# SBB (band)

SBB (first known as Silesian Blues Band, later as Szukaj, Burz, Buduj – Polish for "Search, Break up, Build") is a Polish progressive rock band formed in 1971 in Siemianowice, Upper Silesia. It was made up of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Józef Skrzek, guitarist Apostolis Anthimos, drummer Jerzy Piotrowski, and sound engineer Grzegorz Maniecki. SBB was one of the most popular super-groups in Poland and Europe in the 1970s.
The band was one of the forerunners of progressive rock and jazz-rock and attracted many influential jazz musicians, who often performed with the band. The trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski and the saxophonist & bass clarinetist Tomasz Szukalski developed a long lasting association with SBB.

## History
### Niemen (1971–1973)

From 1971 until late 1973, SBB performed as Czesław Niemen's backing band, Grupa Niemen. During this time, it performed at the Rock & Jazz Now! opening show for the Olympic Games in Munich, organized by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and featuring Charles Mingus, John McLaughlin & Mahavishnu Orchestra. SBB also toured accompanying Jack Bruce. SBB's collaboration with Niemen can be heard on 5 albums. In Munich SBB recorded two LP's for CBS Records International, starting a long lasting friendship and collaboration with Reinhold Mack. Reinhold's son Julian Mack would later perform on SBB's 2005 album New Century.

### Classic run (1974–1980)

In 1974, the newly formed SBB recorded a live album of their concert at Warsaw's Klub Stodoła on April 18-19, 1974. When the album was released, it met with great commercial success, reaching a price on the black market four times higher than the retail price.
The group regularly toured Czechoslovakia, East and West Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium, where, in 1978, SBB won the OIRT award - the Gouden Zeezwaluw (Golden Seaswallow).
The band split up in 1980, exactly 13 months before the proclamation of Martial Law in Poland. Józef Skrzek, Tomasz Szukalski and the band's technical crew continued as the Józef Skrzek - Tomasz Szukalski Duo and the Józef Skrzek Formation taking part in the prophetic movie The War of the Worlds: Next Century produced 11 months before the proclamation of Martial Law in Poland. After the proclamation of martial law, Apostolis Anthimos joined the jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko and the Greek band of George Dalaras, Jerzy Piotrowski joined or played with various bands, e.g. Kombi, Young Power, Krzak, Martyna Jakubowicz and Stanisław Sojka and Józef Skrzek performed mainly organ music in sacral buildings.

### Reunions (1991–present)

SBB was briefly re-activated in 1991, 1993, 1998 and finally in 2000. After reactivation SBB also briefly toured in the United States (1994, drummer Jerzy Piotrowski stayed in the USA) and Russia and in 2006 performed as the highlight of the Baja Prog festival in Mexicali, Mexico (with the drummer Paul Wertico). In 2016 Michał Urbaniak began to play with the band.

## Members

* Józef Skrzek – bass guitar, lead singer, piano, keyboards, harmonica, percussion
* Apostolis Anthimos – guitar, bouzouki, drums, percussion, bass, keyboards
* Jerzy Piotrowski (1971-1994, 2014–present) – drums
* Sławomir Piwowar (1979–1980) – guitar, Fender piano, clavinet
* Andrzej Rusek (1993–94) – bass guitar
* Mirosław Muzykant (1998–1999) – drums
* Ireneusz Głyk (2003-2011) – drums
* Paul Wertico (2000–2007) – drums
* Gábor Németh (2007-2011) – drums

### Timeline
## Discography

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | POL |
| SBB (1) | Recorded: April 18–19, 1974 Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza | — |
| Nowy horyzont (2) | Released: May 20, 1975 Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza | — |
| Pamięć (3) | Released: September 27, 1976 Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza | — |
| Ze słowem biegnę do ciebie | Released: April 18, 1977 Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza | — |
| SBB (Wołanie o brzęk szkła / Touha po zvonění střepů / Slovenian Girls) | Released: 1977 Label: Supraphon | — |
| Jerzyk [pl] | Released: 1977 Label: Wifon | — |
| SBB (Amiga) | Released: 1978 Label: Amiga | — |
| Follow My Dream | Released: May 22, 1978 Label: Spiegelei-Intercord | — |
| Welcome | Released: March 19, 1979 Label: Wifon, Spiegelei-Intercord | — |
| Memento z banalnym tryptykiem | Released: February 16, 1981 Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza | — |
| Nastroje | Released: October 7, 2002 Label: Jazz’N’Java Records | — |
| New Century [pl] | Released: September 19, 2005 Label: Metal Mind Productions | 17 |
| The Rock | Released: October 29, 2007 Label: Metal Mind Productions | 30 |
| Iron Curtain | Released: January 26, 2009 Label: Metal Mind Productions | 17 |
| Blue Trance | Released: October 25, 2010 Label: Metal Mind Productions | 50 |
| SBB | Released: March 19, 2012 Label: Metal Mind Productions | 26 |
| SBB & Michał Urbaniak | Released: October 2, 2015 Label: Agencja Muzyczna Polskiego Radia | |
| Za linią horyzontu | Released: September 23, 2016 Label: Agencja Muzyczna Polskiego Radia | 22 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |||