Muzykanci, a premium Polish folk band from Cracow, were awarded probably all the important prices they could get in their homeland: Grand Prix New Tradition '99 in Warsaw, Grand Prix Eurofolk '99, and Grand Prix Folk CDs Festival for their album. The quartet consist of two couples, plays a rich array of acoustical instruments and draws from historical regions like Bukowina or Podolia - which are no longer listed on the maps of Europe.

While many Europeans are quick to learn about distant cultures, music of their own continent is still to be discovered. Muzykanci collected many of their songs in the remote Carpathian valleys of Ukraine, Slovakia - and also in their homeland. These rare traditions are often flavoured by the Gypsy and Jewish settlement, which makes them very different from related styles in other parts of Eastern Europe.

Like other Polish bands, Muzykanci are real experts in the precise and subtle work with rhythm and expression. Some of their songs are known to the Czech audiences as folk standards you learn in the elementary school, but Muzykanci perform them with highest skill and fresh and crisp pattern.

Jacek Halas - vo, accordion, hurdy-gurdy, whistle, bass
Alicja Halas - polish drums
Joanna Slowinska - vo, violin
Jan Slowinski - vo, violin, bass