Yellow Umbrella
Interview with Yellow Umbrela
During this edition of Ostroda Reggae Festival (9-11 July 2011) a FunInPoland representative interviewed Jens Strohschnieder (vocal, keyboard) and Thomas Hellmich (trombone) from Yellow Umbrella – reggae/ska veterans from Dresden (east Germany). Here is an edited version of the conversation.
How do you feel after the concert?
Thomas. I always feel good after concerts because of all the adrenaline.
Jens. Before the concert we were feeling pretty nervous because Ostroda is a big festival. We haven’t been playing here for fifteen years. But we had a good welcome and we enjoyed the show, dancing, singing and laughing.
Do you remember anything from fifteen years ago when you were here?
Jens. It’s actually easy to remember because it’s a long trip from Germany to northeastern Poland. I remember the distinctive location near old military barracks. We were friends with a lot of Polish bands and musicians such as Paprika Korps and Vavamuffin. We’re like one big family.
How many concerts have you given so far this year?
Thomas. It is only our fifth concert this year – we had two in Germany last month and Ostroda finished our tour in Poland consisting of three concerts.
Our festivals in Poland have been through tough times recently due to coronavirus. How were things in Germany?
Thomas. In Germany we had rules about safety in concerts. For example, people were not allowed to dance, they had to sit. Now the rules are more lax, like here in Ostroda. On some concerts you have to bring proof of being tested for coronavirus. Furthermore, there are almost no international bands on tour in Germany these days.
Jens. We were thinking about doing concerts about listening to music, but our music is for dancing, so we are happy that people are allowed to dance and smile again. We’ve also had problems with repeatedly canceled festivals. For example our concerts in Czech Republic got canceled two years in a row. Hopefully we will be able to play there next year and the dark times will be over.
Thomas. At least it’s good for the local bands, being able to get more spots on line-ups of bigger events. Maybe festivals like Ostroda can get a more even mixture of local and international bands next year.
What about your band? Has the pandemic affected you negatively?
Thomas. It was also difficult for us because our saxophonist Bernard Lanis is from France and we had a lot of worries if he could get to our concerts in Germany and Poland. There was a time when he was not allowed to enter Germany and we couldn’t even rehearse. Even fairly recently around February we still had this law. Thankfully it has gotten better and now we’re allowed to travel.
What is the history of reggae and ska in East Germany?
Thomas. Ska took off in East Germany after Messer Banzani was formed in 1989 in Leipzig, even before reunification of Germany. They gave a concert in West Berlin a few months before the wall came down, it was then that people realized that there’s a scene – and demand – for ska in the communist half of Germany. The early 90s after reunification of Germany was a good time for ska, there were a lot of new bands and ska quartets popping up in East Germany. Ska was decently popular among people and a lot of new musicians wanted to play it.
Where does your band fit into this, how did you form?
Jens. Most of our band came to Dresden from West Germany. Only Thomas and Jurgen (bass) are from East Germany. We met there sort of by accident and decided to form a band. The 90s were a crazy time like that.
It’s been 27 years since Yellow Umbrella was formed. How did ska and reggae scenes change in Germany in that time?
Thomas. A lot happened in that time, it went through highs and lows. There was a time when reggae was commercially big, with artists like Seeed, Gentleman and Dr. Ring-Ding.
Jens. A lot of them also played here in Ostroda. The German and Polish reggae scenes have been very interconnected practically since the 90s. For example, our band has visited every major Polish city during our career, some during long tours across Poland. We’ve seen almost all of Poland by now, which is very cool.
Are there any highlights of your career that you are particularly proud of?
Jens. Being in Poland. Seriously. It’s really nice to travel with your music. This afternoon we were walking along the lake and it was such a nice feeling – it is pretty much a vacation for us. We wouldn’t have been here if we were not traveling with our music – bringing us to places that are very nice.
You are a group of seven. How do you organize your work when it comes to writing new songs?
Thomas. Jens writes the songs, writes down the ideas and sends them around. With the modern technology it’s relatively easy.
Jens. It’s fast and easy since I’m the main vocalist and I’m writing the lyrics for myself along with the chords. Then we work on the song together. Sometimes it’s very easy – we play a little and immediately get something we can play. Other times it can take years to finish a song. It took one of them eight years before it was ready. It’s the art of going from composing the song to arranging it and making it sound good.
What are your musical inspirations aside from reggae and ska? Got any favorite artists outside those genres?
Thomas. We are big fans of klezmer music and eastern european music, especially from Balkans and Russia. As for artists, I could name Fanfare Ciocarlia and Giora Feidman as some of our favorites.
