Leszek Kułakowski & Kaszubi

Kashubian folk music is the traditional music of the Kashubians, a West Slavic community native to the Pomeranian (Pomorze/Kaszuby) region of northern Poland. It is sung predominantly in the Kashubian language and preserves regional identity through storytelling, dance, and ritual songs. The sound is marked by distinctive local instruments such as the burczybas (a friction bass made from a barrel and horsehair rope), the diabelskie skrzypce ("devil’s fiddle"—a percussion idiophone decorated with rattles), the long shepherd or seafaring horn called bazuna, as well as Polish dudy (bagpipes), fiddle, accordion, and frame drums. Rhythms often reflect communal dances (especially lively polkas and stately walking dances) and work songs tied to agriculture and the Baltic coast. Melodies are typically strophic and diatonic with memorable refrains, call-and-response patterns, and choruses fit for group singing. Lyric themes celebrate coastal life, local customs, love, seasonal rites, and Kashubian history, lending the repertoire both festive and nostalgic colors.