Józef Skrzek – a multitalented musician. Do you know his songs?

Józef Skrzek is a Polish musician and composer with over fifty years of experience and many released albums. He’s worked with plenty of great artists to create high-quality music. Let’s take a look at his inspiring life and work.

Józef Skrzek – his story

Józef Skrzek was born on 2 July 1948 in Michałkowice. He grew up in a musical family which has only helped his talent. His mother was a piano teacher, his uncle, Jan Giża, was a conductor of the Michał Mine Orchestra, and a very good violinist. His sister graduated from a school of music and played the violin, and his father was a well-known musician whose forte was the harmonica.

Skrzek started his education by attending the Mieczysław Karłowicz primary school of music in Katowice and later attended a secondary music school in Katowice. During his school years he was a part of a band and played the bass. In 1967 he was accepted into the Higher College of Music. During his studies he reflected a lot on what genre of music he’s interested in. In the end, he decided to quit college when he started to work with a group called Heliosi.

In 1969 he started to collaborate with groups like Mariolaine & Swinging Soul Corporation, Ślężanie, and Ametysty. A group that played the biggest part in his development was Breakout, with which he recorded an album called 70a. However, Skrzek wasn’t a part of the band for long and he left after a few months. He’d decided then to start his own group and began his search for other members.

Józef Skrzek – SBB

The group was started in 1971. At the beginning it was called Silesian Blues Band and its members were Apostolis Anthimos (guitar) and Jerzy Piotrowski (drums). After recording its first songs, the band started its first national tour. Thanks to the high-quality of their music and its originality, they’ve quickly gained plenty of fans.

“This type of music stands in contrast to everything that has been created by Polish composers until now. It still has many elements of hard rock, with roots in classic blues, there are also jazz elements, but we see the first attempts at a musical synthesis integrating various styles and genres into a complete, though non-uniform, whole.” – that’s how Piotr Kosiński describes the group’s music in his book Herosi elektrycznego rocka [the Heroes of electric rock].

They released their first album, titled SBB, in 1974. The record was quite popular, especially on the black market. The group reached the peak of their fame in the second half of the 70s. During that time SBB toured a lot, not only in Poland but also in foreign countries. They performed, among others, in Chechoslovakia, East Germany (GDR), Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Their work was rather avant-garde, much different from what other Polish bands were doing at the time. SBB members were world-class innovators and changed the Polish music scene.

The group disbanded in 1980 after recording their final album – Memento z banalnym tryptykiem. That decision was motivated by the fact that they were tired after 10 years of non-stop activity.

The band was reactivated in 2000 and have been working since then with no interruptions.

Grupa Niemen

A few months after starting SBB Skrzek began his collaboration with Czesław Niemen. At first, the author of “Sen o Warszawie”, intrigued by Skrzeka’s abilities, wanted to work only with him, but Skrzeka convinced Niemen to involve SBB. That’s how Grupa Niemen was established. They were active from 1971 until 1973. During that time, they’ve released 5 albums and toured in western Europe. Working with such an icon as Czesław Niemen is an accomplishment any artist could be jealous of. It’s a fact that he decided to work with SBB because he was impressed by their music, which is a testament to their skills.

An interesting moment from their career is August 17^th, 1972, when they shared the stage with John McLaughlin from Mahavishnu Orchestra and Charles Mingus during Rock & Jazz Now – an event that accompanied the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Munich.

Józef Skrzek – 21st century

Although Józef Skrzek is 76 years old, he’s still active as a musician and he works hard. His solo discography consists of over 40 releases. On top of that, he’s released quite a few albums with SBB and Grupa Niemen. It’s hard to give a definitive number of projects he’s participated in. The newest one came out in 2024 – Forbidden Archaeology (Opus 1,1) is a digital album by a music-theater group called Teatr Tworzenia (the Theater of Creation).

We also can’t forget that Skrzeka still does live performances with SBB. Their most recent project – a vinyl release of their album Sekunda, came out in 2019.

Summary

Być może SBB nie jest obecnie szeroko znanym zespołem. Warto jednak mieć świadomość, że w latach siedemdziesiątych byli zespołem bardzo popularnym, który podbijał nie tylko polski, ale także zagraniczny rynek. Ich awangardowość znacząco wpłynęła na rozwój muzyki w Polsce oraz w Europie. Dodatkowo po prostu grali genialnie, co potwierdza współpraca z Niemenem. To wszystko nie wydarzyłoby się, gdyby nie Józef Skrzek – wybitny i wszechstronny muzyk.

SBB might not be at their peak anymore, but it’s important to remember that in the 70s they were an incredibly popular band with great success in Poland and in other countries. Their originality greatly influenced the evolution of music in Poland and all over Europe. On top of that, they were just brilliant, which was confirmed by their collaboration with Niemen. All of that would not happen without Józef Skrzek – an exceptional and versatile musician.

Józef Skrzek – Fun facts

• Painting was one of his childhood hobbies. He’s even won some painting competitions.
• He used to be a part of football teams: Siemianowiczanka and Szombierki Bytom
• SBB has a loyal group of fans. There’s a blog about the group with over a hundred thousand views.
• Piotr Kosiński devoted an entire chapter of his book Herosi elektrycznego rocka [the Heroes of electric rock] to Józef Skrzek.
• He’d received a job offer in the United States, but he rejected it and came back to his beloved Michałkowice.
• Józef Skrzek has worked with such artists like: Czesław Niemen, Andrzej Przybielski, Tomasz Stańko, Halina Frąckowiak, Steve Schroyder, and many others.
• There’s a book about SBB: SBB Wizje – autoryzowana historia zespołu

Article: Paweł Skarzyński
Translation: Matylda Widawska
Phot. The musician’s official FB profile

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