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Katy Carr

Venue: St.George's Hall
Town: Liverpool
Date: 17th November
Website: http://katycarr.com/

I was very pleased to be invited to attend an event to celebrate Polish Indepence Day at the historic St.George's Hall in Liverpool. The event was organised by Merseyside Polonia and featured two guests. The first was Mrs.Anna Przylipak, who took part in the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis. Anna was a Communications Officer in the Polish Partisan Army and she was wounded and was forced to withdraw through the underground sewage system. Her recollections were both emotional and chilling as she told of her bid to escape the Nazis.

Following Anna's fascinating memories, we were treated to a set by that wonderful Anglo-Polish singer-songwriter Katy Carr. Katy was born in Nottingham of a Polish mother and English father. She has just released her fourth album "Paszport", which has received rave reviews, including one by David Kidman in this very magazine.

"Paszport"is a stunning piece of work. It consists of songs inspired by the stories of soldiers and airmen in the Polish Forces in the Second World War. As David said in his review "Paszport" is an extraordinary achievement, so this live performance was eagerly anticipated.

I was not disappointed. Katy is a consumate performer and armed with nothing more than a ukulele and a child's keyboard [!] she captivated the [mainly] Polish speaking audience with her superb songs and gorgeous voice.

Naturally, Katy performed a number of songs from "Paszport",including "Wojtek" about a brown bear who was a mascot in the Polish Army and who had a liking for beer and cigarettes!

One of the key songs on the album is "Kommander's Car", which was inspired by the escape from Auschwitz by Kazimierz Piechowski and three others dressed in SS uniforms in the car belonging to camp commandant Rudolf Hoess. Katy's live version was quite different from the album version but just as moving.

For this show, in the absence of a piano, Katy had borrowed a keyboard from a friend's child [!] but the track "Alicja", which is dedicated to the great Polish composer Chopin, still sounded as beautiful as ever.

Another truly beautiful song is "Motylek" ["Butterfly" in English ] which is dedicated to the Polish Airmen who fought alongside the Royal Air Force pilots in the Battle of Britain and throughout the Second World War.

Of the songs on "Paszport", all but two were written by Katy. One of the non-originals is " O Moj Rozmarynie" [ "Oh My Rosemary"], a traditional Polish song about a boy becoming a sodier. It was particularly moving to hear the members of the audience singing along to words which obviously meant alot to them.

This was a very special afternoon in which we heard at first hand the memories of an extremely brave woman who lived through the horrors of war and, in addition, heard a performance by an exceptional artist who has created a superb piece of work in "Paszport". Thanks to all at Merseyside Polonia for inviting me to join them for this wonderful event.

Peter Cowley