDOWIE toured in the USA and Canada. They came back with Hammond organs, and in January 1970 they began recording a very good album, "Od wschodu do zachodu slonca", their first album with a proggy feel, or so I believe. Three months later they recorded their next abum, "Ty". In 1971 and 1972 the band toured the UK and both parts of Germany (they were also in Munich during the 20th Summer Olympic Games), then recorded their next two albums: mainstream, successful "Wszystkim zakochanym" and their first truly prog album, worshipped by Polish prog fans,"Krywan, Krywan". It contains a nearly 18 minutes long suite, "Krywaniu, Krywaniu", in which they blended all their current inspirations: from Polish highlander folk music to forms taken from classical music and even citations from the works of such composers as Bach,Mussorgski, Borodin and Rossini.

In 1976 Skaldowie recorded another pair of albums, "Szanujmy wspomnienia" and "Stworzenia swiata czesc druga", the latter in the vein of "Krywan, Krywan" - also containing an even longer suite. Unfortunately, after that one Skaldowie didn't record any more prog albums. The next albums from the band were "Rezerwat milosci" (1979) and "Droga ludzi" (1980). The latter was recorded on the occasion of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow; that's why they went on a tour of the USSR. After coming back to Poland the band started recording a double LP, "Zostaw to mlodszym", which would never be released (some of the songs from this album would be released later in 1996 on a compilation CD entitled "Podroz magiczna" ).

At the end of the year Skaldowie went to tour in the USA. When in Poland martial law was enforced in December, Andrzej Zielinski decided to stay in the States, while the other members of the band succesively come back to Poland. The band disbanded soon afterwards.

In 1987 Jacek Zielinski resurrected the band, though without Andrzej Zielinski and Jan Budziaszek,
and in 1989 they released "Nie domykajmy drzwi". However, in 2004 they toured with their classic lineup again, and in May 2006 they also released a new album, "Harmonia swiata".

Bartek Slazak (Tuzvihar)

Skaldowie were one of the first prog bands in the Eastern bloc to record and release albums, and their full-fledged prog releases (especially "Krywan, Krywan") are definitely worth investigating.

Discography:
Skaldowie (1967, studio album)
Wszystko mi mowi, ze mnie ktos pokochal (1968, studio album)
Cala jestes w skowronkach (1969, studio album)
Od wschodu do zachodu slonca (1970, studio album)
Ty (1971, studio album)
Wszystkim zakochanym (1973, studio album)
Krywan, Krywan (1973, studio album)
Szanujmy wspomnienia (1977, studio album)
Stworzenia swiata czesc druga (1977, studio album)
Rezerwat milosci (197, studio album)
Droga ludzi (1980, studio album)
Nie domykajmy drzwi (1989, studio album)
Podroz magiczna (1996, boxset/compilation)
Antologia (2000, boxset/compilation)
Harmonia swiata (2006, studio album)