JAWORKI
Shepherding Them In

By Edyta Gajewska
18 September 2003

Last year, the influential Jazz Forum magazine published a list of the best music clubs in Poland.

The list featured Muzyczna Owczarnia (A Musical Sheepfold), found in the tiny village of Jaworki near Szczawnica, in the Podhale region. This September, the club is hosting its 200th concert in its three-year history.

Many Polish musicians as well as international stars have played the club, including Nigel Kennedy, Hiram Bullock, Henry McCollough, Janice Harington, Wheatbread Johnson, Dean Brown and Steve Hooks. Upon seeing the club's concert posters, American pianist and vocalist Karen Edwards reportedly shouted: "This is New York-I have to sing there!"

Jaworki is a former Lemko village situated between two nature reserves, Biała Woda and Czarna Woda, near one of the most beautiful mountain ravines in Europe, the Homole ravine. Unique vegetation and volcanic rocks are only a part of the astonishing landscape, which one day enchanted Wieńczysław Kołodziejski, a visual artist who decided to buy a house in Jaworki and start a new life. Kołodziejski found an authentic wooden sheepfold and came up with the idea to open "an oasis" for artists.

First, he wanted to hold workshops and outdoor painting sessions for visual artists, but then he met Marek Raduli, a guitarist from the rock band Budka Suflera. Raduli used his connections and helped organize concerts at Jaworki. So, in 2000, Muzyczna Owczarnia began its life as a somewhat magical place: a music club in the middle of nowhere hosting world-famous musicians.

Susan Weinert, a German guitarist who performs in concert halls around the world, said tourists and local enthusiasts found in Jaworki are an honest and fresh audience even the best known musicians have to conquer anew.

The concert room for 120 people has an assortment of everything, with long covered tables and animal skins lying on the stone floor; the bar is an old horse-drawn carriage. The place is decorated with paintings and sculptures by two artists: Kołodziejski himself and his son Staszek. There are lots of posters and slogans such as "Alcohol consumed with moderation does not do any harm even in large quantities." Each artist and nearly each patron leaves a piece of his or her heart there. It attracts numerous enthusiasts who do not take a signle cent for their work. One of them is Piotr Lelito, who since almost the very beginnings of the club has looked after the sound system, has printed posters and has had a deep faith in the unique mission of the place. People who are in love with Muzyczna Owczarnia have set up an association-with Nigel Kennedy as the honorary president-and they hope they will be able to raise funds for its activities.

Concerts are held at Owczarnia every Saturday and more frequently during workshops, for example, drum workshops conducted by Nippy Noya and jazz workshops with Janusz Muniak.

Owczarnia has 18 accommodations, and musicians come here not only to relax, but also to rehearse and to simply jam.

Upcoming concerts will be delivered by Adam Pierończyk and friends (Sept. 27) and Hiram Bullock (Oct. 3), who has worked with stars like Sting, Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand and Eric Clapton. Next on the schedule is a performance by Wheatbread Johnson, who recorded his concert album in Muzyczna Owczarnia and will be back to launch the promotion of the album there.


Muzyczna Owczarnia, 18a Jaworki, Szczawnica, tel. (+48-18) 262-22-66.