Poland is hard to imagine as the place of origin for a blues musician, but singer Magda Piskorczyk might change that impression this weekend.
The Warsaw resident is the headlining act at this year’s Blues Bash, which takes place in the courtyard at Taipei Artist Village on Sunday.
Piskorczyk, who possesses a low-pitch, smoky voice, is as comfortable singing on top of Chicago-style shuffles as she is grooving on West African rhythms or straight-ahead funk.
Photos courtesy of Magda Piskorczyk
But it’s her “charisma” that keeps people listening, according to DC Rapier, head of the Blues Society on Taiwan and a member of local Chicago-style blues outfit BoPoMofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). “Her music is enchanting — it’s really personal, and very engaging,” he said.
Rapier first met Piskorczyk in the US in 2005 when she represented a blues organization in Poland at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Rapier jumped on the chance when the Warsaw Trade Office in Taipei approached him about bringing the singer to Taiwan.
When Piskorczyk sings, her Polish accent comes through clearly, but her ability to hit a wide range of notes, coupled with her raw, powerful vocal style should be enough to convince concert-goers, especially in a live setting.
Her repertoire includes arrangements of pre-World War II American folk blues, electric blues standards and West African desert blues (a la the north Mali group Tinariwen).
Joining her on Sunday will be guitarist Ola Siemieniuk.
Piskorczyk, who declined to give her exact age but says she’s in her thirties, says she was instilled with a love for the sounds of African-American music as a child. At home, her parents always listened to blues, jazz and gospel.
“I remember when I was four, and I couldn’t fall sleep without listening to a few songs by [gospel singer] Mahalia Jackson,” she told the Taipei Times in an interview earlier this week.
Festival-goers aren’t likely to hear many songs sung in Polish on Sunday. Piskorczyk prefers to sing in English, finding it more “melodic,” but says she wouldn’t mind creating lyrics in her native language, given the right circumstances. “I prefer to cooperate with a good [lyricist], but there’s not so many nowadays in Poland,” she said.
The international take on the blues is a tradition of sorts at Blues Bash, which is now in its ninth edition and has hosted artists from Argentina, Japan and Slovakia. Since its inception, the Bash has been a labor-of-love operation for a small community of blues and roots music lovers, most of whom are expats (disclosure note: I’m part of that group, and my band regularly performs at the festival).
But Rapier, who founded and runs Blues Bash, is constantly looking for ways to reach out to Taiwanese audiences. That might be one reason Piskorczyk is a good fit for the festival: both are happy to reach more mainstream audiences.
Piskorczyk says she likes to play for people unfamiliar with blues music and enjoys playing unusual venues, which has included supermarkets in Poland, in addition to the regular touring circuit in Europe.
“If I have a chance to give people something different to listen to other than pop, then I’ll do that, with pleasure,” she said.
Other performers at the Bash include Japanese guitar ace Shun Kikuta, a veteran of the American blues circuit as sideman for the late Koko Taylor, Thailand-based American musician Ken Minahan and local rock band The Silence (沉默之音). For a full list of performers, visit www.bsot.org.
■ Blues Bash 9, 2pm to 11pm, Sunday at Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號). Tickets are NT$800, and NT$500 for Blues Society on Taiwan members. Prices include one drink and a raffle coupon. Visit www.bsot.org for details
Rock fans have plenty of choices this weekend, too, with two big events in Taipei. The Back to My Summer Vacation Art and Rock Festival (把暑假還給我!) takes place at the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory (南港瓶蓋工廠, officially called URS 13 by Taipei City), a set of abandoned warehouses that reminds one of how Huashan 1914 Creative Park used to be: dark, grungy and perfect for a rave or an indie rock fest.
My Summer Vacation takes place tomorrow and Sunday and features mostly guitar-rock bands, including headliners Mary See The Future, noise indie rock outfit Forests (森林合唱團) and psychedelic rockers Sleaze (see last week’s Live Wire for a short profile).
For a stronger “Taiwanese flavor” with your rock ‘n’ roll, head to the Taiwan Beer 346 Warehouse Restaurant (台啤346倉庫餐廳) for the Rock Bandoh Festival (搖滾辦桌音樂節), which takes place tomorrow.
“Bandoh” (辦桌, lit: setting up table”) refers to the traditional outdoor Taiwanese banquet, and that’s pretty much what this event is, a traditional multi-course dinner at big round tables where you sit on plastic chairs and toast each other with Taiwan beer. The twist to this “Bandoh” lies in the entertainment, which consists of live rock sets from top-notch bands.
The event has a perfect-sounding lineup that includes Hoklo-rock kings The Chairman (董事長樂團), nakashi-punks Loh Tsui Kweh Commune (濁水溪公社) and ever-popular indie rock outfit Touming Magazine (透明雜誌).
■ Back to My Summer Vacation Art and Rock Festival (把暑假還給我!), tomorrow and Sunday, from 2pm to 10pm, at URS 13, aka, Nangang Bottle Cap Factory (南港瓶蓋工廠), 13-1 Nangang Rd Sec 2 Taipei City (台北市南港路二段13-1號). Tickets are NT$500 for one day, NT$900 for both days. Visit www.btmsv.blogspot.tw for details and full line-up.
■ Rock Bandoh Festival (搖滾辦桌音樂節), tomorrow starting at 3pm, at the Taiwan Beer 346 Warehouse Restaurant (台啤346倉庫餐廳), 85, Bade Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市八德路二段85號). Tickets are NT$1,200 for a table for 10 people (dinner is an additional NT$800 per person), available at: shop.dmarketnet.net. For more information, visit the festival’s Facebook page by searching “搖滾辦桌 Rock Bandoh.”
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