Krystyna Prońko -

Krystyna Prońko is a Polish jazz-pop/soul singer who released seven albums between 1975 and 1989 on Pronit and Wifon.

Background

Krystyna Prońko was born January 14, 1947, in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland. Her father encouraged her to play piano at home with her brothers, saxophonist Piotr and bassist Wojciech. She completed a first-level music school and a chemical technical school in Gorzów, then took a laboratory job with the local sanitary service.

At technical school, Prońko played in a beat group whose members joined musicians from local cultural centers in Refleks. She sang and played a Vermona organ with the band, which also performed her compositions. Refleks entered the First National Beat Avant-Garde Festival in Kalisz in November 1969, where Prońko received an award for her organ playing. A recruiter for composer and bandleader Antoni Kopff contacted her family that December. Prońko left the laboratory and arrived in Rzeszów on her twenty-third birthday for a rehearsal with Kopff’s group Respekt.

Prońko and lyricist Jan Tomasz (aka Marek Gaszyński) co-wrote “Cały maj” and “Daleko przed siebie,” both performed by Respekt on Polish Radio and included on their four-song Pronit EP. Kopff secured Respekt opening slots for Czesław Niemen. When Respekt split, Prońko joined fellow singers Zofia Borca and Elżbieta Linkowska in Niemen’s backing group. She sang on the 1971 double LP Niemen and toured the Soviet Union with Skaldowie.

In 1972, a tour with Czerwone Gitary brought her to Baku, where she met keyboardist Janusz Koman. Prońko and Koman formed Pokolenie, which recorded “Dwa anioły” and “Ziemi puls” at Polish Radio Lublin in August. Janusz founded Koman Band in 1973 with Prońko as vocalist. She appeared at the Jazz Vocalists Festival in Lublin and won the interpretation prize at Opole for “Po co ci to, chłopcze?” and “Umarłe krajobrazy.” Prońko returned to Opole in 1974 with “Papierowe ptaki”; Koman received the festival award for the song’s arrangement. Polskie Nagrania included the song on Opole ’74. Prońko recorded her first solo LP with Koman Band for Pronit.

Discography:

Krystyna Prońko (1975)
Deszcz w Cisnej (1978)
1980 (1980)
Krystyna Prońko (1982)
Kolędy (1984)
Subtelna Gra (1987)
Album Krystyny Prońko (1989)

Sources

Janusz Szrom, “Krystyna Prońko: pół wieku w służbie piosenki.” Prońko identifies Refleks as the group at Kalisz, names her Respekt compositions, and recounts the Niemen tours and formation of Pokolenie. (Jazz Forum)
Agnieszka Burchacka, “Krystyna Prońko: Debiutowałam w Kaliszu.” Prońko describes the technical-school musicians, the Refleks lineup, her Vermona organ, and the 1969 awards. (Życie Kalisza)
“Krystyna Prońko w Radiu Warszawa vol. 1.” This account of an interview covers family music, the laboratory job, and the move to Kopff’s Rzeszów group. (Radio Warszawa)
“Krystyna Prońko — Życie i twórczość.” The biography supplies the birth date, music schooling, Rzeszów arrival, Baku meeting, and early Koman recordings. (Culture.pl)
“Krystyna Prońko.” Polish Radio identifies the four songs on the first Respekt EP. (Polskie Radio)
“Koman Band — biografia.” Koman’s site dates the group’s formation, assigns the 1974 arrangement award to Koman, and identifies the first Prońko album with the band. (Janusz Koman)
“Składanki.” Prońko’s discography lists “Papierowe ptaki” on the 1974 Opole ’74 LP. (Krystyna Prońko)