Balkan music

Sarakina

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polski

Fot. Jacek Grekow

Sarakina, a Polish-Bulgarian-Czech band, performs music, which is a fusion of ethnic Balkan and jazz. The original ethnic music has modern artistic arrangements, with classical influences and jazz improvisations.

The group is comprised of professional musicians, who have been playing together since 1999. Their home-town is Białystok.

The band's name comes after the name of a beautiful girl from Balkans. Quickly after forming, the group has gained a lot of fans and has been awarded at the biggest Polish folk festivals: Mikołajki Folkowe and New Tradition Festival organized by The Polish Radio. Since then the Sarakina has been touring across Poland and playing many concerts in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Ukraine, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria. The band used to be often invited to the International Accordion Festival in Vienna (2002, 2004, 2009).

The leader of the group, Jacek Grekow, sometimes takes part in the interesting accordion projects, e.g. "Kyrillikata". Sarakina also creates music to the documentaries. Lately, the group has successfully collaborated with Peyo Peev - a well-known gadulka virtuoso and soloist of Orchestra of Folk Instruments at Bulgarian Radio. In 2012 he was specially invited to Poland by Sarakina to record the "Dance of Fire" CD and in 2017 to register the "Balkantron" album.

This Polish-based ensemble plays Macedonian, Bulgarian and other Balkan music with a charged energy, a flair for jazz and folk alike, and the curiosity of non-natives discovering a secret code. The group plays kaval, accordion, bagpipe, bass and tambura. The musicianship is first-rate, the tunes are mostly original, but owe a lot to the traditions that have influenced these players, and the arrangements are subtle yet inventive.