SOUND TRAVELER RECORDS
Polarny works with Afro-Latin musicians. Live instrumentalists and singers meet electronic beats. Our international music family includes remix and video works. Find the full discography on Bandcamp & Spotify:
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Las Niñas de Guatemala
MANDY JOHA, LA BARONA
„Colectiva Las Niñas de Guatemala” is a creative female team that offers healing and learning through art, music and dance. The collective does workshops on expression, movement, music and female empowerment in different parts of Guatemala. They advocate locally and internationally about the difficult reality for many girls and women in the country.
The group created a song and a documentary in collaboration with the multidisciplinary organization „Women Transforming the World”. It raises the public awareness about abuses suffered by girls in Guatemala. They raise people's attention about the problem and call them to action. The project has been joined by other artists to share the message with the world. It’s a tribute to all Guatemalan women, especially the Q’eqchi’ people from Achi & Ixil indigenous tribes.
The original author and compositor of the song, Sonia Anaite García Palacios aka „La Barona”, teams up with producers Mandy Joha and Juan Salvador Galich, in search for the meaningful storytelling. The release features a soft remix by our genuine Argentinian producer Etnia Bits who adds profoundness to the music. Delightful graphic desing is brought by the Brazilian talent Carina Moreira from Estudio Mulungu.
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See the full "Echar e Andar" documentary or see the music video.
Visit & support the "Colectiva Las Niñas de Guatemala":
Visit & learn about the Women Transforming the World:
mujerestransformandoelmundo.org
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Composition & lyrics by Sonia Anaite García Palacios
Music by Mandy Joha
Remix by Etnia Bits / Lucas Penayo
Mastering by Pablo Lopez
Graphic Design by Carina Moreira
El Placer De La Duda
POLARNY
El Placer De La Duda (Pleasure of Doubt) is an encounter of the feminine and the masculine. Is where space holding meets decision making. It's a flowing in staccato. It's a pleasure of being in doubt, in between the worlds. It's a nostalgia and a joy at the same time. Polarny invites you to let it flow through you, to connect your mind with your heart, your body with your soul.
The track features three Cuban musicians. Franqui Corbea plays the Indian santur giving the song some Eastern vibe. Roger Rizo added a colourful landscape by performing piano chords and melodies. Andres Coayo brought tons of organic and percussive sounds into this adventure.
Argentinian Etnia Bits created a mystic remix, going much deeper into the roots - of us and of the planet. Let yourself indulge into the profound frequencies that will make you travel to the other dimensions.
Cuban Timo Dalif created a rumba-like remix that invites you to feel a joy of life. It might make you dance, yet not letting you jump straight into it. Again, it's a game between two states and you can choose which one fits your needs today.
Original mix written & produced by Polarny
Mixing & Additional Production: Andrzej „Fonai” Pieszak
Etnia Bits remix written & produced by Lucas Sebastian Penayo
Timo Dalif remix written & produced by Dayron Cordero Muñoz
Mastering by Lopo Zepol / Pulsar
Artwork by Carina Moreira
STR007 | â„— & © Polarny & Sound Traveler Records 2021
Sound Traveler In Cuba
POLARNY
Full album recorded by Polarny in Havana between 2013 - 2019. 11 tracks featuring 16 Cuban singers and instrumentalists.
Welcome to my world on this TRIP TO CUBA. Join the musical journey through the streets of the cutest capital on Earth. This is where I slow down, this is where I feel HAVANA BLUES in my veins. Meet my talented friends, musicians and dancers. With us, YOU can lose yourself. All the relationships here are a real game. Thus, dance to the rumba beats and feel this land with me. MI TIERRA is now your playground. A place with a long history, with crazy nights and days. It’s your turn to win this play. VENCE BATALLA! Have a glass of rum and fly high. Shout VAMOS A VOLAR and spread your wings wide. We grab a mojito on the rooftop of the HOTEL INGLATERRA, then we find some STILLNESS while closing our eyes. When not sure about your steps, choose to surrender to YEMAYÁ. If tired, escape with me to PLAYAS DEL ESTE and feel the sand under your feet. At night, let’s walk the ocean front - it’s always hard to say GOODBYE MALECÓN.
All music written & produced by Polarny.
Havana Blues & Vamos A Volar written by Nate Lassiter & Polarny
Mixing & Additional Production: Andrzej „Fonai” Pieszak
Mastering: Marcin „Kwazar” CisÅ‚o | Gagarin Studio | www.gagarin.pl
Artwork by Qaadira Ihsaan | www.qaadiraihsaan.com
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STR006 | Recorded in Havana between 2013 - 2019
â„— & © Polarny & Sound Traveler Records 2020
Vamos A Volar feat. Zule Guerra
POLARNY
Another single promoting the upcoming album Sound Traveler In Cuba. Balearic disco beats meet afro-cuban jazz musicians.
Cuba is a place where you can easily fall in love. The song is about those butterflies in the stomach, a feeling of flying far and high, about the beauty of love. Sunny like the island itself, this disco vibe will let you relax, dream and travel in space and time.
Zule Guerra is a leading jazz singer in Cuba, valued by all generations. Excellent vocal skills, self-awareness and strong feminine presence, singing in several languages - this lady is a real charm. Undoubtably she will become a leading diva on the international jazz music scene.
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There are more extraordinary musicians on the record. Josue Borges is a young jazz / experimental flutist, here performing both on flute and harmonica. Yasek Manzano is back again with his exceptional trumpet skills. Degnis Bofill Miranda plays percussions, adding a lovely Cuban vibe to the song. My American friend Nate Lassiter created groovy guitars riffs, helped with the bassline and the structure of the song.
