Lumpeks

French-Polish quartet, formed in 2018, comprising: Sébastien Beliah (double bass, bass, clarinet), Pierre Borel (cornet, wabik, drone box), Olga Koziel (vocals, hoop drum, baraban, trumpet), Louis Laurain (cornet, wabik, drone box) and guest performer Maria Stępień (violin). The ensemble has gained recognition for its free, bold and imaginative interpretations of traditional melodies, which draw on the rich tradition of rural music in central Poland. The members of the ensemble have a solid musical education, expressed in excellent technique, compositional skills and the ability to conduct ethnomusicological research to gather musical material and reinterpret it. In 2019, Lumpeks won the Grand Prix at the New Tradition Festival, where their interpretation of Polish folk music was praised by the jury for their "free, bold and sensitive interpretation of musical traditions". Their latest project, Polonez, is the fruit of field research conducted in March 2021 and features both jazz improvisations and traditional dance tunes.