date: 26 March (Wednesday) 2025, 20:30
duration: 1h
tickets: 70 PLN
Jan Emil Młynarski (vocal, drums)
Brass Federacja: Piotr Wróbel (sousaphone, arrangements), Maurycy Idzikowski (trumpet), Artur Jargiło (trumpet), Szymon Białorucki (trombone), Bartek Łupiński (trombone), Marek Michalec (French horn), Aleksandra Radwan (backup singer), Irena Kijewska (backup singer), Maciej Starnawski (backup singer)
Jan Emil Młynarski, of THE Młynarski family, is a big band singer, mandolin-banjo virtuoso, percussionist, musical archaeologist of Warsaw, elite jazzman, and mass entertainer. “Narkotyki” (“Drugs”) is a late debut in his extensive record, radio and concert output (or the first album with ONLY his name on the cover).
As the leader of the Warsaw Dance Combo and author of programmes (“Dancing, Salon, Street” on Polish Radio Three and “Wesoła Warszawska Fala” – “Merry Warsaw Wave” – on the internet radio station Nowy Świat), he searched the archives and rescued what he found from oblivion. For this activity, he was appreciated by seniors and liked by juniors who had an interest in Polish song tradition. He acted ad hoc, week by week, but with a more concrete goal looming in the distance. It was risky from the point of view of health policy but evident as a metaphor for the various states of love. Love – as the title suggests – is like a drug.
– Searching for melodies, exploring biographies, history, tradition, and the legacy of individual artists, I inevitably created thematic collections – recalls Jan Emil. – After the tango “Morphine”, I came across the waltzes “Opium” and “Cocaine”. And then other songs from the 1930s, and I decided to bring them back to life.
The formal key to this collection of nine new versions of old hits – alongside Młynarski’s signature vocal style – is the vaguely lyrical sound of trumpets, trombones, French horn and sousaphone. The ghastly lady on the cover adds to the love-and-drugs impression: the confusion seduces and frightens with the snout of a ferocious female cat. Witkacy could not have come up with a better idea.
Photo: Kabas Laksa
