In the beginning there was chaos. A bit later, in the spring of 2013, as a result of experimental combination of our musical interests, Nova Band was established. What brings us together, except music, is also work in Nova Trading – the stainless steel and aluminum service center. From the very beginning we could count on support of the company, that initiated creation of the band, noticing our hidden potential. Hardly anyone – including us – could expect that two years later Nova Band will give a stage performance in front of the audience of more than 200 persons.
Right from the start the leader of our band emerged – Tomasz Nowacki. He took care immediately of the organizational issues – he found the room for rehearsals, arranged terms of meetings, motivated us to work. It was only the name that was missing. “Nova Band” used to be only a working name at the beginning, however, as time passed, it was accepted as the permanent name.
The first piece we performed together was “Black Magic Woman”, mainly associated with Carlos Santana, although it is Peter Green who actually is its author. We knew that the next pieces for our repertoire will be searched for among the more or less known blues and rock standards. We planned performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Nova Trading in 2015.
Preparations to performance were not easy at all. Actually, rehearsals started regularly as late as in January 2015 – before that, they had been rather occasional due to difficulties in coordinating dates – we work in different departments of Nova Trading, most of us is often on business trips, etc. Another issue was the necessity to master new skills, e.g. none of us had ever played bass guitar, and obviously somebody had to… Radosław Jeżewski was chosen. Soon afterwards he played bass perfectly. The same thing was with vocals – when we prepared relatively well a number of pieces in instrumental version, we had to find someone in the company, who would dare to sing. Tomasz Zawadzki agreed to join the band, though he had no previous vocal experience at all. From one rehearsal to another, he got better and better and during the first concert the eyes of some people were really wide open in astonishment, since they did not expect he could actually sing so well! Tomasz Zawadzki also took over the role of the team leader over time.
The next stage in our “career” was the first performance open to the broad public. This historical event took place in December 2015 in the club Lizard King in Toruń. It was the time when our band was joined by the saxophonist – Magdalena Chmurzyńska. We did not expect that as many as 300 persons would come to our concert of their own free will! That really gave as a boost, or rather a strong kick to work further.
We started the season 2016 with a concert open to the public – we took part in the event “Music Festival” organized by the Cultural Division of Toruń (Toruńska Agenda Kulturalna). This was an interesting experience, since we had a chance to perform on the stage with other bands.
In 2016 the following persons joined Nova Band as regular members: Adam Bisaga (saxophone) – after the October concert in w Katowice and Jerzy Durbacz (trumpet), who played with us for the first time in the club Lizard King in Toruń. During these two concerts Wojtek Szubierajski performed as a guest – without his accordion support “Baranek” would not sound that authentic.
The year 2017 was very busy for us – we we took part in the World Music Day in Toruń, we gave a concert for the participants of a branch conference during the Fair in Poznan, we played for Nova Trading employees during the company’s Family Picnic and – attention! – at Hard Rock Cafe in Warsaw.
Concert season in 2018 started in February – we played at a company event for Nova Trading employees in the Lizard King Club in Torun. The next concert in 2018 at Stary Manez in Gdansk we can also include to those performances that always remain in our memories! Place, atmosphere, sound and audience – everything was excellent!
When we played at the Vertigo Jazz Club in Wroclaw in September 2018, we did not even thought that it was our last concert together with Wojtek Szubierajski… The sudden death of our friend in October 2018 was a great loss for us…
Concert season in 2019 started for us the first historical performance abroad – in May we played in the Sono Music Club in Brno for Nova Trading customers who participated in the STAINLESS trade fair. In June, we returned to the stage at the Lizard King Club in Toruń.
In October 2019, we started recording our first album! Thanks to the support and work of Mateusz Kurek, our mentor, friend and music manager, in April 2020 we received ready records! It was hard to believe what happened!
Album “1” was a summary of our previous achievements, it closed a certain stage in our activity and opened a new one – because of the song “Nova Blues” – our first song! Composed especially for us!
The pandemic prevented us from promoting the album, but then we had time to rehearse and record more of our own songs.
The first concert after the pandemic took place on September 23, 2021 at the Lizard King Club in Toruń. In turn, we had the opportunity to play for a wider audience in May 2022 at Klub Królestwo in Katowice. What an atmosphere there was!
We waited exactly a year for the next concert – in May 2023 we performed again on the stage of the Sono Music Club in Brno. Just like four years earlier, we played for guests invited by Nova Trading to the STAINLESS 2023 fair. In July, we performed at the Nowomiejski Market Square in Toruń for an audience that had gathered to celebrate the Days of the St. James Trail and to welcome the runners at the finish line of the Camino Polaco Half Marathon.
The concert at “737 Flight Club” in Torun in May 2024 marked the official start of Milena Ziulewska’s vocal career with our band. Milena was warmly received by the audience, so we can consider her debut a success!
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After these experiences, we are already in a different place than the year before – we have believed in our possibilities and we have overcome many difficult situations …
As for the future of Nova Band, we recommend patience. We will keep you informed of everything. What is certain, is that we will step on it, to broaden our repertoire and to gain experience.
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We would like to thank Anita and Mateusz Kurek for guiding us along musical paths, for developing our skills during rehearsals, for support and friendship!
We would also like to thank our fans for the applause and enthusiastic cheers during the concerts, and finally for the kind words – it is important for us.
Special thanks to Nova Trading SA – our Sponsor. Without your help, there would be no Nova Band 🙂
Nova Band