| A1 |
Brownie
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
3:35 | ||
| A2 |
Cichy Wieczór / A Calm Evening
Written-By – J. Mych* |
2:45 | ||
| A3 |
Żółty Słoń / The Yellow Elephant
Written-By – W. Parzyński* |
3:00 | ||
| A4 |
Trzeba Wracać / One Must Return
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
3:40 | ||
| A5 |
Nastroje Małych Misiów / Teddy Bears' Moods
Written-By – J. Mych* |
2:35 | ||
| A6 |
Dwa Po Dwa / Two Times Two
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
2:35 | ||
| A7 |
Następny Proszę / Next, Please
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
2:40 | ||
| B1 |
Pyzate Słoneczniki / Chubby Sunflowers
Written-By – W. Parzyński* |
3:25 | ||
| B2 |
Jak Powrócić Do Tej Chwili / How Could We Return To The Past Moment
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
2:25 | ||
| B3 |
Mini Dziewczyna / The Mini Girl
Written-By – W. Parzyński* |
1:50 | ||
| B4 |
Bariera Uczuć / The Barrier Of Feelings
Written-By – J. Mych* |
2:30 | ||
| B5 |
Go Go
Written-By – W. Parzyński* |
3:55 | ||
| B6 |
Król Salomon / King Salomon
Written-By – B. Kawka* |
3:35 | ||
| B7 |
Tańczące Orzechy / Dancing Nuts
Written-By – J. Mych* |
2:00 |
Recorded in Warsaw, June 1967 in Polskie Nagrania - Studio 12
Partial credits taken from the few named musicians in liner notes.
| Title, Format | Label | Cat# | Country | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bossa Nova (LP, RE, Album) | Polskie Nagrania Muza | XL 0415 | Poland | 2009 | ||
| Bossa Nova (CD) | Polskie Nagrania Muza | PNCD 913 | Poland | 2004 |
With their absolute technically perfect commend of the singing, NOVI were often compared to Lambert-Ross-Hendricks. What distinguished the band from their contemporaries was their unique background, indulged in authentic Polish folk music, and music of Polish-French composer Frederic Chopin.
Jan Borkowski wrote about NOVI: 'The NOVI use their voices like instruments. They can give the monosyllables of their vocalizes any sound and articulation they wish. In late 1964 a young graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory, Bernard Kawka, fascinated by the music of Bill Evans, whom he had met in Scandinavia, decided to devote himself to jazz. In the Conservatory he found others who shared his enthusiasm for this music. This led to the formation of the band. They considered that the best way of expressing their jazz ideas would be to use their own voices.'
Describing their unique style, Bernard Kawka of NOVI observed: 'There is this epidemic of labeling, everybody labels everybody - seems some people can’t sleep at night without having everything neatly classified. I don’t give a damn if somebody says I sing church music, and somebody says it’s military marches and somebody says it’s nursery rhymes, and somebody else wonders if it’s jazz. (…) I don’t care what it’s going to get called, I just want it to be good'.
Another member of NOVI - Ewa Wanat - continued: 'Above all we found the human voice to be a perfect jazz instrument and that the possibilities in sound, expression and interpretation were unlimited. We knew that there was still much to be done in the field we had chosen and so we decided to become real improvisers: to create music while singing. We resigned from lyrics, and began to scat. Texts are self-determining and make improvisation difficult, while we want our music to be spontaneous, fresh and full of improvising expression and rhythmic dynamism that belongs to Afro-rooted music'.