Dżem

Country: Poland
State: Silesian Voivodeship
City: Tychy
Genre: blues polish blues rock rock polish rock
Lyrics: Dżem lyrics

Biography

One of the most popular and influential Polish blues-rock bands.

Their history dates back to mid 70's, although their first records were released in the mid 80's. Their style varies between blues, southern rock and hard rock. Their late vocalist - Ryszard Riedel [d. 30.07.1994 due to heart failure caused by heavy drug addiction] - is an iconic figure in the history of Polish rock, followed by a nationwide cult similar to the one of Jim Morrison's. His replacement - Jacek Dewodzki sung on 3 albums in the 2nd half of the 90's, before being replaced by the more blues-oriented current singer - Maciej Balcar in 2001. Their last album called "2004" was released in 2004.

After the tragic death (car crash) of the pianist Pawel Berger in January 2005 the band was in a 4-month hiatus, before returning to a full activity with a new pianist in May 2005. Each year, on the anniversary of Riedel's death, a festival takes places in his hometown of Tychy, to commemorate him and his music and to warn young people not to use drugs. Among those performing are the biggest stars of polish rock scene along with Dzem and Cree - a band led by Riedel's son - Sebastian.