LABORATORIUM

LABORATORIUM were or are a Jazz band out of Poland. They released 6 studio albums over about a 10 year period ending in 1986 before releasing a new studio album in 2018. A five piece band with some unique sounding synths. He plays a Micro Moog and a Roland Jupiter 4 both of which I never heard of before. He also plays piano and electric piano. We also get sax, guitar, bass and drums. And there are some vocals often sounding processed except for the song "Blues For The Lady Graduate" where they are quite upfront. "The Celler Suite" has a lot of vocal expressions and atmosphere early and late. Some experimental bits and piano too.

The opener, the title track is OREGON spelled backwards and a nod to that American band which is pretty cool. I'm not into the festive mood here with whistles and percussions. Catchy with sax and some guitar. Nice depth to the sound to start "Duck's Furcoat" as synths join in. Piano over top around 1 1/2 minutes in. Synths are back then vocal expressions and percussion 3 minutes in. "Bee- Flight" ends it and it's the jazziest piece with some walking bass and it's the longest at 11 minutes. Light synths to start then it builds. Kind of funky here. Sax, synths and thankfully some electric guitar but not a lot.

I'm not big on the synths and the sax is hit and miss. I wish the guitar was leading instead of the sax or synths. I have the previous album by them called "Quasimodo" which I do prefer.

The recording productions of Laboratorium did not finish with the ''Aquarium live No.1'' in 1977.In November of the same year the expanded line-up ended up with another release, recorded in just three days at the Rotunda Jazz club in Krakow.Originally the album was supposed to carry the title ''Nurek'' and the band members attempted to launch it via the Polskie Nagrania Muza label.Apparently this did never happen, so they were eventually supported by the Jazz-oriented company Helicon and their work was released in 1978 with the English title ''Diver'', while also all contained titles were written in English.

The style is pretty similar to the stylistical turn presented in ''Aquarium live No.1'', the Polish group played an exotic and airy Jazz Fusion, which will never win a prize in terms of originality, but it's well-played with some instant melodic parts and very good instrumental handling, balancing between smooth solos and decent semi-improvisations.''Soft flamenco'' is just a different version of ''Flamenco na miekko'', one of the best cuts ever written by the group, featuring some nice virtuosic executions and a tropical, Latin touch.At this point of their career they sound as close as it gets to RETURN TO FOREVER and WEATHER REPORT, their sincere Electric Fusion contained very atmospheric synth parts and lots of electric piano next to the omnipresent sax of Marek Stryszkowski.But, despite their undisputed jazzy attitude, they also seem to give emphasis on well-constructed themes and dramatic instrumental explorations, which are not very close to Prog Rock, but there are definitely shades of structured music here, far from the excessive technical nonsense often met in acts of the style.You should add the 10-min. ''Late-coming'' to the list of very good pieces performed by Laboratorium, a passionate mixture of funky aesthetics, Avant-Garde vocals, Latin Jazz and dramatic, guitar-based Fusion.

For fans of Latin-spiced, tropical Jazz Fusion, containing ethereal tunes, great solos and a heavy dose of jazzy freedom.Warmly recommended.CD reissue out with a couple of bonus tracks.

Janusz Grzywacz admitted on his own words that with ''Modern Pentathlon'' Laboratorium tried to reach a wider audience through the second side tracks, while only the self-ttled jazz suite was actually representitive of the group's sound.Anyway, the goal was reached, as the album eventually sold over 100,000 copies.In 1977 Laboratorium released a second album on the Poljazz label under the title ''Aquarium Live No.1'', this time recorded live in the ''Akwarium" club in Warsaw.For this performance Pawel Valde-Nowak was recruited on congas.

