LABORATORIUM

The legend of Polish jazz-rock of the 1970s which has returned to the stage after the success of 2006 issue of the ten-record box „The Laboratory Anthology 1971-1988 all records (well, almost all)”.

Current members of the band: Janusz Grzywacz – keybords, leader Marek Stryszowski – saxophones, vocals Krzysztof Ścierański – bass guitar, guitar Grzegorz Grzyb - drums Marek Raduli – guitar

Return to the stage of the legendary and cult jazz-rock band was the effect of the great interest of The Laboratory music after the issue of the ten-record box „The Laboratory Anthology 1971-1988 all records” in 2006. The first concert of The Laboratory after almost 20 year break took place during Tthe 51st Cracow Jazz All Souls’ Day Festival in November 2006 (though in the meantime Laborka gave concerts occasionally). The next concerts the band played during The United Europe Jazz Festival first in Zakopane then in Trzebinia, Zielona Góra and Cracow, next in Zakopane and Chicago during The 52nd Cracow Jazz All Souls’ Day Festival, in Słupsk during The Komeda Jazz Festival, in Kalisz (2007) during The 34th International Festival of Jazz Pianists. The year 2008 – concerts not only during the festivals as The Bielsko Biała Jazz Blizzard, The Old and Young Ones that is Jazz in Cracow, The Kielce Jazz Spring but also in many clubs in . The following years were filled with concerts mostly during the festivals eg. The Fama in Świnoujście, The Jazz from the Start in Toruń, The Summer Jazz in cult club in Cracow, The 54th, 55th, 60th, 61st Cracow All Souls’ Day (The Laboratory 40th and 45th anniversary concerts), Jazz Jamboree, The 12th Explorers in Łódź, The For Corners of the World concert played (and then broadcasted) in Studio named after Agnieszka Osiecka in Trójka Radio Programme… Since 2012 untill now, a dozen Laborka’s tours and appearances has taken place during many festivals eg. The Solidarity of Art in Gdańsk, with Bobby McFerrin at The World Art. Underground, The Jazz at the Old Town in and The Komeda Festival where The Laboratory received the Komender for oustanding artistic achievements, the prestigoius prize named after . In the Jazz Top survey of the Jazz Forum magazine The Laboratory was concidered by readers to be the best electric band in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. In recent times the most important Laborka concerts are The Jazz Gala at the 50th anniversary eddition of The Jazz by The Odra River Fstival in Wrocław and during The Jazz Top in Zakopane. In November 2016 The Warner Music records publishing company reeditted wo album of The Laboratory "The Modern Pentathlon”. The world premie're of the resumption of The Laboratory's "The Modern Pentathlon" album by Warner Music, which first was issued 40 years ago, took place on 4th November 2016 during the 61st Cracow All Souls' Day Festival. The next day the premiere of that event was broadcasted live on the Trójka Radio Programme in Warsaw. The Laboratory tours and concerts are still so popular as they were in the past and still receive great interest of the audience and the enthusiastic reviews in the media. The Laboratory band, which in the mid-70s (exactly in 1970) of the past century was at the top of its fame, some even claimed that it was then the most popular jazz-rock group in Europe, now is coming back to domestic and international stages. About the early career of The Laboratory we can speak since 1972, when on the Jazz by The Odra River Festival they won the second place for Jazz Carriers, to a year later to triumph together with The Henryk Słaboszowski Quartet. Those successes opened up the way for Cracow musicians not only to record the first album (in The PSJ records club from serries "White Raven of Black Records" - together with The Cannoball Adderley Quinted on one side of the record and The Laboratory wilth Zbigniew Seifert on the other side of it), but also gave access to domestic stages, and thanks to PAGART (so were the times) to European and wide world ones. The first international concert were performed in 1974. That was the Jazzwerkstatt Peitz. The small town called Peitz near Cottbus in then East Germany organised that festival with large scale with the participation of Klaus Schulz considered then to be the precusor as well as a rising star of the electronic music.The second hailed star perfoming there was The Laboratory. Later on many frequent concert and festival tours throughout whole Europe came - from San Sebastian, via Zurich ending up in Bombaj where Laborka performed alongside with Czesław Niemen during The Jazz Yatra'78. Even the postcard with The Laboratory image were issued in then West Germany. The Laboratory band retained a certain cosequence in tits artistic development. Many things were changing as musicians, instruments but no matter where and when, it remained still the same "Laborka". The main pillars of Laborka from the very beginig till today have been two friends from childhood living then on the same street attending the same schools, Janusz Grzywacz and Marek Stryszowski. They both undoubtedly music individuals walked through life side by side as long as it was "and the way". But finally the time to part had come. After then Janusz Grzywacz decided to compose mainly the illustration music, the film music for theatre plays and music for the great openair shows having considerable achievements on those fields. While Marek Stryszowski brought to life still existing The Little Egoists band of the great repertoire. And so years were passsing by untill fans brought up on Laborka music started recalling them to perform together again. There were not many such reconcerts, but always they collected not only the same wellknown audience, but also those who knew them only from publications and recordings. That only occasional reunited of Laborka might have had an impact on the 2006 reedition of all of its albums with the album tenth (The health on the construction) which was a not- published collection of radio recordings from different periods of the existence of the band. It is not so easy to keep beeing a legend, even harder to keep beeing an active one, because many former stars not managed. But the music of The Laboratory with the unique sound defences itself. Both, people who remember Laborka from its best times remaining in that belief and those who hear them for the first time having the great dose of artistic impressions, become uncritically the faithfull audience of the undubtedly legendary band - The Laboratory (Wiesław Siekierski).