Cukunft

The band Cukunft (‘the future’ in Yiddish) was established by guitarist Raphael Rogiński. The idea of the project is the continuation of the Jewish musical tradition of Eastern Europe with all its richness and in all its forms and genres. The musicians interpret pre-war pieces, and compose their own using the entire spectrum of Jewish music which, for them, remains very much alive. Cukunft’s repertoir is created spontaneously, but is also backed by serious musical and sociological research. In its original line-up a few years back, Cukunft prepared and performed the pieces of Mordechaj Gebirtig (b. 1877, d. 1942), who lived and composed in Cracow during the interwar period. This material was featured on the band’s EP entitled “Lider fun Mordechaj Gebirtig” which was released in 2004. In their subsequent line-up, which featured a basoon and percussion, Cukunft worked with pieces by Polish composers to the words of Jewish poets (Icyk Manger, Mosche Shneur, David Beigelman and others) as well as with music composed by Raphael Rogiński. That time the band focused on the tradition of the Jewish ‘city music’. The understated, even minimalistic way of performing allows audiences to realy delve into the sound of contemporary Jewish music as that contemporary character is experienced by the musicians. Currently, the band is focused almost entirely on Jewish country music from the Galicia region. Processed through Cukunft’s original sound, some of the traditional dances – frejlaks, turkiszer or voleks – are becoming the conteporary repertoir for a modern ‘klezmer orchestra’. Currently, the band’s line-up includes Raphael Rogiński on electric guitar, Paweł Szamburski on clarinet, Paweł Szpura on drums and Michał Górczyński on bass clarinet.