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Then we have another friend from UK, Jon Kennedy, who I met at the Quest Festival in Vietnam. He produced a creamy broken-beat remix that I admire a lot for its softness and vibe. This release is a real international hot-pot!
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Mixing: Andrzej Fonai Pieszak | Artwork: Qaadira Ihsaan
Mi Tierra feat. Vocal Baobab
POLARNY
Mi Tierra is the third release promoting the upcoming album "Sound Traveler In Cuba". I met Ramoncito - the Vocal Baobab band’s leader - at their concert on the rooftop of the famous Hotel Inglaterra in Havana back in 2013. We soon became good friends by sharing same positive vision on life and music. We ended up working on two songs together.
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Vocal Baobab consists of several musicians and singers. They create a fusion of rumba music with other genres like pop or reggae. They have ties to the world of santeria and religious ceremonies what you actually can hear in the song. Ramon has recently became a babalawo.
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Rumba music started in poor districts of Matanzas and Havana in late 19th century. The genre’s energy comes from its natural groove - celebrations full of drumming, singing and dancing (and rum, of course). Although rumba had no ties to religion in its beginnings, the songs from santeria ceremonies would be later incorporated into rumba concerts and celebrations. The genre has a charm of bringing people together, letting them be in a moment, forgetting about everyday concerns. Those rhythms and repetitions are somehow similar to what electronic music does.
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Today, I invite you to enter this afro-cuban world. The original track can easily take you on a deep journey, especially with its last part becoming very tribal. The remix by one-of-a-kind Simbad is another pair of shoes - unexpected beats and changes, almost industrial approach, with very trippy ending. Share and enjoy!
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Mixing: Andrzej Fonai Pieszak | Artwork: Qaadira Ihsaan
Goodbye Malecón feat. Yasek Manzano
POLARNY
I greatly dislike leaving Cuba. It’s always accompanied by strong emotions. It is a melancholy in the best scenario. More often, it’s a suffering similar to what you feel while finishing an amazing relationship. Can be really painful. I believe part of my soul belongs to this island. I often feel lost and sad or even depressed after returning to capitalism reality. I miss the simplicity of life in Cuba, I miss people who don’t stare at their phones every second. I am also sad for Cubans not having access to all the goods and services. However, this is probably what saves them - they’re more natural.
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To me, the Malecón boulevard is a perfect symbol of such an unhurried, Cuban life. How many evenings have I spent at this long boardwalk? Walking alone, partying with friends over a bottle of Cuban rum, bidding farewell to foreign guests during their last wild night in Havana. I have many memories from this magical stone wall, behind which the ocean waters invite Cubans to an undiscovered, unseen world. Goodbye Malecón is my own farewell to Cuba.
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You will hear the moody, yet dirty and intense, trombone played by the excellent Yasek Manzano. His solo is a story itself. And you won’t guess which song was an inspiration for this production… it’s „The Man With The Red Face” by Laurent Garnier.
You can hear other musicians too. Lennon Luis Garcia played vibraphone, beautiful sounds fulfilling the whole structure. Franqi Corbea played the santur, giving the song some Eastern attitude.
The remix is another Cuban input! Made by four musketeers under the name Lumen8. You can enjoy this ambiental, almost experimental remix which gives another perspective on the Malecón story.
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Yasek Manzano is the icon of the young generation of Cuban jazz musicians. We used to perform on stage together several times. He is maybe the most innovative jazz artist in Cuba nowadays, using new technology, electronic effects while at studio and on stage. His album „Amnios 1407” won the main prize in jazz at Cubadisco in 2010 and you can now hear one of the songs from this album - an exceptional „Congo Bronx”.
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Mixing: Andrzej Fonai Pieszak | Artwork: Qaadira Ihsaan
Trip To Cuba / Moyuba
POLARNY
The song „Trip to Cuba” won the Ninja Tune Records and Dubspot New York contest in 2015. It’s an invitation to the modern world on the island where traditional music (and life) mixes itself with new influences from abroad nowadays. In Cuba it became sort of a club anthem, being played at many parties, at bars or in the streets. The track features vocal chops sampled from another Cuban song made by Wichy de Vedado plus it contains live trumpet recordings by Yasek Manzano.
Inspired by some of the best nu-disco songs nowadays, 'Moyuba' has a dancing attitude, too. The track had passed a tremendous metamorphosis since its first days and contains an unusual mix of live recordings. Here you will find a blind guitarist Chichi from Santiago de Cuba, piano chords and melodies performed by Roger Rizo, Franqi Corbea playing darbuka and again, one of a kind, Yasek Manzano on trumpet. Lili Manzana gave her voice - she is Colombian, originally from Cartagena, living in Bogotá. Cartagena is a „small Havana”, thus Lili felt very connected to the Cuban culture and gave it the yoruba flavor.
Mixing: Andrzej Fonai Pieszak | Artwork: Qaadira Ihsaan
Afrobeat Remixes
WICHY DE VEDADO & TONY RODRIGUEZ
Dreams are plans. Plans need focus. Focus provokes action. Action brings results.
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This is our first step into making fusion between electronic music and Afro-Cuban influence. The original music is made and recorded by Wichy De Vedado & Tony Rodriguez - two Cuban artists.
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We have here one afrobeat-electronic remix by Polarny, then a more experimental version by our Austrian friend Callrider. Jose, another Cuban friend and artist, has contributed a graphic design.
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