Provocations or invocations of Kapela Wileńska (The Vilnius Band)

It was supposed to be provocative. And it was. In a certain moment it was even too provocative… But such a genius connection of music, sounds, instruments and languages has not been observed in the Polish House for a long time. Older fans of the band could be shocked. And they probably were. They came to listen to well-known songs such as “Imieniny u Cioci Niny”, “Stare wileńskie ulice” and other old hits. If someone listened well to announcements made by the band and came intrigued by the promise of provocation, and additionally he or she likes uncommon experiments… for such persons these were two hours of great fun and awesome music.

“Dzień dobry”- Kapela Wileńska with Mamadou Diouf and Pako Sarr – Senegalese men from… Warsaw welcomed the audience with beautiful Polish accent. “Jama nga fanaan”- they added immediately. It sounded extravagantly in wolof but it simply means “good morning”, just like the Polish “Dzień dobry”. I do not know the wolof language (unfortunately) but I am sure that 90 per cent of Lithuanian Poles could be jealous of the Polish accents that the Senegalese musicians have…

Anyway, apart from being jealous of the way in which Mamadou Diouf speaks, people could also be jealous of what he says. I am under the impression that if he spoke an hour, it would be like listening to music. Such an amazing sensitivity, touching honesty, understanding and knowledge of Polish culture, thoughtful analysis of processes happening in the contemporary culture… one could listen, and listen, and listen. Just like with music.

But it was a concert of Kapela Wileńska. Not a jubilee one yet, it was only played within the framework of the jubilee, but it had the birthday atmosphere. What can I say about the band? It’s so good that they exist! That they exist and that they create new music. They give a concert in the Polish House, they have the first place on the 9^th Polish National Festival of Garage Bands in Piotrków Trybunalski, and many more achievements. They should be even more praised for being open to faiths, provocations (maybe sometimes they are even too open? But, after all, many things are lost for want of asking.), they look for novelties and new things. Their undeniable greatness lies within it all.

In the 21^st century, who needs “Bałałajka”, “Kaziukowa polka” or “To nasze Wilno kochane”?- some people ask, some people are surprised. The answer for that question is given by Mamadou Diouf (in the coverage below) but it is worth to quote his words once again: “Poles went away from folklore. A man should go into the world carrying something that others do not have. You can go with American things or other ones, but this will not make us unique. It is worth to go back to our roots and present them out there, in the big world. This is what our little provocation comes from. We have decided to blow the dust off the old Polish folklore. Maybe Poles will be amazed, maybe they will be ashamed, maybe they will understand. This is why we play Warsaw backyard songs and in the future we will record a whole album.”

One more statement made by Mamadou Diouf which was not included into the coverage is worth quoting: “Our meeting with Kapela Wileńska was spontaneous. We were exchanging texts via e-mail, we were talking by Skype, but we had only three days for direct preparation. We integrated fast because it was there, in Vilnius, where we created “Mamma Africa”. I am under the impression that if we played longer, we could make a whole album.”

Mamadou? Kapela Wileńska? Why can’t you play together for a whole month?

Photography: Jan Wierbiel, Paweł Dąbrowski

Editing: Artur Kalczewski

Source: http://www.wilnoteka.lt/pl/tresc/prowokacje-lub-inwokacje-kapeli-wilenskiej

Tłumaczenie by Emilia Zawieracz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Emilia Zawieracz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.