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Sample Track 1:
"In the Forest" from Uprooting
Sample Track 2:
"Fishie" from Uprooting
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Uprooting
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CD Review

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Sing Out!, CD Review >>

Preservation is a main objective of many folk organizations – to carry tradition so that cultural nuances stay intact of future generations. Yet, often such endeavors are like whisper down the lane: the message comes across, though the words are rearranged along the journey. IF we needed any proof this is not only not a bad thing, but the very nature of humanity, Uprooting will silence skeptics. This unruly band of six 20-something musicians have, as the title suggests, uprooted Polish village music and created the mythology of forthcoming sonic chapters. They are all classically trained, fully knowledgeable of the sound and stories of Poland’s past. On stage they wear knee-length Indian kortas, baggy hipster jeans and Pumas and rock dreadlocks, dark sunglasses and outrageous jewelry. They jam hard on dulcimer, cello, violin, hurdy gurdy and baraban drum, while in the studio dub out each track to add a bit of Jamaican flavor. Employing the “white voice” vocal technique (used by sheepherders to call across fields) and adding larger-than-life heady bass layers, songs like “Polka from the Sieradz region” and “Woman in Hell” simply scorch, replacing the hip-hop kick drum with the reverberating baraban. That drum leads off the frenetic “The Owl” before Wojek Krazk’s violin emerges from the percussive bombing. Vocalist Maja Kleszcz matches the chaos brilliantly; her high-pitched shrills are as penetrating as the hypnotically pleasing bottom layers. Yet Kleszcz is equally dangerous with melody, as proved by Uprooting’s most beautiful song, “Grey Horse.” Described as Mazovia meeting Mississippi, Krazk’s Delta ska swing on violin creates the perfect backdrop for her to tell this tale of social customs squashing true love. You can hear the sadness through every second, yet that – like much of the Eastern European soul – is also liberation. Through innate expression this village band is setting their people free.

-DB

 08/01/05
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