''Mourner's Rhapsody'' is an English-language album by

Czesław Niemen Czesław Niemen (; born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), occasionally credited mononymously as Niemen, was one of the most important and innovative Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th cen ...

, recorded in 1974 in

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 * ...

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 ...

Michał Urbaniak Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop music, hip hop, and symphonic music. History He was born in War ...

invited his friends (also some members of the famous

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...

) to support Niemen after his earlier band left to re-initialise their own band

SBB SBB may refer to: Arts and entertainment * SBB (band), a Polish progressive rock band, or their self-titled albums: ** ''SBB'' (1974 album) ** ''SBB'' (1978 album, Amiga) * Seán Bán Breathnach, also known as SBB, Irish TV personality * ''Saa ...

(''Silesian Blues Band''), which now became short for ''Search, Breakup and Build'', ''Sound Beyond Borders'' and similar. The album was released in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

(1974), the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(1975) and the

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(1976). It was re-released on CD in 1993. The main title ''

Mourner's Rhapsody ''Mourner's Rhapsody'' is an English-language album by Czesław Niemen, recorded in 1974 in New York City, New York, United States of America, USA. Michał Urbaniak invited his friends (also some members of the famous Mahavishnu Orchestra) to sup ...

'' is a remake of Niemen's cult status initial version issued in 1970 on '' Enigmatic'' on which

also participated. Despite the top class cast and progressive music the album didn't sell as good as the initial Polish '' Enigmatic'', which reached a cult status, or even the earlier albums recorded for

CBS Records International CBS Records International was the international arm of the Columbia Records unit of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. ( CBS) formed in 1961 and launched in 1962. Previously, Columbia Records had licensed other record companies to manufacture a ...

with SBB (grupa Niemen), e.g. ''

Strange Is This World ''Strange Is This World'' is the first English-language album by Polish rock artist Niemen. The album was released in 1972 in West Germany on the CBS Records International (the European section of Columbia Records). Track listing # "Strange I ...

'' and '' Ode to Venus'' (between 1972 and 1974 SBB participated on 5 albums of Niemen and were called Grupa Niemen at this most creative period).NIEMEN - Mourner's Rhapsody (the CBS Records International version, incl. discography overview)
/ref> In 1974

released their very own first live album ''SBB (1)'', which immediately reached cult status in all

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(where it was distributed illegally in underground) and also across the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

presenting a new vital direction in progressive rock music already present in some form on their 5 albums recorded with Niemen. Ufortunately ''

'' didn't present this kind of freshness and vitality (also present in

) and in 1975 Niemen cast a new Polish band. His new band presented on '' Niemen Aerolit'' included a phenomenal guitarist

Sławomir Piwowar Sławomir () is an Old Polish male given name of Slavic origin consists of two parts: "sława/slava" - glory, fame and "mir" - world, peace, prestige. Cognates include Slavomir, Slavomír. Feminine form is: Sławomira/Slavomira. Nicknames: Sławe ...

, who eventually joined

in 1978. After Niemen passed in 2004

joined

in 2016 recording with the band 2 albums.

Track listing

# "Lilacs And Champagne" - 4:05 (lyrics Norman Simon) # "I've Got No One Who Needs Me" - 4:14 (lyrics Norman Simon) # "I Search For Love" - 4:51 (lyrics Norman Simon) # "Baby M" - 5:17 (lyrics Norman Simon) # "Inside I'm Dying" - 5:34 (lyrics Norman Simon) # "Mourner's Rhapsody" - 15:00 (lyrics

Cyprian Kamil Norwid Cyprian Kamil Norwid (; – 23 May 1883) was a Polish poet, dramatist, painter, sculptor, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the four most important Polish Romantic poets, though scholars still debate whether he is more aptly descr ...

, translation Norman Simon)

Extended version (1993 CD reissue)

# "Prelude" - 3:19 (intro from divided track ''"Mourner's Rhapsody"'') # "Mourner's Rhapsody" - 12:35 # "Lilacs And Champagne" - 4:05 # "I Search For Love" - 4:55 # "I've Got No One Who Needs Me" - 4:14 # "Baby M" - 5:18 # "Inside I'm Dying" - 5:35 # "Half Way Around the World" - 4:21 (new track, lyrics Norman Simon) # "I'm Reaching Out To The People" - 3:48 (new track, lyrics Norman Simon)

Personnel

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, Fender piano,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, moog *

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television an ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

* Rick Laird -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Don Grolnick Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a sess ...

- piano * Dave Johnson -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Seldon Powell Seldon Powell (November 15, 1928 – January 25, 1997) was an American tenor saxophonist and flautist whose work spanned multiple genres, including jazz and rhythm and blues. Background Powell worked with Tab Smith (1949), Lucky Millinder (194 ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

* John Abercrombie -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

- guitar * Carl Rabinowitz - guitar * Erin Dickins - vocal * Gail Cantor - vocal *

Tasha Thomas Tasha Thomas ( – November 8, 1984) was an American singer and actress, known for her role as Aunt Em in the original Broadway production of '' The Wiz''. Thomas also had a hit single, "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", from her 1979 album, ''Midn ...

- vocal *

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

under direction of

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early life Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 — a ...

References

{{Authority control Czesław Niemen albums 1974 albums