Banana Boat , Member of International Shanty and Seasong Association, is a Polish male vocal sextet, specializing in contemporary songs of the sea, neo-shanties, as well as in close-harmony interpretations of classical sea shanties, and recently (as of 2005) also experimenting with other genres of music (Christmas carols, popular songs, jazz compositions).
The group was founded in 1994, and suspended activity 1996-1998, but returned to stage at the end of 1998 with a new lineup. Today, the group consists of Maciej "YenJCo." Jedrzejko, the frontman and leader of the band, Pawel "Konik" Konieczny, the group's composer and high tenor, Pawel "Synchro" Jedrzejko, author of the majority of Banana Boat's original lyrics and the group's baritone, Tomasz "Mundry" Czarny, the sextet's arranger, composer and baritone, Michal "Ociec" Maniara, the band's road manager and performer of baritone parts and, since 2009, Piotr "Qdys" Wisniewski, the group's bass singer. All members of the Banana Boat share a common interest in sailing; their professional milieux are diverse: medicine, dentistry, banking, law, trade, and higher education.
So far, the group has recorded one LP album - "A morze tak, a moze nie," the title of which could be roughly translated as "We will sea..." and one mini-album "Banana Boat ... Swiatecznie," including six beautiful Christmas carols (three traditional Polish, one traditional Welsh, one traditional English and one mediaeval Latin). Two songs have also been recorded in an album "Szanty dla Pajacyka," the total income of which covered the costs of meals for undernourished Polish children. The album was published by MCK Tychy; the contributors included such groups as Pearls and Rascals, Roaring Twenties, Segars, Kant, Passat and such major figures of the Polish culture as Marek Szurawski and Janina Ochojska. Recently, Banana Boat songs appeared on two albums of "Lafitte's Return. Pirates For The Preservation Of New Orleans Music," Vols. 3 and 4. Proceeds from the sale of “Lafitte’s Return†will go directly to the coffers of the PPNOM project.
Banana Boat was nominated for the 2005 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award in two categories: Folk/World Album for the album "A morze tak, a moze nie..." and Folk/World Song for "Arktyka." The Band's songs were broadcast on BBC, Radio Trossenlos, and many other radio stations in Poland and abroad, and won the hearts of a wonderful audience of in excess of ten thousand during the Festival of Sea Songs in Paimpol, Brittany, in August 2005. So far, the group has performed for numerous audiences in Poland, the USA, Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Czech Republic.
Recently, Banana Boat completed an international miniproject with Eleanor McEvoy, which resulted in the production of a new single "A Little A Cappella: Polish-Irish Harmony." The single includes two compositions: a traditional Polish-Ukrainian song "Ukraina" by Tymko Padurra, which Eleanor performs in Polish, and "Little Look," written and composed by Eleanor McEvoy and arranged by Tomasz Czarny. The latter song recently made it to the prestigious POLISH RADIO THREE hitlist: we are counting on your votes! VOTE NOW!
CONTACT INFORMATION
BANANA BOAT
c/o BananaArt.Pl Art Agency
e-mail: [email protected]
tel: +48-506028800 (Maciej Jedrzejko)
tel: +48-501174864 (Michal Maniara)
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