The setting is real. Lubelska street in Warsaw offers an extraordinary place to entertain yourself in an extraordinary way - Dom Tańca - The House of Dance - aretro experience.
I am part of a band, a pre 2nd WW band dressed up neatly in tailored suits, special hairdos, Joseph on drums, Frank (my granddad) on double bass, Maniek on acoustic guitar and me on clarinet. We mostly play old tunes and ditties like polkas, tangas and stuff. We stand on the stage made of fresh wood which still keeps the flavour and scent of it. Same for the people who came to dance - all young ladies and gentlemen dressed smartly, most of them standing up the walls, too shy to come and ask for a dance. We play all along but the starngeness of it is that I am asleep lying in a bed which stands close to the stage, all dressed in the suit but barefooted, playing clarinet with my eyes closed but still perfect pitch up to the rhythm.
We make pauses and breaks and as we do we drink home made vodka which is encapsuled in Joe's snaredrum. The party rolls on, we play "Czarna Mańka" tango a very quaint and melancholical tone.
After some time we just stop and with a sudden thang Joe's damages his snaredrum and the vodka inside it leaks out...I wake up and get to the window. There's a small boy called Maciek just down below listening to music, a poor child with no shoes on.
- Hey laddie, just go to Stephen will Ya? we need his snaredrum. Tell him I asked You to do that ok?
he runs his ass off to do that. But we need to play.
I don't see the band and the people.
My granddad tells me:
"Hubie, get back to bed, we need to play"
I realize that the scene will follow only if I am asleep.
I go to bed then and being asleep we play another tango, Joe manages somehow to play with us. What happens is that I am trying to keep up with the rhythm, but when I try to do that I am always waking up which makes it difficult as the setting and the people disappear. Frank, my granddad, who's here my brother asks me to be careful and not to break up with the sleep which makes the whole thing starting up from the same point. A break up - I wake up- all's gone - I get to sleep again - the music countinues- all in perfect linear intervals.
At last Maciek comes, out of breath with Stephan's snaredrum.
We have some more vodka and we can have a break.
Ladies dance and smile, young laddies and gentlemen bow as they ask the ladies for a dance...Everybod's happy, we get paid so we can buy some new instruments and strings and stuff. We get extra free vodka. Life's bliss...
My grandad passed away in 1982 as I was 6 years old. He was my childhood hero. Now he is back again, being my brother.