With this release any commercial tendencies are completely gone and the group shows strong similarities with WEATHER REPORT and RETURN TO FOREVER, playing an exotic Jazz/Fusion with lots of improvised parts and great instrumental diversity.However it won't start so well as ''Modern Pentathlon''.The 16-min. long ''Struktura Przestrzeni'' is rather too loose and experimental with little structure and changes between individual performances, resulting an incohesive long and trippy jamming.The remaining four tracks though are absolutely satisfying, presenting a smooth but very rich Jazz/Fusion with nice melodic saxes, virtuosic electric piano and some fiery jazzy guitars.Of course the WEATHER REPORT and RETURN TO FOREVER influences are more than evident, showing a band with little personal imagination but technically very competent and effective.Of all the remaining pieces, the 10-min. ''Flamenco Na Miekko'' seems to be the best and more original composition, being a lovely amalgam of energetic Fusion and Ethnic-based Jazz Rock with incredible piano lines and solos, furious breaks and Latin-inspired tunes coming from Marek Stryszowski's sax.For a great closing, the short ''Dziewiecil'' contains a sound closer to Italians AREA with excellent sax work and very Eastern-based tunes on guitars.

The Metal Mind reissue contains three more extra tracks, recorded live earlier in 1977 at Poliskie Radio Warszawa, featuring the familiar Laboratorium style, full of dreamy electric piano, hypnotic saxes and jazzy exercises.A recommended album for all fans of 70's Jazz/Fusion and lovers of intense jazzy instrumentals.

Janusz Grzywacz was the mastermind behind Polish Jazz-Rockers Laboratorium, a band from Krakow formed in 1970 with an original line-up of Mieczyslaw Gorka on drums, Marek Stryszowski on vocals/sax/clarinet, Waclaw Lozinski on flutes and Edmund Maciwoda on bass.Their name appeared for the first time on the 1973 jazz album ''"Klub Plytowy" with two tracks.The following years the band received awards and achieved several important collaborations despite the line-up changes.In 1976 Grzywacz, Gorka and Srryzowski were joined by brothers Krzysztof and Pawel Scieranski on bass and guitars respectively and recorded their debut ''Modern pentathlon'' for Polskie Nagrania Muza, of course at the studios of Polskie Nagrania in Warsaw.

The album is dominated by the 20-min. title track, a really innovative composition somewhat split between improvisation and tightly structured musicianship with the band presenting a unique and attractive sound, where Psychedelic Rock meets Fusion meets Space Jazz and containing all the right elements of a good jazz-oriented composition: Obscure trippy vocals, fast piano paces, hypnotic saxes, spacey atmospheres, district guitars and fiery interplays.This is actually the main reason to buy the album.The second side of the LP is definitely weaker, containg well-performed material but being close to commercial Jazz/Fusion music.Lots of funky vibes on the keyboard, electric piano and bass parts, even some Soul-influenced saxes are present, the guitar work is more prominant but always in a safely-presented style.Some nice and proffesional interplays though are more than decent and holds the listener's interest till the very end.

The 20-min. sidelong opus alone belongs among the finest Jazz/Fusion compositions you can listen to, however the rather accesible approach of the flipside prevents ''Modern pentathlon'' of being a trully essential release.Still it comes recommended for fans of experimental and intricate Jazz-Rock.

One of Polish jazz fusion cornerstone, this album was released in 1976 only. Laboratorium was formed in Krakow, intellectual capital of Poland, in 1970, and even had some recordings, made in 1972 (they were released as fan-club release, and re-released later on CD). If neibourhood Czechoslovakia dominated on Eastern European jazz-rock market in early 70-s, Poland with its excellent jazz traditions seriously came on this market a bit later.

Modern Pentathlon is really modern fusion (in sense of mid 70-s) album, keyboards -led and heavily influenced by Chick Corea/RTF. Very relaxed, even funky in moments, but with European traditions (and even Eastern European melodic influences) this album's music is excellent example of high quality Polish fusion of that time. If such musicians, as Michal Urbaniak, who lived and played for years in W.Europe and USA, bring Western fusion traditions on Polish land, Laboratorium grew up on domestic land, and their sound is more "Polish".

Most interesting on this album is its opener - twenty-minutes long composition "Pięciobój nowoczesny". Being of complex structure and some rhythm changes, it is excellent example of progressive jazz fusion. Others songs are good as well, but doesn't add much to album's music.

Good jazz fusion album, one of the most representative from Polish fusion of that time.

My rating is 3,5, rounded to 4.

