Brygada Kryzys
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/rock reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
bands. The band was founded in 1981 by two well-known guitarist/vocalists from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Robert Brylewski
Robert Brylewski
Robert Maksymilian Brylewski , born May 25, 1961 in Warsaw, is a Polish rock musician, lead guitarist of several punk-rock and reggae bands, such as Kryzys, Brygada Kryzys, Izrael, Armia and Falarek Band. He is one of the most influential rock musicians in Poland, and is considered a founding...
(formerly of the band Kryzys) and Tomasz Lipiński (from Tilt
Tilt (Polish punk band)
Tilt was a Polish rock band, regarded as one of the first punk bands in Poland. It was founded in Warsaw in 1979 by Tomasz Lipinski and it has been existing with several breaks until now. In its first years, it performed songs in English, later switching to Polish...
).
1981
- July - Robert Brylewski asks Tomasz Lipiński if he would be willing to start a new band. Lipiński agrees.
- August - Brygada Kryzys is formed. After few rehearsals the lineup consists of: Brylewski, Lipiński, Jarek Gruszka Ptasiński (drums), Tomek Men Świtalski (sax), Ireneusz Jeżyk Wereński(bass), and Slawek Slocinski (drums). The musicians describe their music as "punkadelic", claiming they have two sources of inspiration: early punk and the psychedelic 1960s. The first planned gig in Gdansk is canceled because its organizers regard BK's message as too political.
- September - First concert in Warsaw’s Riviera. This gig is recorded and later issued in London as a bootleg.
- November - A two-week tour around Poland with British band TV 21. At the Monopol Hotel in GdańskGdanskGdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Brylewski is severely beaten by a group of hooligans and the milicja (communist police) refuse to help. A general strike in Poland begins around the same time.
- December - The band goes to Belgrade to participate in a festival titled "Days of Young Polish Subculture." The bus, however, is stopped at Polish-Czechoslovak border and the band's equipment is confiscated. BK eventually reaches Belgrade by plane and plays two shows. One is recorded. After its return to Poland the group plans a tour of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
for February 1982, as well as another trip to Jugoslavia. On December 13 the communist authorities declare martial lawMartial law in PolandMartial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
, instituting both a curfew and severe travel restrictions.
1982
- February - Posters in Warsaw for a new band, “Brygada K.” start to appear. The government wants the band to shorten its provocative name ("Crisis Brigade" in English), but the musicians refuse. As a result, BK is banned from playing any public concerts, and is not allowed to leave the country for its planned Netherlands tour.
- March - The recording company “Tonpress” opens a new studio in Warsaw’s Wawrzyszew district and begins looking for a band to test it. BK manager, Jacek Olechowski, suggests the group. Over a few days and several songs are recorded. “Tonpress”, with hesitation, agrees to publish the record. Also, Janek Rołt becomes BK's new drummer.
- Summer - The band spends the whole of the summer in a village near LublinLublinLublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
. Several scenes are recorded and later appear in the movie “Koncert”.
- August 31 - Demonstrations and street fights in Warsaw. Tomek is severely beaten and arrested by the milicja, but is released shortly afterwards as there is no space in the overcrowded jails.
- September 1-4 - Concerts at Warsaw’s club Remont, the first since December 1981. BK members decide to dissolve the band due to the numerous political obstacles which make it impossible to carry on. Robert starts a reggae band, Izrael, while Tomek returns to Tilt.
1989
A week before the BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Wall's collapse, on the way to a Berlin concert, Tomek and Robert talk about reforming BK.
1991
- August - The band plays its first concert in nine years at the legendary JarocinJarocinJarocin Jarocin Jarocin ( is a town in central Poland with 25,700 inhabitants (1995). Since 1999 Jarocin has been located in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, prior to that it was located in the Kalisz Voivodeship (1975–1998).- History :...
Festival, to a great reception.
- October 1991-August 1992 - At the Izabelin studio the band records the new album “Cosmopolis”. The LP features both old and new songs. BK now consists of: Robert Brylewski, Tomek Lipiński, Irek Jeżyk Wereński and new musicians Piotr Stopa Żyżelewicz (drums), Brylewski’s wife Vivian Quarcoo (vocals), and both Włodek Kiniorski and Aleksander Korecki on saxophone.
- December 13, 1992,1993,1994 - The band organizes a series of concerts commemorating the declaration of martial law in Poland. One of them is later released. In 1994 the band again disbands.
2003
In the spring BK returns again, after 10 years, with: Robert Brylewski and Tomek Lipiński, plus Filip Gałązka on drums, Tomek Szymborski on bass and Sergiusz Lisecki on sax. The band plays several concerts, including a tour titled "PRL czyli Punk Rock Later". In December BK plays at the Garage Club in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
2005
With Aleksander Korecki back replacing Lisecki on saxophone, BK begin work on the "Black Album" project, featuring remixes of the self-titled first album, songs by Jozef B. Nowakowski and some early unreleased recordings. They participate in TVP3TVP3
TVP3 was a Polish TV channel, run by the public broadcaster, TVP and dedicated to the country's regions...
's program Muzyka łączy pokolenia ("Music Connects Generations") with the rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
duo "Vienio i Pele". Another tour commences in November through clubs in Poland and on (December 4) the band again plays at the Garage in London. A new recording session is scheduled for winter 2005/2006.
Discography
- 19821982 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
Brygada Kryzys / LP Tonpress - 19821982 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
Live / LP Fresh Records UK - 19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
Cosmopolis / Izabelin Studio - 19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
Live in Remont '93 / MC Gold Rock Studio