Polish Folk Music

WOJCIECH OSSOWSKI

Wojciech Ossowski as he emphasies, he was born on the same day as Teodossi Spassov (4 March 1961). On the same day Jan Garbarek was also born. These are the two reasons why he treats the date as a magic one.

He was brought up, as everybody in his generation, in the era of listening to the good, old Third Channel ( at that time the Third Channel of the Polish Radio was the only one that broadcast interesting music). It was there that he heard blues - his first love - for the first time. He recorded all programmes of Maria Jurkowska "Blues Yesterday and Today". During one of them she said "We don't know the name of the next singer. In fact, we don't know about him anything at all. There have only been two songs, performed by him, that have been recorded. But the way he performs them, the specific style he uses, is a proof that he must have worked in Georgia at peanuts plantation." He was so astonished that he had to sit down, to have a deep breath. He thought about the power of human mind, and that such things are achievable on a different continent, after years. It changed his life: he decided to become an ethnomusicologist. When he was still a student, in 1986, he came to the Third Channel of the Polish Radio. At first he led the programme "Folk - music of Future"- a prophetic title, isn't it?! But this was folk music, ambitious and for listeners with a special sense of hearing. His program was successful, maybe because of the dull and grey atmosphere of that times. In contrast to them, the music he presented was colourful and allowed the listeners to emigrate, at least for a moment, to such unique surroundings... Then he created "Folk in a Pill" and "Folk Club". Since 2002 he has been working in the Folk Culture Radio Center.

In 1989 he came to an idea of leading a Folk Camp during FAMA Festival. In 1890-90 he was a head of the Folk Camp in Jarocin. He works with some Polish folk festivals, such as International Folk Music Festival "Mikolajki Folkowe" in Lublin, where he was a member of jury and a compere for a few times. Since 1990 he belongs to World Music Charts Centre's panel devoted to World Music in the European Broadcasting Union. He cooperates with Multi Kulti Radio in Berlin, WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) - West German Radio in Bremen and Cologne. Since 1998 he is an artistic manager of the International Festival of World Music in Skierniewice.

Wojciech Ossowski is a cult figure in the world of folk. Famous for unconventional and uncompromising views, he is a good talker, great observer and critic of events on the Polish folk scene. He is an expert both in Polish and in world's folk music. His collection of records is also impressive. Folk would surely fail to develop if it weren't for the music he presents and his support in terms of journalism.