Czesław Niemen

Czesław Niemen (Polish pronunciation: [ˈt͡ʂɛswaf ˈɲɛmɛn]; born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), often credited mononymously as Niemen, was a Polish singer-songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Singing primarily in Polish, he is regarded as one of the most important and innovative Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, representing one of the main pillars of the countercultural big-beat genre of the Eastern Bloc. He was noted to possess an atypically wide vocal range with rich intonation.

As his career developed throughout the early 1970s, his output became more instrumentally complex, gradually falling under the influence of the progressive rock of Western Europe, avant-garde jazz from America, and free improvisation. His 1970 record Enigmatic is considered by many contemporary critics to be the greatest Polish rock album ever released, with many others of this era, including his self-titled "Red" album, considered classics in the then-nascent Polish jazz fusion scene. Lyrically, he would either provide his own material or adapt the poetry of revered Polish writers like Cyprian Norwid and Adam Asnyk.