Your band is also famous for publishing children’s books, featuring a reggae bunny. Where did this idea come from?
Thomas. We were thinking about doing something for kids for festival in Dresden. We started to play folk songs, kid songs, and reggae style songs. Then we started putting funny costumes on, making funny stuff on stage. Then an idea came to make a story and we needed a protagonist, who we named Boooo. We played like this for three years before someone said that we should write this down.
Jens. Lukasz Rusinek from Paprika Korps does the illustrations for these books. He’s a great friend of ours and one of the best illustrators and animators in reggae scene. Also all of us except Fritz have kids. Me, Thomas and Jurgen have three each.
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Ostróda Reggae Festival 2021
Ostróda Reggae Festival 2021 - Report
Ostróda Reggae Festival has always managed to bring its dedicated fanbase together. It was no different this year. And it might be no exaggeration to say that it now consists of four generations of people.
The COVID pandemic that we all continue to struggle with had to leave its mark on this event as well, in terms of attendance, artist line-up and festival organization.
Even though a lot of things were abnormal about this year, ORF continues to be the same festival at its core – full of love, tolerance and environmental awareness.
As per tradition, ORF managed to bring back a lot of artists that had performed there in the past. In fact, one of the festival’s highlight – Yellow Umbrella from Germany – returned after 15 years of absence and managed to completely fill Ostróda Amphitheatre with dancing fans.
Also in the galleries: Johny Rockers, Dubska, Gutek, The Beat Rootz, Shashamane and the festival’s audience.
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10. Lotos Siesta Festival Gdańsk
10th edition of Lotos Siesta Festival
Despite the unusual conditions of sanitary regime, the anniversary edition of Siesta Festival proceeded successfully.
The organizers deserve all the accolades for preparing the festival of such a high level and bringing all the previously announced stars despite all the adversities. They have managed to provide good and safe fun for artists and the audience alike in these trying times. As for us, we regret that we could not have been there on all of the concerts, but what we witnessed more than made up for all the delay that lasted several months.
The musicians must have felt the same, longing for contact with a large concert audience. Teofilo Chantre confessed how deeply moved he was standing on the stage a whole ten months after his previous performance. And Elida… looked like she was ready to explode when she was stepping onto the stage.
The leading theme of this year’s Siesta was tribute to late Cesaria Evora – the artist that managed to bring the wondrous culture of Cape Verde onto the musical saloons of Europe.
The concert stage saw two hours of concerts given by the modern stars who owe their careers to Cesaria and her trailblazing achievements – Nancy Vieira, Elida Almeida and Lura. Differing musical personalities and styles of singing, but each with the same burning passion. Another guest was Teofilo Chantre – Cesaria’s former song composer, whose concert was received with excitement.
These concerts were full of touching emotions and memories, but also plenty of joy and good fun. The musicians danced and clapped on the stage, encouraging the fans to get up from their seats and do the same – this was everyone’s joint tribute to Cesaria. At one point Lura won a thunderous applause for whistling a part of a song.
We also had a returning artist from Siesta’s very first edition – Yami. Much like the other stars, he expressed joy at being able to return to Poland. While introducing Yami to the public, Marcin Kydryński – the festival’s lead organizer – expressed his fascination in how much the musician evolved over the years. Gushing with energy and joy, Yami struck a phenomenal partnership with his audience. With a wide smile on his face, he told stories behind many of his songs, the emotions he put into them and the closest people to him that he dedicated them to. As per Siesta’s standard, the people gathered in the concert hall spent a bulk of the concert dancing (respecting the safe distance).
More photos and reports soon 🙂
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Interview with Ana Moura
Ana Moura after concert
A few moments after the concert which Ana performed during the Siesta Festival, the singer gave us a short interview.
Fun in Poland: Did you enjoy the show? Because we loved it.
Ana: Oh, thank you so much, I really had a good time. The audience was amazing.
– Last year you gave two concerts in Poland. Do you like performing here and why?
– I love it because I can feel that people really feel related with our music. Every time we come here
people are so sweet to us, like you saw. That’s why I always love to come back to Poland.
– In the past you were invited to sing together with Rolling Stones and Prince. Did those
concerts have any impact on your identity or style of music?
– They influenced my music and obviously the musical experiences that I had with both of them inspired
me to do different things with my music.
– Is there any other musician you have not performed together with, but would really love to?
– Many, but I don’t know… Stevie Wonder? It’s one of the artists I’d love to.
