Artykuły

Today, on the 10th of April, is the first anniversary of the death of the poet, writer and the Muse of "Solidarity," Jacek Kaczmarski.

Friends of the artist, dead at the age of 47, recollect him as "the Polish version of Bob Dylan."

"He always protested vocally against evil, violence and stupidity. We will always remember how he sang for us under communism, during martial law, from Radio Free Europe, and later, in a newly freed Poland," said the musician's friend, Mirosław Chojecki.

Jacek Kaczmarski was born in Warsaw, on the 22nd of March, 1957. He wrote one of his first songs, "What goes on in a Bar," at the age of 15. He graduated in Polish from the University of Warsaw.

His artistic career began in the mid 1970s. He was, amongst other things, the laureate of the Student Song Festival in Krakow and of "True Songs" in Gdansk. He performed with, amongst others, Przemysław Gintrowski, and worked with the "Pod Egidą" Cabaret. In 1979, along with Gintrowski and Zbigniew Łapiński, he prepared the poetic program "Walls," which he performed alongside with throughout the country. One year later, he was awarded the Journalist's Award at the Festival in Opole, and in 1981, he recieved a second award there, this time within the Cabaret competition.

When martial law was introduced in 1981, he was in France. From that moment he became an expatriate, and went to work, amongst other places, for Radio Free Europe, played concerts in Europe, South America, and Australia. He always spoke of himself as the "recalcitrant servant of Madame S." Upon returning to Poland in 1990, he staged a spectacular concert tour, while also recording a CD: "The war of Post against Carnavals." In 1994, he came out with two new albums - "Sarmatia," and "In Search of 'Stajenki," - a collection of carols and pastoral songs. His "Auto-portrait of a 'Kanalia,'" which is a derogative characterization in Poland, hit the markets in that same year.

In 1995, he left for Australia, where he prepared, amongst other things, new material for the album "Amongst Ourselves" (1997), and "Two cliffs" (1999). He also continued writing fiction tales which were published in Poland: "A Dog's Beach" (1998), "Of angels another time" (1999), and "Drink of the 'Ananks'" (2000) - a book about his work in Radio Free Europe.

In the year 2002, Kaczmarek was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. He was operated on in Insbruck. Upon learning of his illness, many cities in Poland organized concerts and charity drives, with proceeds going to help defer the artist's medical costs. Participants included, amongst others, Zbigniew Hołdyś, Krzysztof Daukszewicz, Lora Szafran, Ryszard Rynkowski, T. Love, and the Cabaret of Moral Worry, along with Marcin Daniec.

Kaczmarski gained popularity on account of songs such as "Walls," "The Chase," "Our Class," "Stupid Bubba," "Armor," and "Children of Job." He sang not only in concert halls, but also in the apartments of his friends. His last album, "Incidentally," came out in 2001. In total, he recorded 23 albums.

He also published eight toms of poetic verse, amongst them, 'Verses and Songs," in 1983, "Fragmented Units," (1998), and "Tunnel," (2004). The texts of some of his songs can also be found in 15 different song books.

In the year 2000, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski honored Krzysztof Kaczmarski with the Command Cross honoring the Rebirth of Poland.