Michal Urbaniak - Serenade For The City (Serenada)

Serenade by Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak was originally released in 1980. For those who loved Urbaniak’s fusion this production is actually closer to the so-called “Smooth Jazz” than anything he had done, perhaps as an inevitable influence or perhaps as an effort to jump in the wagon of that genre’s radio exposure. If taken at face value this is a very enjoyable smooth sounding Urbaniak. Traces of his fusion days remain but overall the combined driving force of his electrified violin and his wife’s, Urszula Dudziak, vocal effects has diluted itself as she only appears on a couple of tracks with uneventful results. Personnel are: Michal Urbaniak on violin and lyricon, Barry Eastmond and the late Kenny Kirkland on keyboards, Rick Galloway on percussion, Yogi Horton and Buddy Williams on drums, a young Marcus Miller on bass, Doc Powell on guitar and Urszula Dudziak on vocals and percussion on “Circular Road” (sampled below) & "Serenade for the City”. This production has been re-issued by the artist himself on his label UBX but with a different cover, some of the compositions have undergone a title change and there are 3 extra tracks not available in the original release.


Track Listing:

1. Bad Times (not found on the original release)

2. Circular Road (sampled above)

3. Nanava

4. Sometimes

5. Serenada (entitled “Serenade for the City” on the original release)

6. Mika (entitled “Samba Miko” on the original release)

7. Fall

8. Kasia (entitled “Joy” on the original release)

9. Vanessa

10. North One (not found on the original release)

11. French Kiss (not found on the original release)

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Michal Urbaniak - Ecstasy

Ecstasy was released in 1978 on the Florida based label Marlin Records marks a strong departure by Urbaniak from the fusion genre and an incursion into R&B funk mixed with disco elements. The first striking factor of this departure is the absence of Urszula Dudziak’s daring vocal effects; the second is the immersion into songs with lyrics sang by R&B type singers. Although Urbaniak ventured this way in his “Funk Factory” release, this time the vocal compositions are much better. The album maintains its R&B funk flavor from the beginning until track #6 "A Day In The Park", which features Dudziak as the main vocalist in a sort of Flora Purim style song, then track #7 “French Kiss” is an instrumental with the alto sax as the main performer, which resembles Gato Barbieri and track #8 "Creation" (sampled below) is a slow instrumental, which could classify as the Urbaniak we were used to listen to. In spite the fact that this is not the fusion Urbaniak we expected, this is a very enjoyable album. Henry Stone Music has re-released this album, which is greatly appreciated but you should be cautioned that the packaging and the way this LP has been re-mastered is awful. The jewel case insert, the tray liner and the CD label are just printed on a home or office printer using Neato type CD labels and stickers. The CD is a CDR most likely burned on a computer with probably the wrong sample rate. This is really unacceptable for a company that wants to be in the record industry especially when even independent musicians can have their copies made at a reputable CD manufacturing facility such as Disc Makers, Ameridisc or any other. Even more surprising is the fact that the physical CD is not even available on Amazon or places like CD Baby but just on the Henry Stone Music webpage. Nonetheless, once you cross over such hurdles it is a pleasure to listen to this album once again. Personnel are: Michal Urbaniak on violin, lyricon, tenor sax, strings and synthesizer, the late Kenny Kirkland on keyboards and synthesizers, Pee Wee Ford and Anthony Jackson on bass, Bernard Pretty Purdie and Gary Mure on drums, Ralph MacDonald, Crusher Bennett and Arthur Jenkins on percussion, Othello on Steel drum, Zbigniew Namyslowski on alto sax, James Crab Robinson on guitar and Keith Keyboy Rose and Rickie Byars-Boger on background vocals. The main vocalists are Urszula Dudziak, Kenyatta (James Crab Robinson, Keith Keyboy Rose and Rickie Byars-Boger) and Calvin Brown. The musical arrangements are done by James Crab Robinson, Calvin Brown and Michal Urbaniak.