– In recent times Lisbon has become a capital city of music. It became home of not just young
and ambitious artists from Portugese-speaking countries, but even world-famous superstars
such as Madonna. How did this come to be?
– I think people like the beauty of Lisbon and also the fact that it is a very safe city. Nowadays safeness
is very difficult to have in this crazy world. Lisbon also has good food and nice people.
– Which personalities (musicians, organizers, etc.) do you think contributed the most to
Lisbon’s musical growth?
– I think it’s mostly the artists, but also Luis Montez, for instance. He’s a very big agent in Portugal. He loves
even the youngest singers and musicians, he’s always looking for new things and he has a lot of festivals
in Lisbon.
– Similarly, fado along with other genres hailing from Lusophone world has enjoyed growing
popularity across Europe and the world. What do you think are the most attractive points of this
kind of music?
– I think it’s because it’s a music that comes from the soul and even people who don’t understand the
lyrics can feel related to it. I think it’s the most important characteristic that makes people love it so much,
because the soul can transform people’s feelings.
– What are your favorite free time activities?
– I love to be with my family because it’s very rare, especially my two kids. Besides I love to swim and
dance.
– In that case we wish you a very safe trip back to Portugal so you can see your family.
– Thank you so much!
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Siesta Festival 2019
Siesta Festival - 2019
Kandace Springs
Can a single composition contain soul, jazz, pianists of 19th century romanticism and … hard rock? Yes, as evidenced by Kandace Springs, whose concert opened the 9th edition of Siesta Festival in Gdańsk’s Stary Maneż.
Although the concert was dominated by songs from her second album “Indigo“, there was no shortage of compositions from the preceding CD or a few songs that do not quite fit the jazz standards. Her interpretation of”Killing me softly” could strike awe into even Lauryn Hill who performed it for the first time.
Siesta A.D. 2019 already started from C Major and the weekend is yet to come.
Mayra Andrade
Only dinosaurs remember B.B.King’s legendary concert in Warsaw when one of his strings snapped and he simply changed it without stopping the performance. Mayra’s band found themselves in a similar peril when one of the drumset’s instruments suffered a breakdown right at one song’s beginning. Most musicians would have likely stopped the play right then and there, but what happened instead went beyond the standard calculus of a concert – not only did they do their best to make up for the missing part of rhythm section, but even the audience eventually joined them!
As for the overall concert – musical perfection. It would take us too long to describe this performance, and even moreso the music – a mix of temperament and fierceness of African rhythms with musical professionalism without an ounce of sham.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_BkFQcQ0o
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Ana Moura on Siesta Festival
While we don’t know why someone would voluntarily make bruises on their hands or peel off the epidermis on them, we are certain that attending Ana Moura’s concert would be the most pleasant way to go about this. It was one of the sort that simultaneously pushes you down onto your chair and makes you want to dance and jump, all the while clapping spontaneously. One wasn’t enough!
Ana came to Siesta as the uncontested star. Everyone that attended the concert in Baltic Philharmonic knew why they did so and what they were in for, yet were still blown away. With her voice, commitment, humour, temperament and heart put into each and every song, she once again proved that she’s worth as many diamonds as she weighs. She may be called the Queen of Fado, but we feel that even Empress of Fado wouldn’t give her full credit for who she is and what she did for this genre.
A true star is known not just for his or her individual musical abilities, but also the class of accompanying musicians. Ana’s band is no exception, extracting absolute perfection out of their every note and even giving some stunning solo performances.
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Siesta 2019
Lotos Siesta Festival - 2019
Kandace Springs
Can a single composition contain soul, jazz, pianists of 19th century romanticism and … hard rock? Yes, as evidenced by Kandace Springs, whose concert opened the 9th edition of Siesta Festival in Gdańsk’s Stary Maneż.
Although the concert was dominated by songs from her second album “Indigo“, there was no shortage of compositions from the preceding CD or a few songs that do not quite fit the jazz standards. Her interpretation of”Killing me softly” could strike awe into even Lauryn Hill who performed it for the first time.
Siesta A.D. 2019 already started from C Major and the weekend is yet to come.
Mayra Andrade
Only dinosaurs remember B.B.King’s legendary concert in Warsaw when one of his strings snapped and he simply changed it without stopping the performance. Mayra’s band found themselves in a similar peril when one of the drumset’s instruments suffered a breakdown right at one song’s beginning. Most musicians would have likely stopped the play right then and there, but what happened instead went beyond the standard calculus of a concert – not only did they do their best to make up for the missing part of rhythm section, but even the audience eventually joined them!
