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MAREK GRECHUTA

Eclectic Prog • Poland


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Marek Grechuta biography
Marek Grechuta - December 10, 1945 (Zamość, Poland) - October 9, 2006

He'd been interested in music since childhood and begun to learn playing the piano in the age of seven in Zamość, where he went to primary and secondary school.

He bound his fate with Kraków though, where he moved to study architecture. There Grechuta met his future friend Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz with whom he decided to start a cabaret group in the manner of Piwnica pod Baranami (an artistic bohema in Kraków which lasts to this day). This cabaret, which took the name ANAWA (from french en avant which means "forward"), begun to perform in a student club "Bambuko". The first decent success came with the performance on Festiwal Piosenki Studenckiej in 1967. Marek Grechuta took the second place in this contest behind a young student from Warszawa - Maryla Rodowicz (who later also became a famous singer in Poland). The final of the contest was broadcast live by the television what enabled the young archtecture student to be seen by the whole Poland. The next important event for Marek Grechuta was partaking in FAMA Festival where the young artist won the first prize.

This two successes led him to perform on the most important contest in Poland in that time which was the Festival in Opole. In the next year, 1970, Marek Grechuta released his debut album called simply "Marek Grechuta & Anawa" (predated by a 4-song EP in 1969). It was a mix of cabaret, lyrical songs with neobaroque sound so characteristic, as it turned out later, for ANAWA.

In 1971 Marek Grechuta and Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz recorded their second album titled "Korowód" which is considered one of the most important in the history of Polish popular music. It contained two songs regarded as generation hymns - "Świecie nasz" and title "Korowód". This album made Marek Grechuta a star!

Despite all this successes the band suddenly broke up. Marek Grechuta and Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz split. As Grechuta admitted himself there were too many individualities in the group so it couldn't last long.

Marek Grechuta arranged his own band then - WIEM. The name is an abreviation of "w innej epoce muzycznej" which means "in another musical epoch". This way Grechuta wanted to communicate the complete change of musical direction. The two albums he recorded with WIEM - "Droga za widnokres" in 1972 and "Magia Obłoków" in 1974 - are the key albums for any prog lo...
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MAREK GRECHUTA discography


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MAREK GRECHUTA top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.19 | 43 ratings
Marek Grechuta & Anawa
1970
4.20 | 86 ratings
Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Korowód
1971
4.15 | 34 ratings
Droga Za Widnokres
1972
3.78 | 31 ratings
Magia Obłoków
1974
3.80 | 25 ratings
Szalona Lokomotywa
1977
3.64 | 11 ratings
Pieśni
1979
3.63 | 8 ratings
Śpiewające Obrazy
1981
3.33 | 6 ratings
Marek Grechuta & Krystyna Janda: W Malinowym Chruśniaku
1984
3.69 | 13 ratings
Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Wiosna - Ach To Ty
1987
4.00 | 11 ratings
Krajobraz Pełen Nadziei
1988
3.40 | 5 ratings
Piosenki Dla Dzieci I Rodziców
1991
3.83 | 6 ratings
Droga Za Widnokres (1991)
1991
3.50 | 8 ratings
Dziesięć Ważnych Słów
1994
2.83 | 6 ratings
Niezwykłe Miejsca
2003

MAREK GRECHUTA Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.50 | 2 ratings
The Best (Album Live)
1997
4.67 | 3 ratings
Koncerty. Warszawa '73
2014
4.67 | 3 ratings
Koncerty. Opole '76
2014
3.00 | 3 ratings
Koncerty. Kraków '81
2014
0.00 | 0 ratings
Koncerty. Kraków '84
2014
4.00 | 1 ratings
Opolski korowód
2015

MAREK GRECHUTA Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

MAREK GRECHUTA Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.50 | 3 ratings
Ocalić od zapomnienia
1990
4.00 | 1 ratings
Złote przeboje 1
1990
0.00 | 0 ratings
Jeszcze pożyjemy
1993
3.00 | 1 ratings
Złote przeboje 2
1998
3.00 | 1 ratings
Dni, ktorych nie znamy
1999
0.00 | 0 ratings
Gdzies w nas
2004
5.00 | 6 ratings
Świecie Nasz
2005
0.00 | 0 ratings
40 piosenek
2011
0.00 | 0 ratings
Jan Kanty Pawluskiewicz. Antologia - Marek Grechuta
2013

MAREK GRECHUTA Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

MAREK GRECHUTA Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Korowód by GRECHUTA, MAREK album cover Studio Album, 1971
4.20 | 86 ratings

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Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Korowód
Marek Grechuta Eclectic Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

4 stars MAREK GRECHUTA enjoyed a fruitful career as one of Poland's best known and favorite artists both before the fall of the communist regime and for many years after. Born in the far eastern city of Zamość, spent many years in the university studying music but in 1966 he formed the folk group ANAWA and set out to tackle the art of poezja śpiewana, a Polish art form used to describe a poem being used as the centerpiece of a song with only sparse instrumental accompaniment. Spending a few years honing their skills, ANAWA debuted in 1970 with a unique mix of poezja śpiewana. Baroque pop, chamber folk and slight progressive elements. The album was mostly poetic songs by Polish poets which featured a prominent violin and cello but a fairly sparse sounding album in relation to the band's second album KOROWÓD which simply means 'Pageant' in English.

