The Polish Diva from Milwaukee, aka Terry Palasz, is best known for her one-woman musical show of the same name, which has been performed in Milwaukee on a couple occasions, including most recently at the Milwaukee Rep.

Now, finally, the Diva is on disc! "The Polish Diva's Polka Party" is a 15-track romp through a mix of polkas and related pop tunes like Bobby Vinton's "My Melody of Love."

The record is released independently and available at www.polishdiva.com.

"The record was in the works for a few years," says Palasz, from her New York home, "but most ambitiously since January 2006. I was particularly inspired when I performed at the Milwaukee Rep and tons of people who came to the performances sang along with me in Polish and came up to me after the show and told me of how their mothers and fathers had taught them old polkas and various types of old Polish, Slovenian and German folk songs. They even sang them for me. It was quite touching."

The CD isn't a soundtrack to The Polish Diva's theatrical show, Palasz says, but there are some songs that appear in both projects, like "My Melody of Love" and "Who Stole the Keeshka." However, the only place you can hear the Polish Diva rockin' "In Munchen Steht Ein Hofbrauhaus" and "Jak Szybko Mijaja Chwile" is on "Polka Party."

And though the record wasn't recorded in Milwaukee, Brew City fans can take some pride in it, Palasz says, as some Cream City connections helped make it a reality.

"Milwaukeeans played a huge part in my research of the album. As you can probably tell from my liner notes, I really worked hard to make sure I was accurate musically and historically:

Toby Hanson (accordionist) and I spent a long evening with Milwaukee polka DJ and historian Greg Drust and poured over his huge collection of polka music. Jerry Halkowski, Milwaukee polka DJ and proud Polish-American, helped me network with other Milwaukee polka musicians and historians. Ada Dziewanowska, artistic director of Syrena Polish Folk Dance Ensemble, was my Polish diction coach."

Palasz says other Milwaukeeans were also involved, including accordionists Tom Brusky, Steve Meisner and Grant Kozera, photographer Dick Blau and UWM professor emeritus Victor Greene, as well as members of the Milwaukee Accordion Club.

"I may have recorded in Seattle," Palasz says, "but the influence was definitely from Milwaukee."

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