As for the overall concert – musical perfection. It would take us too long to describe this performance, and even moreso the music – a mix of temperament and fierceness of African rhythms with musical professionalism without an ounce of sham.
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Dino D’ Santiago in Warsaw
Dino came to Poland
“Thank you for bringing me here” – I heard a young man in a cloakroom saying this to his woman after Dino D’ Santiago’s concert that took place in Warsaw’s Palladium theatre on February 8th. This one sentence could serve as the concert’s summary.
When Dino came to Poland for the first time two years ago as part of Siesta Festival, he immediatelly conquered hearts of Gdańsk’s public – the same one that was highly praised by African musicians such as Tito Paris and Paulo Flores that performed for them in previous editions. Both Dino and his newfound fans were heating the show up with each song, culminating with an amazing performance of “Djonsinho Cabral”.
His second visit in Poland and what happened in Palladium can be considered a sequel of that concert. The star returned and was greeted like one of theirs. Dino probably does not think of himself much as an idol, but that is part of what makes him unique – a volcano of energy on the stage, ingenious musician and showman, yet a man that remains true to himself in this crazed world and is embraced by every concert public worldwide thanks to it, especially his optimism and musical joy.
After his concert Dino gave us an interview. – We invite you to read it.
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Ostróda Reggae Festival 2018
Ostróda Reggae Festival 2018
Ostróda – a magic place to life and magic place of music. There are a lot of tourists and residents who also know how to have fun. During Ostróda Reggae Festival everywhere you could see reggae symbols and hear this music in every cafe or campsites. On holidays Ostróda entice people who want to spend time with picturesque areas. Love, peace and respect – this slogan in connection with music created an unusual atmosphere. Artists who performed on the stage after their own concerts went to the audience and had fun on the next concerts. On the stage we could see not only Polish reggae stars. There are a lot of global reggae artists who entertained the audience. All of musicians performed their individual styles and the gathered people had welcomed it well. Mack B’s or Vavamuffin’s concerts are intrinsic part of Ostróda Reggae Festival. And this event surely will stay in the mind of every guests! Galleries:
Vavamuffin
Macka B
Marla Brown
Shashamene
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
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Siesta Festival 2017
Siesta Festival 2017
This was the seventh edition of Siesta. Jazz, ladino, bossa nova, fado – the organizers prepared a truly delicious treat for us this year. There was no shortage of good, beautiful, emotional music from another world either. There was a little nostalgia as well, but mostly joy and euphoria – the festival’s three days sent us to another dimension. I left Gdańsk still charmed with the beauty of this music, assured that it was not my last experience with this festival.
This year’s Siesta was kickstarted by Dino D’Santiago. Hailing from Algarve coasts in Portugal, this singer enraptured the public with his positive energy and charming voice. His vibrant voice worked really well in conjunction with both calm, melanchlic melodies as well as brisk, jumpy songs that grabbed the audience out of their seats.
Right after Dino D’Santiago we had a pleasure of seeing Omara Portuondo – an ingenious interpreter of Cuban bolero music and a veteran artist with over 70 years worth of experience on stages across the world. As modest as this old lady appeared, her otherworldly voice and immense energy shocked everyone. With top flair she led us into her world of Cuban music, which she treats with both love and humour. She said how moved she was to be part of Siesta Festival. The last few songs were especially memoriable – a filled concert hall, people dancing to the music, Omara with Gdańsk’s mayor on the stage, sounds of bouncy Cuban music… This is not something I can simply describe – it is something one has to witness.
As great as Siesta’s first day was, the second one stole my heart. The sonorous, mystical voice of Mor Karbasi hypnotized me from the first moments. Her songs told beautiful, emotional stories. Closing my eyes, I could see myself walking the streets of Israel in the sunset. Her accompanying musicians created a fantastic musical background for her exotic, penetrating voice that made me feel like in dreams – only the snapshots of other photographers’ cameras kept me awake to do my job. Mor Karbasi’s concert was a fantastic musical journey that I will not forget anytime soon.
On the third and final day Eliane Elias, one of world’s greatest Jazz stars, took us on yet another trip through unique musical landscapes. Her performance was highly praised by both indigenous listeners and guests from outside Poland. Her mastery over piano and clean voice brought the crowd to delight and caused outbursts of applause with each passing song. Eliane’s concert was an excellent finisher for Siesta. Elegance, perfectionism, a few drops of nostalgia – a balm for everyone’s souls.
The most interesting events in Poland on summer. Concerts, Festivals and outdoor events. Jazz, Rock, Reagge, Rap, Hip-Hop, Beer and traditional polish food.
