01	(Zywiec) Mountain Melody						02:59
	02	Odleciec z wami						04:34
	03	Zostalo we mnie						05:45
	04	Z ktorych krwi krew moja						10:15
	05	Ciecie						06:07
	06	In the cradle of your hand						02:54
	07	Follow my dream						08:07
	08	Jezyk						03:24
	09	Walking Around the stormy bay						06:32
	10	Why no peace						06:06
	11	Welcome warm nights and days						03:04
	12	Rainbow man						03:40
	13	Figo Fago						13:06

1998 KOCH International Poland

SBB [Poland]
SBB 1 (74, aka Gruppa SBB), Nowy Horyzont (75), Pamiec (76), Ze Slowem Biegne do Ciebie (77), SBB (77, aka "Slovenian Girls"), Follow My Dream (78), SBB (78, West German, different from 1977 title), Welcome (78), Memento z Banalnym Tryptykiem (80), Live 1993 (93), Live in America (94)

SBB came into being in 1971 as Silesian Blues Band founded by Jozef Skrzek. (Skrzek was classicaly educated as a pianist but by the time of Silesian Blues Band he was a bassist renowned for his work with Breakout, the famous (in Poland, of course) Polish blues group.) The other members of the band were Jerzy Piotrowski (drums) and Apostolis Antymos (guitar). The trio made some radio recordings but it was very hard for them to break through into the Polish musical market. However, they were noticed by Czeslaw Niemen. (Nieman was sort of "king" of Polish rock. He became extremely famous in Poland in 60's, when he was performing pop and soul songs. In early 70's he turned to the experimental, progressive music balancing on the edge of rock and jazz. I can heartily recommend his 70's stuff. It is a truly progressive and original music). As a result, they joined him in the NIEMEN group, taking part in his artistic explorations and making music, which can be best described as 'impressionistic' and 'aleatoric' . Together they recorded Requiem dla Van Gogha (Requiem for Van Gogh) and Marionetki (Puppets), two records with truly unforgettable music. In 1974 they parted with Niemen and begin to play on their own.
They shortened the name of the band to SBB, which they explained as Szukaj, Burz, Buduj (Search, Break & Build). It was their musical credo: to search for the new possibilities in music, break the barriers and build the new music. They became very popular, mainly because of their concerts which were without any parallels in Polish rock of 70's. Suites with lots of improvisations incorporated hard jazz-rock Mahavishnu or Hendrix-like pieces as well as more soft classical ELP-like Skrzek's piano entries and masterful drumming from Piotrowski (which can be compared to that of Billy Cobham). They were surrounded by a cult of fans, became a symbol of young generation revolt (Apostolis had at that time probably the longest hair in Poland :-). Their first longplay (SBB 1) is a recording of a concert from April 1974 and is an impressive document of early live SBB. The second album,Nowy Horyzont (New Horizon), is a kind of musical manifesto, a sort of musical collage, combining bits of modern harmonies and Ravel with strongly rhythmic guitar and synth improvisations and naturalistic dissonance effects together with masterful piano cadenzas. "The music is everywhere," Skrzek was saying, "in Bach fugue, rock song or whistling. We like to play music, that's all. We don't care for borders and barriers, they are artificial. We want our music to be free, that's why we are never playing according to any program." Their third album,Pamiec (Remembrance) is much more stylistically clear than the first two. One may say that the logic and construction is joining the musical freedom here resulting in (in my opinion) the best SBB longplay. Skrzek's dreamy vocals are at their best. (The lyrics are writtem by the poet Julian Matej - full of metaphores and mystery). The fourth album, Ze slowem biegne do ciebie (I am coming to you with a word]), is quite different from the previous album. It is more symphonic-rock like and 'spacy' (one may think about Gong as a parallel) with lots of synths (although Apostolis guitar is still here and well). There are only two pieces on this LP, each one about 20 minutes and a good example of music played by SBB at this time. During concerts they created a sort of a 'continous form,' music with no ending or beginning, full of fragmentary impressions, different paraphrases and frisks with sound. In 1976-79 SBB was trying to conquer foreign audiences. They played in Austria, West Berlin, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, West and East Germany and Hungary. They recorded 4 LPs abroad, two in West Germany, one in East Germany and one in Czechoslovakia. The two released in West Germany were Follow My Dream and Welcome. The music presented here is much more compact and clearly SBB is trying to make their compositions more accesible for the listener. They are producing shorter forms (songs than suites), the music is a bit more commercial and poppier. Lyrics are in English and are not written by Julian Matej any longer (which is a shame, as far as I'm concerned). Nevertheless their music remains to be very unique and its still full of new musical ideas and innovations.
Despite all these efforts, SBB failed to conquer western markets; after all the disco and punk era in West was beginning. So, for Memento z Banalnym Tryptykiem (Memento with a banal tryptych), there was no more the desire to attract Western listeners. Julian Matej is back again with his mystical lyrics and Skrzek returned to the ideas from before Welcome. The record sounds in a way like a continuation of Pamiec, although some new elements are here, as well as an additional guitarist, Slawomir Piwowar (who played before with the jazz group Paradox as well as with Czeslaw Niemen). This album could well be a good beginning of a new phase in SBB history, but it turned out to be their last album before the breakup in 1981. Since then, Skrzek continued to compose and perform. It is impossible not to mention here the album Ojciec Chrzestny Dominika (Dominic's Godfather) - his absolute opus magnum. Skrzek is playing over 30 instruments here as well as singing (Matej's lyrics, of course) and, in my opinion, it is one of the best Polish LPs ever recorded. His other works include, among others, music for Piotr Szulkin's film "Wojna Swiatow" (The War of the Worlds), the heaviest album that he ever recorded; Jozefina [Josephine], with English lyrics and original SBB lineup; and Pamietnik Karoliny (Caroline's Diary). He has never stopped performing and I will always remember his light-and-sound shows at Silesian Planetarium. The other SBB ex-members were very active too. Piotrowski became the most wanted drummer on Polish musical market and played with several groups, Apostolis turned to jazz and in mid 80's moved to NYC, where he worked as a session musician, recording with many jazz and rock bands including Pat Metheny as well as composing his own music.
It didn't seem very probable that they will ever play together again so it came as a great surprise when it was annouced that they will give a charity concert in 1993. It was a great show (documented by the album Live 1993) and after it they decided they would try to reactivate SBB. "We told each other that we have to play, because there is still some potential inside us. And, besides, we simply like each other," Skrzek said in an interview. The new SBB lineup features, apart from Skrzek, Piotrowski and Apostolis, Hryniewicz (vocal and acoustic guitar) and Rusek (bass). In this new incarnation Hryniewicz became a kind of new frontman and Skrzek is singing less, concentrating on his keyboards. They gave several concerts in Poland, which were in a good old SBB style featuring mainly the old material with some new pieces and, of course, lenghty improvisations. This year they went to USA, where they toured and recorded an album Live in America. -- Piotr Szymczak

