''Izrael'' was one of the most popular and influential

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

s. It was formed in March 1983 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

by two well-known Polish underground musicians:

Robert Brylewski Robert Maksymilian Brylewski, also known as. Afa and Robin Goldroker (25 May 1961 – 3 June 2018), was a Polish musician and singer-songwriter, co-founder of bands Kryzys, Brygada Kryzys, Izrael and Armia. In May 2012, Brylewski's autobiograp ...

(formerly of

Brygada Kryzys Brygada Kryzys () was one of the most important and influential Polish post-punk bands. The band was founded in 1981 by two well-known guitarist/vocalists from Warsaw, Robert Brylewski (formerly of the band ''Kryzys'') and Tomasz Lipiński (from ...

) and Paweł Kelner (formerly of Deuter).

Information

According to Brylewski, "Izrael's creation was a consequence of the death of

. During last rehearsals of Brygada Kryzys only three musicians were present: Kelner, me and Tomasz Lipinski. There was nobody else. It was the end of 1982, hard times for Polish independent rockers. At some point Tomasz put his guitar on the side and said "I quit." Izrael's debut took place on April 25, 1983, in the Hybrydy student club in

, where the band rehearsed. The first recording, "Idą ludzie Babilonu," was made later that year and quickly gained popularity. The band started to play in numerous concerts (such as at the Festival in Jarocin, and a series of concerts called ''God's Music in Babylon''). It also supported the group

Misty in Roots Misty in Roots are a British roots reggae band formed in Southall, London, in the mid 1970s. Their first album was 1979's ''Live at the Counter Eurovision'', a record full of Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, help ...

when they came to Poland. In May 1983, the first LP, ''Biada, biada biada'', was recorded, but it was not delivered to stores until many months later. In 1986, Kelner decided to quit and was replaced by Darek "Maleo" Malejonek (formerly of

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), ini ...

), with whom the second album, ''Nabij faję'', was recorded. At that time, Izrael's musicians decided to accept any person who would like to play with them and who would bring something creative. Several musicians therefore became members of Izrael, including jazzmen, which was unusual for a reggae band. Altogether, approximately 100 musicians have been members of Izrael at one time or another. In 1987, the third album, ''Duchowa Rewolucja'', was recorded. Around the year 1989, Izrael became an established band with Brylewski, Vivian Brylewska (Robert's wife), Maleo, Piotr "Stopa" Żyżelewicz and Alik Dziki. In the same year, the band went on a tour to then- Communist

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Shortly afterwards, Wlodzimierz Kiniorski joined as a new member. He played several instruments, including the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and the flute. In 1990, the band went to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

on an invitation from Marcin Miller. There they played several concerts and, more importantly, recorded an LP, ''

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

'', which is regarded as one of the best albums in the history of Polish music. ''1991'' was recorded at a "Ariwa Sounds," a studio owned by

Mad Professor Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese-born British dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music ...

. After their return to Poland, Izrael played numerous concerts and the band was enthusiastically embraced by fans. In 1994, the concert album ''Live 93'' was issued, which included songs recorded live in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and Białystok. The band was at the height of its popularity, thinking about a new LP. In 1995, the band was suddenly disbanded. According to Brylewski, "

he band's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

history was fulfilled", since it was not created to sell records and make money. In 1997, Brylewski released the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

''In Dub''—a dubbed mix of the band's best songs. In 2006, the band, temporarily known as Magnetosfera, played a few concerts. Izrael returned in 2007 and reportedly is preparing a new album.

Discography

References

External links

Izrael in a 1985 BBC movie "My blood, your blood", together with interview with Brylewski and Malejonek

Izrael at the 1993 Jarocin Festival

Izrael live in 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Izrael 1983 establishments in Poland 2018 disestablishments in Poland Polish alternative rock groups Polish reggae musical groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 2018