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List of contents
Introduction
1. From an Ordinary Singer to a Prophet: The Life and Career of Czeslaw Niemen
2. From the Poem to Poems: Inspiration, Conception and Production of Niemen Enigmatic
3. Solving the Enigma: What Niemen Enigmatic is About?
4. Like Old Wine: Remembering Niemen Enigmatic
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Mariusz Gradowski is Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland. He has published articles on the reception of rock and roll styles and genres in Polish musical culture, history of rock, history of Polish jazz, theory of film music and anthropology of music. He is also a radio journalist, hosting programmes on film music and history of jazz standards on Polish Radio Channel 2.Ewa Mazierska is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She has published over twenty monographs and edited collections on film and popular music, including Contemporary Cinema and Neoliberal Ideology (co-edited with Lars Kristensen, 2018), Sounds Northern: Popular Music, Culture and Place in England’s North (2018), Popular Music in Eastern Europe: Breaking the Cold War Paradigm (2016) and Relocating Popular Music (co-edited with Georgina Gregory, 2015). Her recent monograph on popular electronic music in Vienna is forthcoming in 2019. Mazierska's work has been translated into over twenty languages. She is also principal editor of Studies in Eastern European Cinema.
Summary
Niemen Enigmatic is the fourth album in the career of Czeslaw Niemen, arguably one of the greatest Polish musicians of all time (from pop and rock to jazz-rock and avant-garde). The book asks how significant was this album? How enduring is its popularity? Has the popularity and meanings changed over time? It does this by unpacking its production, which was unprecedented in the history of the Polish popular music due to its large number of musicians with varied backgrounds, including progressive rock, mixing jazz, rock and soul with classical music. It also examines its appeal to different segments of Polish population, and failure to reach foreign audiences, despite Niemen himself privileging this album, especially its centrepiece, Bema pamieci zalobny rapsod (Mournful Rhapsody in Memoriam of Bem aka A Funeral Rhapsody in Memory of General Bem aka Mourner’s Rhapsody), in his attempt to make a career abroad.
Foreword
Examines the remarkable history and significance of the album Niemen Enigmatic, released in Poland in 1970 by Polish musician Czeslaw Niemen in its national and international contexts.
