The End of an Era: The Legendary Versatones to Retire

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Back to its Roots

Museum Hopes to Catalog, Promote, Polish American Polkas

GDYNIA, Poland ? Waldemar Rudziecki, chairman of the non-profit organization Stowarzyszenie Fotoplastkion Gdynski is hooked on polkas and is interested in adding Polish polkas from the United States to its online collection.

Established in 1999, the organization runs the Museum of Contemporary Pomeranian Marine Handicraft in Gdynia (www.e-fotoplastikon.org), which houses the largest collection of contemporary marine art in Poland.

The Museum also administers the E-Fotoplastikon Digital Library of Illustration and Music. The library holds illustrations (photographs, postcards, albums, wallpapers and other prints) from all over the world in digital format.

?I began collating these images in 2006 and at present have about six million scans that can be viewed,? said Rudziecki. ?The library also contains music from around the globe and includes all styles and genres from traditional, classical and folk through to pop ? again, all available exclusively in digital format.?

Dating back over 35 years, the collection comprises of around 40,000 archived radio broadcasts and about 100,000 published works. The library?s contents are available free of charge via the internet for educational and research purposes.

While art will always be a passion for Rudziecki, music is his priority. In the 1970s he was a promoter of the alternative music scene in Torun, and in the ?80s and ?90s was promoting bands and artists from Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. Many of these bands are now top selling artists in Poland.

While working on expanding his collection, Rudziecki discovered an article in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper entitled ?How a punk rocker fell in love with Polka.? The article discussed polka festivals in Cottbus, Germany and Zielona Gora, Poland.

That brought back memories to Rudziecki, who remembered the popularity of Chicago-born polka artist Li?l Wally Jagiello in Poland during the 1960s and ?70s.

While looking online for information about polkas, Rudziecki found Steve Litwin and the Polish American Journal. As Polka Editor for the PAJ, ?Litwin brought Polish polka ?the music, its history and significance within the polka genre to my attention,? said Rudziecki. ?From that moment I fell in love with it and now my wife and I listen to Polish Polka everyday via internet radio stations such as 247Polkaheaven, Polka Jammer Network, Polka Legacy and the Polkaparty Podcast.?

Rudziecki believes there is a great market for this genre in Poland, as much of Polish polka music from the United States has its roots in Polish folk music.

Polish people have polkas in their blood,? Rudziecki said. ?I think it?s a real shame that Polish polka artists from the United States are not known here in Poland. I?d like to change this. I?d like to honor these musicians because they?ve kept part of Polish legacy in their hearts and they?ve kept polka music alive. The musicians of Polish origin in the United States have played an enormous part in preserving traditional Polish music for future generations.?

The board of Stowarzyszenie Fotoplastikon Gdynski has set itself the goal of promoting Polish polkas in Poland. Rudziecki has been providing promoters with information about Polish polka.

This year the Gdynia municipal authorities announced the creation of the Museum of Immigration and in addition to expanding the E-Fotoplastikon collection with Polka music they are aiming to create the Library of Polish Polka in collaboration with the museum.

In order to accomplish this, the museum needs help and would benefit greatly from donations of CDs, LPs and mp3s to enable us to build a definitive collection of Polish polka music. In return, the library will substantially facilitate the promotion of the music.

The Museum?s board is also working on ways to promote the music. One under discussion is the branding of the music. Under this scheme, clubs and bars that agree to play Polish polkas would get their own Polish Polka signboard to be hung in a visible place by the entrance.

Though we need help establishing the rules of co-operation with the clubs we are sure that the Polish Polka signboard and associated advertising would attract new customers to the bars as well as tourists interested in finding out more about Polish culture,? said Rudziecki.

Polka bands, recording labels, promoters, organizers, and polka fans are encouraged to write to: Waldemar Rudziecki, Stowarzyszenie Fotoplastikon Gdynski, ul. Zwirki i Wigury 8b7, 81-393 Gdynia; email: informacja@e-fotoplastikon.org and/or Waldemar Rudziecki, Association Fotoplastikon Gdynski, 81-393 Gdynia, ul. ?wirki i Wigury Street 8b7, 81-393 Gdynia, Poland. Email: informacja@e-fotoplastikon.org

USCA to Support, Promote the Concertina

CONCERTINA, USA -The United States Concertina Association ("USCA") was founded in 2010 by a group of dedicated chemnitzer concertina musicians who had a vision to provide fellow musicians with a virtual fraternal organization that is truly nationwide, and to provide a means to give helpful assistance to local concertina clubs and individual musicians as well. While the primary musical instrument supported by the USCA is the chemnitzer concertina, the association also recognizes the importance of supporting all of the other related musical instruments from the bellows-driven, free-reed family.

The mission of the USCA is to support the members of local concertina clubs and independent concertina musicians; further the exchange of information and cooperation in and between local concertina clubs; develop a better appreciation of, and respect for, the concertina by the public; encourage concertina musicians to improve their musical

The USCA can be found on the Internet at UCConcertina.com and contacted via email at usca@usconcertina.com.