Szkuaj, burz i buduj, or Search, Breakup and Build isn't that a name that suits a "progressive" band? Still this Polish trio is not so fantastic. Well, they are not that bad, but their music is a bit generic, even though they are in the "progressive" vein. Like other bands they became straighter with time, but SBB got more disco-like. They started their career in Czeslaw Niemen's band which is not a bad start on the Polish scene.

Mahavishnu and Nucleus with vocals? Best ones are Nowy Horyzont and Pamiec. Lyrics are in Polish except for Follow My Dream and Welcome. The first album is very jazzy.

Polish progressive outfit with several albums to their credit. Welcome is the only one I've heard, and while good, I could easily think of a lot of stuff that's much better.

Polish prog trio, regarded by many as the apex of progressive music in Poland. The band consists of keyboards, guitar and drums, the bass parts all being synthesized. Ze Slowem Biegne Do Ciebie, apparently their fourth album, (no date appears anywhere on the LP) consists of two 19-minute tracks. The basic sound consists of spacy multiple synthesizers highlighted by fusoid guitar and drums. I hear many different influences: Gong, Le Orme, Magma, Kraan, Mahavishnu Orchestra and others are hinted at, but the band has a sound uniquely its own. Fans of the aforementioned should have no trouble enjoying this album.

I have one SBB album, Ze Slowem Biegne Do Ciebie, that is their best by most accounts. The music on this album is best described as spacy fusion. My first comparative thought was to the Danish band Secret Oyster without the sax, or maybe the French Carpe Diem. Other comparisons would be to Mahavishnu Orchestra without the energy and violin, a bit of Gong circa You or Shamal and even a hint of Pink Floyd. Occasional vocals are sung in Polish, naturally. For a trio, these guys create a spacious rather than stark atmosphere. Instruments are moog, mellotron, piano, clavinet, guitar and a variety of percussion instruments. "Bass" chores are handled by the moog which makes for a nice, fat analog bottom end. Not bad though check with Secret Oyster or Carpe Diem first. -- Mike Taylor