16. Rawa Blues Festival

September 28th 1996

Artists

Final concert

Koko Taylor & And Her Blues Machine (USA), The Blues Band (Great Britain), Irek Dudek Symphonic Blues

Main stage

Sławek Wierzcholski & Nocna Zmiana Bluesa, Dżem, Roman Puchowski & Nick Katzman (Poland/USA), Paweł Szymański, Blues Rock Guitar Workshop + Wojtek Garwoliński, Monkey Business + Patrycja Gola, Rodzinna Orkiestra Szopińskich, DzieńDobry, Green Grass, Prosta Sprawa

Small stage

B-12, Fire Band, Easy Street, Who Knows, Św. Luiza, Big John & The Rockets, Nadmiar, Blue Cross, Yard

Chronicles

The emotions we had been feeling, long before the festival started were hard to compare with so far editions. The annoucement of Koko Taylor's show, the arrival of the boss of legendary Alligator Records Bruce Iglauer and the special artist of British white blues Paul Jones rose the level of attraction.

Another „Rawa Blues Warm – up” took place in local TV. It had the form of the television show, broadcasted on the radio programme 3 as well.

The new Irek Dudek's slogan for the event was „Family Festvial” and the confirmation of that conception were the performances of the Szopiński Family Orchestra. On The Main Stage also appeared: Green Grass, Dzieńdobry, Monkey Business, Leszek Cichoński Blues Guitar Workshop, Sławek Wierzcholski & Nocna Zmiana Bluesa, Roman Puchowski & Nick Katzman and Irek Dudek with his blues – symphonic orchestra, including 20 musicians.

The foreign part belonged to amazing The Blues Band. Legendary British artists brought a lot of positive energy during their show, some of the spectators went crazy.

The host of the show Jan Chojnacki couldn't stop his emotions while introducing the Queen of The Blues – Koko Taylor. Her band Blues Machine prepared fans for the main dish. The great singer – despite the health problems before the festival – was like a volcano. In the middle of the show, she got a big basket of flowers and the audience sang „Happy Birthday”, because that day The Queen of The Blues celebrated her birthday. Koko Taylor thanked the fans performing her greatest hit – „Wang Dang Doodle”.

That's impossible: it's the sixteenth edition of such a festival I had no idea about it so far – said Bruce Iglauer. The harvest of that edition was the excellent made by Polish TV team The Blues Band show, which few years later was released on DVD as Across The Borders – Live.