CZESŁAW NIEMEN - "ENIGMATIC" (1970)

Niemen, who died in January 2004 at the age of 64, is one of the icons of Polish music. At the peak of his career, between 1964 and 1975, he sold over two million records in his homeland, exploring a mix of music styles, always trying not to repeat himself and to surprise his audience. During his golden age, he went through Polish and Russian traditional music, soul, jazz-rock, progressive rock, psychedelia and baroque pop.

Recorded in 1969 and released at the beginning of 1970, "Enigmatic" is his most celebrated album. The glorious opening track, "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod", starts like a gregorian chant, with a majestic choir and a striking church organ, only to suddenly mutate into a soul/rock epic after over 7 minutes. Guided by a surprisingly proto-trip hop rhythm section and Niemen's powerful, scratching voice, it hits the 16 minutes mark.

The other three tracks are shorter, but still powerful, filled with bluesy guitar solos, Hammond organ, jazz saxophones, and passionate female backing vocals, provided by legendary Polish vocal group Alibabki.

At the time, "Enigmatic" was combined with a movie, which showed Niemen and his band performing their music. The album sales surpassed the 125.000 copies mark in one year.

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