Jacek Marcin Kaczmarski (22 March 1957 – 10 April 2004) was a Polish singer, songwriter, poet and author.

Life

He was the son of painter Anna Trojanowska-Kaczmarska, a Pole of Jewish background, and the artist Janusz Kaczmarski. Kaczmarski was a voice of the Solidarity trade union movement in 1980s Poland. His songs criticized the ruling communist regime and appealed to the tradition of patriotic resistance within Poles. He remains best known for his

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s on social and political subjects ("

Mury ''Mury'' (The Walls) was a clandestine Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego, Girl Scouts group organized by young Polish women who were political prisoners in the concentration camp in Ravensbrück. The group, led by Scout Group Leader Józefa Kantor, was ...

" (''Walls'') based on "

L'Estaca L'Estaca (; meaning "the stake", figurative sense "without liberty") is a song composed by the Catalan singer-songwriter Lluís Llach in 1968. The song, which has been translated into several languages, has become so popular in some countries th ...

" by Lluís Llach, "Obława" (''Wolf hunt (lit. Raid)'')). However, his commentary was not restricted to contemporary politics, and his texts' themes have retained their relevance in Polish culture beyond the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and its communist bloc. He made his debut in 1977 at the Student Song Festival, where he was awarded first prize for his work "Obława" based on the song "Охота на волков" by Vladimir Vysotsky. In 1980 he won second prize at the Opole Song Festival for "Epitafium dla Włodzimierza Wysockiego" (''Epitaph for''

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

). Kaczmarski was on tour in France when the

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was declared in Poland in December 1981. He lived in exile until 1990. During these years he gave concerts in Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Israel. From 1982 on, he worked as an editor and journalist with

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

and hosted his own radio program, "Kwadrans Jacka Kaczmarskiego" (''Fifteen Minutes with Jacek Kaczmarski''). After his return to Poland (following the Round Table negotiations that brought an end to communist rule) he toured the country with his friend, artist Zbigniew Łapiński. The tour was recorded and released as ''Live'', and it achieved

Gold album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status in 2001. His other albums included "Mury" (''Walls''), "Nasza klasa" (''Our Class''), "Raj" (''Paradise''), "Muzeum" (''Museum''), "Pochwała łotrostwa" (''In Praise of Villainy''), "Wojna postu z karnawałem" (''The War between Carnival and Lent''). However, Kaczmarski was soon disillusioned by the developments in Poland after 1989 and eventually emigrated to Australia. Kaczmarski was known not only for his politically motivated lyrics but also for his characteristically dynamic – even aggressive – classical guitar playing, and expressive performance style. His deep knowledge of not only his nation's history but also of classical literature gave his songs a particularly deep and multi-layered resonance (e.g. "Powtórka z Odysei," recalled Homer's

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

, while the ballad " Lalka" masterfully retells Boleslaw Prus's second novel of the same name, ''The Doll''.). He often performed before contrastingly different audiences: groups of friends in their homes, campus venues, and large concert halls in Poland, the rest of Europe, and America. Kaczmarski was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2002. He died in a hospital in Gdańsk in 2004. Jacek Kaczmarski suffered from severe alcoholism, which often lead to domestic violence. His wife, as well as his daughter, have confessed that Kaczmarski often vented his frustration by beating them.

Discography

* Mury, 1979 * Raj, 1980 * Muzeum, 1981 * Krzyk, 1981 * Strącanie aniołów, 1982 * Carmagnole, 1982 * Chicago – Live, 1983 * Litania, 1987 * Kosmopolak, 1987 * Dzieci Hioba, 1989 * Głupi Jasio, 1990 * Live, 1990 * Mury w Muzeum Raju, 1991 * Bankiet, 1992 * Wojna postu z karnawałem, 1992 * Sarmatia, 1993 * Szukamy stajenki, 1993 * Pochwała łotrostwa, 1995 * Między nami, 1997 * Koncert '97, 1997 * Dwie Skały, 1999 POL No. 37 * Dwadzieścia (5) lat później, 2000 POL #26 * Mimochodem, 2001 POL #18 *Złota kolekcja: Jacek Kaczmarski – Źródło, 2003 POL #8 * Syn marnotrawny, 2004 (Box set) POL #15 * Świadectwo, 2005 POL #25 * , 2006 (Box set) POL #47 * Mała Arka Noego, 2007 (Box set) * Arka Noego, 2007 (Box set) * Scena to dziwna, 2008 (Box set) * In Memoriam, 2014 POL #9

References

External links

Kaczmarski.art.pl – Fanpage

A Musical Journey through Polish History

Find A Grave

Discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarski, Jacek 1957 births 2004 deaths Sung poetry of Poland Musicians from Warsaw Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Poland Deaths from laryngeal cancer Polish atheists 20th-century Polish poets 20th-century Polish male singers