Stańco, [Błażej?]

Probably born and lived in Szare [SW of Żywiec]; A well-known gajdziorz and builder of Gajdy, "Stary" Stańco certainly belonged to the best of old craftsmen who built Gajdy in the Barania Góra region; Katarzyna & Maciej Szymanowiczowie were unable to find out his first name, but they think that "he could be the Błażej Stańco of Szare (who is mentioned in literature on the subject), and perhaps even the same person as "Gajdziorz Błażek" of Szare. His son Andrzej, whom he had taught to play, inherited the instrument on which his father had played (in Milówka, Kamesznica and Szare)"; According to them, "The more than 100-years-old instrument must be ranked among the highest class of Gajdy. Like the majority of the preserved Gajdy of this region, it has bovine horns that are specifically bent to give them their characteristic curvature. Originally its gajdzica was made of yew (Taxus baccata). The current one is made of Hungarian plum ("Hungarian Dambrovicka"; Prunus cerasifera [?]). It has a new dymlok, that is made by Józef Haratyk of Koniaków. The hók and kłodka remain original, made of yew, with leaden uoblywki [inlay; ws], [and] it still has its decades-old reeds, that still fulfill their function. Despite its age, it has a deep bass sound, which definitely distinguishes it from the majority of contemporary copies. The instrument appears in many of the photographs of the regional ensemble of violinist Józef Szczotka of Milówka, in which Andrzej played".