Hajda Banda / Гайда Банда is a Belarusian-Polish group performing traditional dance and vocal repertoire of Podlasie, western Belarus and Polesie.
The early polka, oberek and songs are played with youthful energy and artistic sophistication drawn from archival recordings and meetings with masters of village music. In the line-up, we can hear regional acoustic instruments: violin, three-row accordion, cymbals and frame drum. The world’s only Podlasie big band draws inspiration from such artists as Wiera Grygoruk, Edmund Brożek, Stanisław V. Malenczyk, or Żemerwa Folklore Studio of Belarusians from Podlasie.
On the 24th of February, 2023, their debut album, Hajda!, was released by Karrot Kommando. The release was supported by over 120 fans within the framework of a public crowdfunding campaign.
In May 2022, the band won the 3rd Prize, the Public Award and Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin Award at The New Tradition Polish Radio Folk Festival.
Hajda Banda / Гайда Банда was founded in 2021 as an initiative of Daria Butskaya, a violinist. The musicians, living in Warsaw, Bielsk Podlaski, Rybnik and Cracow, gather their experiences also in other groups and projects, such as Sw@da, Kapela Brodów, Orkiestra Taneczna Bonanza, Duality.
Line-up:
Daria Butskaya – violin, vocals
Nika Jurczuk – violin, vocals
Mateusz Dobrowolski – frame drum, vocals
Paweł Iwan – cymbals, vocals
Kuba Zimończyk – vocals, three-row accordion