The Yiddish word KROKE means "Cracow". The group Kroke is strongly linked to Kazimierz, a Jewish settlement that had been an autonomous Jewish town up to the 19th century and then became the Jewish neighbourhood of Cracow. Until 1939 Cracow and especially Kazimierz was one of the most important centres of Jewish cultural life in Europe.
The group was created in 1992 in Cracow on the initiative of three lifelong friends and graduates of the Cracow Academy of Music: Tomasz Lato, Tomasz Kukurba and Jerzy Bawol. Having gone through the successive phases of education in classical music, and then fascination with jazz and progressive music, as Kroke they concentrate on playing and composing with the realm of authentic Jewish music. Each member of Kroke is equally strongly engaged in the creative process of the group.
Though the label "Klezmer" may indicate a certain direction, the music of Kroke is not necessarily linked to any of the styles nowadays connected with this concept. Using traditional material as the foundations on which to build ingenuous arrangements and improvisations, exploiting their previous experience, transmitting the profundity of man’s feelings and nature, Kroke creates new, unique compositions as well as a sound which is thus far unheard in Jewish music.
The release of a first cassette entitled KROKE in 1993 led to numerous invitations to festivals and concerts all over Europe. Beside their regular concerts in Cracow the group started to tour extensively. Among many other successful concerts there were highlights like the E.B.U. Contemporary Folk Festival (Roskilde/Denmark) in June ’96 and the WOMAD Festival (Reading/U.K.) in July ’97. At the same time the group intensified their work on the improvement of their technique and - through study of the sacred books - investigated the tradition and philosophy of the Jewish nation.
The mystical atmosphere of Kazimierz, the unshaken dignity of its six-hundred-year-old tradition, reflection on the sufferings of the past, on the present, on hope and trust in man, as well as common creative work found their outcome in the album entitled TRIO (Oriente RIENCD04), which was released 1996 in Berlin/Germany.
Since then KROKE toured all Europe and released seven albums with ORIENTE Musik.
 
KROKE are:

JERZY BAWOL (accordion)
Born in Cracow 1969, he started playing the accordion in elementary school at the age of nine and gave his first concert at the age of twelve. During his time at the High School and the Music Academy of Cracow, where he studied classical accordion, he was touring Poland, Germany and France with solo concerts. After finishing the Academy in 1992, he worked moreover as a studio musician and with the Cracow opera, focusing on contemporary music. His work with KROKE is definitely influenced by his grandfather, who was an acclaimed Klezmer musician.
 
TOMASZ KUKURBA (viola, violin, vocals, percussion)
Born in Cracow 1969, he started playing the violin in elementary school. At the age of ten he sang in the Cracow Philharmonic Choir and toured Germany and France, especially with the works of Krisztof Penderecki. During his time at the High School, at the age of fourteen, he started to play the viola, which became his main instrument, and worked with the avantgardistic Jazz Ensemble "Mixtura". Like the other members of KROKE he studied classical music at the Music Academy of Cracow. During his studies he was member of the Academy's String Quartet and various other chamber orchestras, playing especially the music of Penderecki, and joined, together with Tomasz Lato, the "Sinfonietta Cracovia" and an experimental Jazz Group. He played numerous concerts in Poland, Germany and France.
 
TOMASZ LATO (double bass)
Tomasz Lato was born in Cracow 1968. Both his parents were musicians, and so he started playing the piano as a child. At the age of fourteen he changed to the acoustic bass. His wide range of musical interests led him to various ensembles. During his time at the High School and his studies at the Music Academy of Cracow he played in Jazz Groups, worked as a musical director in theatre and broadcast productions, joined the Philharmonic Orchestra, the "Capella Cracoviense", the "Sinfonietta Cracovia" and the "Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra". Beside all that activities he is a requested studio musician, also for pop music productions and soundtracks.

more informations: Kroke website

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