Jacek Kawalec for Gazeta.pl: I will not be the only vocalist of Budka Suflera

When I call him, he admits that he didn’t even have time to run today because he keeps answering the phone calls. When I mention “Blind Date”, which he ran in the 1990s and the series “Ranch”, before I ask the first question of the interview, he makes sure that I have had the opportunity to listen to any of his performances on the Internet. I had, and I admit that even a cover of “Heartbreaker” by Led Zeppelin sounds very, very rock. Which does not change the fact that it is not easy to deal with legends such as Felicjan Andrzejczak or Krzysztof Cugowski. That is why, according to Jacek Kawalec, and not “young, gifted”.

Marta Korycka: On the one hand, you are familiar with singing, you perform recitals and are a singing actor. On the other hand: today there is a stir in the media, because Jacek Kawalec will play in Budka. How did they find you?

Jacek Kawalec: I work with many different musicians and during one of my concerts “Muzyczne Faces Kawalca” we were played by Piotrek Bogutyn, who has been playing with Budka Suflera for several years. He knew that the band was looking for a performer who would be the right person to perform new, unpublished songs that Romuald Lipko inherited to the band. It was Piotrek who showed my friends from Budka my recordings on YouTube. Later, Tomek Zeliszewski told me that after listening to “I do not see you in my dreams” from the repertoire of the Skalds performed by me, he knew that “I fit the new musical image of the band”. I recorded this song remotely in tribute to the Scheldt 55th anniversary in spring 2020 during the lockdown, so the music video may not be Oscar-winning, but vocally everything is correct there.

Was there an exam, a rehearsal?

The exam was not needed. We just met at the rehearsal and everything was known. At the same time, I think that my colleagues from Budka Suflera perceive me as a person who is no longer a talented young man who, if he is given the emotionally difficult burden of the possible success of a new album, will not be able to cope with it, but as a decently singing friend from a similar age range. .

Niemen, Andrzejczak, and Cugowski. And also the Cocker. You measure high …

My concert projects so far are still active. There is a new, recently launched project with the songs of Led Zeppelin (“Zeppelin – fascinations”), and the one that has been functioning for several years – with Cocker songs, is a large project with a dozen or so musicians, it is to be a reflection of a real concert that this unforgettable artist could have given in his lifetime . In “Musical Faces of Kawalec” I practice such a “vocal stunt”. I sing there with extremely different voices, for example, I perform a piece from Czesław Niemen’s repertoire, and in a moment something that Louis Armstrong sang, and I try to sound similar to the originals. This is a kind of musical game where I sometimes try to smuggle my own stuff. Recently, for example, the song “Girl difficult as Monday” had its premiere, where Krzysztof Skiba played the role in “difficult girl” in the video.

You are to perform with Budka Suflera for the first time during the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity finals in Legnica.

There won’t be any new songs there yet. The band has just selected songs for the new album, arrangements are being prepared for these songs – we have rehearsals next week. Only then will the texts be written by the authors who have been cooperating with Budka Suflera for many years.

Can you also try to write a text?

So far I have been invited to cooperate as a vocalist and although I always try to know what I am singing about, I think that here you need to leave the field to professionals who have been doing it for years.

So what songs will you sing?

On Sunday, like on the album, I will not be the only vocalist, because the band is still working with Robert Żaczyński and Irenka Michalska. I will perform “Sen o dolinie”, “Goodbye to my city” from these old works by Budka, as well as “There is such a lonely house” and “Fifth Run” with Irena and Robert. Together with Robert, we will also sing “Your Radio”, and if we manage temporarily before the light to heaven, it will also be one of the most beautiful songs from Budka’s repertoire – “Noc nad Norwidem”. For sure we will also perform these songs during concerts, when we are already performing with new material.

Will you be three full-fledged singers in the band now?

We are not doing any rankings here, we are not racing who is more and who is less main [śmiech].

You mentioned that you will sing “Dream about the Valley” and that the voice of Krzysztof Cugowski sounds in my head. What’s the idea for this to be “Mr.”?

In fact, I have already dealt with this piece, because it is a cover of “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” – one of the few Polish covers sung by Budka Suflera. I am not going to race with Krzysztof Cugowski at all. He is endowed with such an incredible vocal volume and artistic charisma … Anyway, this is not a competition in which something can be measured, people just have to like it. And to Mr. Krzysztof Cugowski, whom I respect very much for all his artistic achievements, I wish him a lot of great success, because he is an extraordinary talent and extraordinary potential.