Formed in Kraków, Poland in 1970, Laboratorium was a jazz rock fusion band led by keyboardist Janusz Grzywacz. They are now acknowledged as one of the most important jazz fusion bands of their era. During his high school and college years, Janusz Grzywacz led a series of local bands as jazz and rock quickly evolved, eventually fusing together in the late 1960s. During the end of his college studies, he formed the first five-member line-up of Laboratorium. The bad made their live debut at the Gitariada Festival in 1971. During this early period, the band’s music was chiefly acoustic, which allowed the band to develop their unique sound. The band’s line-up would evolve and they would begin to add electric elements into their sound. While they had recorded a few sessions before, they didn’t release their first official album until 1976’s Modern Pentathlon. The album was a success and the band played live at club gigs and festivals. Their September 1978 shows in Warsaw's Akwarium club were recorded and released as the album Aquarium Live No. 1. Their next live release, Diver, was released shortly thereafter. The album Quasimodo was issued in 1979. In the 1980s, the band’s line-up continued to fluctuate and the band added more electronic elements to their sound. The group released several more albums in the ‘80s — Nogero (1980), The Blue Light Pilot (1982), No. 8 (1984), and Anatomy Lesson (1987) — and continued to evolve with the introduction of new technology and new members. However, the band quietly came to an end in 1990. Laboratorium reunited on occasion over the years and Janusz Grzywacz continued to make his mark in the music industry as did several of the musicians from the band’s many line-ups.