Although GRRECHUTA formed ANAWA, the first two albums featured an equal billing as MAREK GRECHUTA & ANAWA and while GRECHUTA would go on to produce a great number of solo albums and hits, ANAWA on the other hand would only experience one single album after this with its sole moniker hogging the album cover. A much more adventurous release than the debut KOROWÓD immediately sets itself apart and embarks on a very expansive journey that continued the art of poezia śpiewana with progressive folk but with more emphasis on the progressive elements including a larger orchestral and symphonic approach. Arriving on the scene in 1971, GRECHUTA & ANAWA offered the Polish scene some of the very first glimpses into the more sophisticated universe of progressive music with more abstract philosophical subject matter and more emphasis on more complex composiitons.

Although lyrics play a vital role in this release, they are all in the Polish language so immediately anyone who doesn't speak the language will be alienated in that front however the music itself is just as captivating with impressive folk based constructs that offer classical musical accompaniments and a touch of jazz and chamber folk. The original album featured nine tracks but the later remastered versions added an additional eight bonus tracks. The music is a rich tapestry of funky bass grooves, softly strummed guitars, poetic lyrical prose including lush backing choirs and somewhat of a 60s beat vibe especially in the percussion department. The title track is one of the most ambitious as it incorporates a rock beat accompanied fluttering flute lines that pretty much dominate and gain increasing strength. The track takes its sweet time to unfold and features an extended running time of nearly ten minutes. The track ends in a psychedelic haze of flute fluttering and trippy bass grooves sounding as if they've joined Germany's Krautrock scene.

GRECHUTA would part ways with ANAWA after this release and go for a more mainstream approach after which he would become a Polish superstar in the 1970s. The next ANAWA release without GRECHUTA would continue on in the same progressive rock / folk manner sprinkled with jazzy accouterments but the band would fold soon thereafter. Given that folk lovers including those who crave the more progressive varieties tend to be focused on lyrical content it's no surprise that this album has not been as appreciated outside of the world of Eastern Europe due to the language barrier however the music alone on this one is more than worth the price of admission with some very sophisticated musical developments throughout this set of nine tracks. In many ways this sounds like some of the early progressive folk bands from the Italian scene. Imagine Le Orme singing in Polish then you're not too overly far off!

 Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Korowód by GRECHUTA, MAREK album cover Studio Album, 1971
4.20 | 86 ratings

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Marek Grechuta & Anawa: Korowód
Marek Grechuta Eclectic Prog

Review by Deepslumber

5 stars This one is one of my favourites on polisch prog scene. There are two songs, that made that record huge. First one is Dni Których Nie Znamy. A great song, which has a simple beat, but it's very catchy, and the melodic line is heavy arranged. The song track is just... Wel I don't have any good words to describe it. It's called Korowód and it is one of the first true prog compositions in Poland. Almost 10 minutes long, with very fine vocal part, then the choir mode. Man, it's almost like early King Crimson or Pink Floyd. You must understand my enthusiasm for this record. It was the year 1971. Here in Poland it wasn't too funny in that time. Rock music basicly didn't exist. But, once in a while someone had the guts to record a lp like this one. Grechuta, SBB, Breakout, Klan. So, if you will ever listen to this lp, please remember, in what country it was recorded. For my it's a masterpiece.
 Magia Obłoków by GRECHUTA, MAREK album cover Studio Album, 1974
3.78 | 31 ratings

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Magia Obłoków
Marek Grechuta Eclectic Prog

Review by Gatot
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars Through a prog friend from Poland whom I met through this site, finally I got this rare album (especially for me in "rest of the world" country) by Marek Grechuta. A bunch of albums actually that I received from him, including Collage that I just reviewed couple of weeks ago. I envy on you from Poland which in fact has many prog talents in the country. I believe Grechuta is a genius musician and composer as I can hear clearly through his creation in this "Magia obłoków". Most of his compositions in this album are explorative in nature or I might say it avant-garde with heavy influences from jazz music. His music also contains many surprises where he brings the listeners with varied styles from opera to something like jazz improvisation.

"W pochodzie dni i nocy" (4'07) opens with a repetitive music featuring vocal and choir and it suddenly changes to jazz music with dynamic bass lines and violin work. It's a good exploration of jazz music with surprises in styles. At first listen it sounds to me too monotonous, but with some more spins it brings me to another experience. The fact that it is sung in Polish has made the sound better even though I don't understand what it means. Well, I read through the band's brief at this site I know that the lyrics must be poetic.

"Igła" (2:08) is truly a song-orientated composition featuring vocal as main component accompanied with guitar fills. It sounds similar with next track "Świat w obłokach" (4:06). Though this song sounds like a pop song with relatively simple structure and repetitive vocal but when I observe the guitar work, it's quite interesting to enjoy.

The album really lift-offs when it reaches the epic "Suita "Spotkania w czasie"" (14:36)* which comprises track 6 "Walc na trawie" (4:24) a melodic instrumental in a bit of symphonic nuance with jazz influence. It moves into another beautiful track 7 "Ulica cieni" (5:52) followed with short track "Zmierzch" (1:49). The epic concludes with a melodic song "Ptak śpiewa o poranku" (2:25) where the music is enriched with nice orchestration. The song has a catchy melody. It's quite unique to my ears.

The album concludes with "Na szarość naszych nocy" (2:52), a simple structure song with good guitar fills. The CD version includes 9 bonus tracks.

Overall, it's a good album from Poland and it will satisfy those of you who love jazz fusion and avant-garde kind of music. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Thanks to Ghost Rider for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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