Variété is a new-wave and cold-wave band from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, considered the leading pioneers of that genre in 1980s. The group is continually evolving and their music can be now described as an original blend of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, minimal and

trip-hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

History

1980s

The band was founded in autumn 1983 as ZyZyZy which was later changed into Variété Est Morte (from French “Diversity is dead”) and then shortened into Variété. The original lineup featured Grzegorz Kaźmierczak (vocalist, author of lyrics), Wojciech Woźniak (bass guitar), Jacek Buhl (drums), Radosław Urbański (guitar) and Sławomir Abramowicz (saxophone). Variété made their debut at

Jarocin Festival Jarocin Festival was one of the biggest and most important rock music festivals in 1980s Europe, by far the biggest festival of alternative music in the Warsaw Pact countries. Founded in 1980, the festival was based on the earlier ''Wielkopolskie ...

in 1984 where they received an award, presenting coldwave music enriched with Kaźmierczak's

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. The group appeared again on the

Jarocin Jarocin () is a town in west-central Poland with 25,700 inhabitants (1995), the administrative capital of Jarocin County in Greater Poland Voivodeship. Jarocin is a historical town, having been founded and granted city rights in the 13th century. ...

stage in 1985 (Main Prize – The Golden Ten), 1986 (headliner), 1990, 1991, 1992 (Award of the Town Mayor) and 1994. In 1985, Variété went into the studio to record two tracks for their debut single "I znowu ktoś przestawił kamienie”. In 1986 the band recorded 10 songs for their first longplay with the working title ''Bydgoszcz''. A day before the band was about to sign a contract with a record label (Klub Płytowy “Razem”), the master tape had been stolen from the car. It hasn't been found to this day. Only poor quality copies of the record circulated unofficially in

, one of which was released in 1992 by University Radio Pomorze. The album was officially released on compact disc as ''Bydgoszcz 1986'' only in 2002 by Furia Musica. The concert in Jarocin’86 was recorded by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

film crew who at that time was shooting a documentary ''My Blood, Your Blood''. However, due to poor stage lighting the recorded scenes were not included in the final version of the film. A year later the band suspended their activity to resume it after a few months in the following lineup: Kaźmierczak – Woźniak – Buhl. In 1988 Kaźmierczak and Woźniak formed a duo WINA to receive an award at the Stage Songs Review held at the Hybrydy Club in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. As winners they qualified to perform at the Student Songs Festival in Cracow, however, they decided not to take that opportunity as they didn't consider the festival a suitable event for them.

1990s

Radek Urbański joined the band as guitarist a year later, and in 1990 he was replaced by Marek Maciejewski who has been playing guitar since. In 1989 Tomasz "Perełka” Dorn, known from Abaddon, took place of Jacek Buhl. That lineup recorded a self-titled album – ''Variété'' (Kophaus, 1993) which brought a partial change in style. Some elements of

appeared on the record, mainly thanks to a legendary trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski whom the band had invited to the recording session. In the following years the band released two albums: ''Koncert Teatr STU'' (MusicCorner, 1995) – a live album recorded in Cracow in 1994, this time with participation of another eminent figure in the Polish Jazz scene – Mikołaj Trzaska, and a studio album entitled ''Wieczór przy balustradzie'' (MusicCorner, 1996).

2000s

In 2001 Variété started rehearsing with a new drummer – Jarek Hejmann, known from the band Dubska. ''Nowy Material'' (

EMI Music Poland EMI Music Poland Sp. z o.o., was a Polish subsidiary of EMI Group Limited, it was founded in 1995 in Warsaw. Labels CEO was Piotr Kabaj. The label was founded in 1995 when EMI bought independent record label Kompania Muzyczna Pomaton (founded 19 ...

, 2005) was released in 2005. One of the co-founders of Variété – Wojtek Woźniak – left the band in 2006. He was replaced by Tomasz Krzemiński (Neuma). In the fall of 2006 Kaźmierczak and Maciejewski went to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. During their 6 months stay in

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, together with Luigi Franceschini on drums and Donald Dixon on bass guitar they recorded ''Zapach Wyjścia''. The album was released in 2008 by independent Warsaw-based label Kuka Records.

2010s

In 2011, Marcin Karnowski, a drummer known from 3moonboys and George Dorn Screams, joined Kaźmierczak and Maciejewski, and Variété started rehearsing as a trio. This lineup recorded ''Piosenki Kolonistów'' (247Records, 2013) which enjoyed an enthusiastic reception. After release of the album, keyboardist Bartek Gasiul and bassist Grzegorz Korybalski joined the band. In 2015, choreographer Jacek Gębura directed a dance and music performance entitled “The Ball, or Get-Together. Variété plays” which had its premiere at the Stage Songs Review in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. In the same year, an album which is a recording of that performance, entitled ''PPA Wrocław 2015'' (247Records, 2015), was released. The spectacle has been successfully staged until today, mainly at

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

festivals. The band's most recent studio album entitled "Nie wiem" was released in 2017. In making of the last few albums Variété have developed their own approach to recording new material and further work on it. Musicians meet in a studio for a few hours’ sessions to record all tracks of all instruments. Then they select the most interesting fragments and only based on those do they build new songs. Although Variété is considered by many as a leading representative of

cold wave A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in temp ...

, in his current remarks Grzegorz Kaźmierczak emphasizes the necessity of departing from that genre as a prerequisite of progress. At the same time Variété is seen by a lot of musicians as a band that shaped their musical and literary awareness, a group that continues to inspire.

Discography

Albums

* ''Bydgoszcz'' – MC (Akademickie Radio „Pomorze”, 1992); CD (Furia Musica, 2002 – rereleased as ''Bydgoszcz 1986'') * ''Variété'' – CD (Kophaus, 1993), MC (Music Corner, 1996 – re-release) * ''Koncert Teatr STU'' – CD (Music Corner, 1995) * ''Wieczór przy balustradzie'' – CD (Music Corner, 1996) * ''Nowy material'' – CD (EMI Music Poland, 2005) * ''Zapach wyjścia'' – CD (Kuka Records, 2008) * ''Piosenki kolonistów'' – CD (247 Records, 2013) * ''PPA Wrocław 2015'' – CD (247 Records, 2015) *''Nie wiem'' - CD (Agora, 2017)

Singles

* ''I znowu ktoś przestawił kamienie'' – SP (Tonpress, 1985)

Compilations

* ''Polish New Wave'' – CD (Mathaus Records, 1997), songs: "I znowu ktoś przestawił kamienie” and "Te dni" The discography is supplemented by a demo cassette ''Nothing'', distributed by the band in 1984.

References

External links

official website of the band

official website of Grzegorz Kaźmierczak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Variete Polish musical quintets Cold wave groups Musical groups established in 1983 Music in Bydgoszcz