Quasimodo is the second studio album released by polish jazz-rock band LABORATORIUM. The album was released in 1979 by Polskie Nagrania in the Polish Jazz series as vol. 58. Since their debut album (released in 1976), they released two live albums Aquarium Live and Diver (both in 1977). These few years of playing made this band quite experienced.

The album is rather melodic and balanced. As for a jazz rock release, electric guitar isn't the leading instrument (except a short track Kyokushinkai which is actually a long guitar solo), the album is based mostly on the sound of piano (acoustic and electric) and saxophone. Between longer tracks there are some shorter interludes like Etiudka, Śniegowa Panienka and the intro - Przejazd. Vocal experiments, such characteristic for this band, appear for example in the miniature Lady Rolland. As mentioned, music on this album is rather balanced and tranquil. The example could be the title track with its repetetive but beautiful melody or the ending track An Icon (in memory of Zbigniew Seifert). Title track in my opinion is the highlight of this album but there are also many other memorable melodies.

Overall, it's a good jazz-rock album which could be recommended for all fans of this genre. 4 stars.

Laboratorium is a polish jazz band formed in 1970 in Krakow. Modern Pentathlon is their official debut LP, released in 1976 by Polskie Nagrania in the Polish Jazz series as Vol. 49.

This album is quite an original experience because the band uses an instrument rarely used by jazz-rock bands. This instrument is... voice. I said instrument because Marek Strzyczkowski doesn't sing in a traditional way, but he rather improvises with his voice (which may be compared to Urszula Dudziak's vocalisations). I must say that sometimes it sounds comical.

Apart from vocal experiments, album belongs to the jazz rock genre (with some funky influences). The album's opening track is a long, 20-minutes Pięciobój Nowoczesny which consists of five distinctive parts. This track is the most free on the album, it contains many improvisations and solo parts. The other four, shorter tracks are more regular and melodic. There are some similarities to bands like Weather Report, Return To Forever, or Mahavishnu Orchestra but as I said, this album is quite an original experience. Experiments and originality are sort of written in the band's name.

Overall, Modern Pentathlon is an interesting, original jazz-rock album. 4 stars.

The class of '78, '82 and '96

Although Polish jazz/fusion band Laboratorium have been around since the early 1970's, this is the first time a visual record of them performing live has been made commercially available. Consequently this DVD, which runs to over 2 hours, offers a snapshot of three different eras in the band's existence. Around 40 minutes is dedicated to each of the years 1978, 1982 and 1996, each consisting of concert footage of the band.

The 1978 footage is of an excellent quality for the period, the band delivering an admirably tight performance. While the music of Laboratorium has a highly improvisational feel, it is evident from passages such as that featuring sax and guitar together, that every note has been carefully rehearsed. The content is predominantly instrumental, but Marek Stryszowski adds some vocalising to songs such as "Śniegowa Panienka" from the then forthcoming "Quasimodo" album. Such vocals are simply used as an additional instrument by the band.

The "Blue light pilot" concert was recorded in Cracow, Poland for a live album of that name released in 1982. Now at last we can hear and see the recording of the four tracks for that album. Musically, it is a case of more of the same, although by this time guitarist Paweł Ścierański has been replaced by Ryszard Styła and the drums stool has also rotated. The film of the gig appears to have been prepared for broadcast at the time, and includes interviews (in Polish with sub-titles) with band members. Watch out too for the awkward looking compare in the bow tie who occupies the stage prior to the encore.

We come relatively up to date for the third gig, the band's 25th Anniversary concert in 1996. Current and former members unite to form a seven man line up who play three tracks plus a reprise from their 1986 (and still most recent) studio album. Once again, interviews are interspersed through the performance, the programme including footage from the 1978 gig. The DVD is rounded off with a "Bonus video" of the 1978 line up performing "Late-coming" from the 1977 "Diver" album.

While jazz rock/fusion is not my genre of choice, this DVD must be an essential purchase for anyone with an interest in the history of this legendary Polish band. The package has obviously been put together with great care and affection, and the band themselves are clearly masters of their craft.