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Biography
Czesław Niemen (real name Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki) (16th February 1939-17th January 2004) was one of the most important and original Polish rock/electronic/experimental musicians, singing mainly in the Polish language.
Niemen was born in Wasiliszki in Grodno district. He was a singer with a wide voice scale and rich intonation, a composer and a keyboard player. He made his debut in the early 1960s, singing a Polish kind of rock and roll and soul music. His song of 1967, "Dziwny jest ten świat" (Strange Is This World) became the most important Polish protest song of that era. He was one of the first Poles to wear long hair and colourful clothes, introducing psychedelia style to communist Poland. The first three records he recorded with his band "Akwarele" (The Watercolour Paintings), later he recorded with his new bands: "Enigmatic", "Grupa Niemen"(SBB) and "Aerolit". In 1969 he changed musical style to progressive rock, recording the monumental album "Enigmatic". The most notable song from it was "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" (A Mournful Rhapsody in Memory of Józef Bem), based on the 19th century poem by Cyprian Kamil Norwid. The rest of Enigmatic songs were poetry as well. Niemen played Hammond organ, later mellotron and Moog synthesizer on his records.
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