Track Listing:

1. Body Rub

2. Free

3. Ecstasy

4. Just A Funky Feeling

5. Want's Ta Make You Feel Good

6. A Day In The Park

7. French Kiss

8. Creation (sampled here)

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Michal Urbaniak - Body English

Released in 1976 on Arista Records, “Body English” followed the steps of the preceding amazing Fusion trilogy (“Fusion”, “Atma” and “Fusion III”) but at the same time it strayed away from it due to a softer tone in the compositions and the performances. Urbaniak’s sound is still present combining his electrified violin, Urszula Dudziak’s wide-range vocals effects and some elements of Eastern European music patterns and melodies. This is noticeable on tracks like “New York Polka” and “Sevenish”. Urbaniak complements this sound by using the lyricon (wind synthesizer) as the main performer instead of the violin on a few tracks (there’s even a track entitled “Lyricon”) and synthesizers and synthesizer solos are featured throughout. The funk factor provided by a great cast of New York musicians has softened up slightly. Personnel are: Michal Urbaniak on violin, violin synthetizers, lyricon, farfisa organ and polymoog, Urszula Dudziak on vocal, percussion and synthesizer, Harold Ivory Williams on keyboards, Basil Farrington on bass, Joe Caro on guitar, Steve Jordan on drums, Bernard Kafka on voice and Earl Crusher Bennet on percussion.

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Michal Urbaniak - Urbaniak (feat. Zbigniew Namyslowski)

Michal Urbaniak states “This is a very special album recorded spontaneously on a surprised reunion with my dearest friend, my first big influence, fantastic musician, leader, composer and arranger Zbigniew Namyslowski.” That explains a lot about this release from 1977 on Inner City Records. Urbaniak’s fusion sound had turned funkier after his “Funk Factory” release in 1976 but somehow this album explores further into a type of jazz that seems truly influenced by Namyslowski’s playing and writing style. Namyslowski’s and Urbaniak’s compositions were probably written for this release and they display a sort of harmonic melody formed by Urbaniak’s violin and/or lyricon, Dudziak’s wordless vocals and Namyslowski’s alto sax. The funk factor is still present but there is an implied simplicity perhaps achieved by the spontaneity of the surprise reunion recording. Personnel are: Michal Urbaniak on violin and lyricon, Zbigniew Namyslowski on sax and flute, Urszula Dudziak on voice and percussion, the late Kenny Kirkland, whose contribution to this album is amazing, Tony Brown on bass and Lurenda Featherstone on drums. This album was a great recording to begin with and the re-issued CD by Inner City Records makes the quality of the music even better and more enjoyable. We hope they also re-release Zbigniew Namyslowski from around the same time. They already released Urszula Dudziak's album "Future Talk" from the same era.

Track Listing:

1. The Breaker

2. Strife

3. Mountaineers

4. Weird Creatures (sampled above)

5. Jasmine Lady

6. Always Ready

7. Stray Sheep

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Funk Factory (feat. Michal Urbaniak & Urszula Dudziak

Funk Factory was released in 1976 on Elektra Records is the creation of famous Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak and his wife Urszula Dudziak in collaboration with the main cast of musicians who collaborated on Urbaniak’s “Fusion III”. This production seems to be a preview of what Urbaniak had in mind for his musical concept and career for the remaining of the 70’s and part of the 80’s. The vocal tracks (with lyrics) mark a drastic departure not only from the Columbia label but from his musical concept of the Fusion trilogy and pave the way for later funky-vocal oriented albums such as “Body English” also from 1976 and “Ecstasy” from 1978. Urbaniak’s high-flying electrified and modified violin sound is still as present as before but Urszula Dudziak’s wide-range vocals and sound effects are less of a driving force as they have given way to the somehow uneventful singing with dull lyrics. There are even a couple of tracks where Urbaniak doesn’t even seem to play. Nonetheless, the rest of the album, which is mainly instrumental, maintains the concept of the Fusion trilogy since at times these instrumental compositions sound like outtakes from those sessions and could easily be paired against some of Urbaniak’s best fusion, thus proving the point that most of any production by any artist contains material, such as the song “Funk It” (sampled below), which is worth considering if taken out of context from their original releases. The cast of musicians continue to stretch and provide further boundaries into improvisation and rhythmic accompaniment in a funkified manner. Personnel are: Michal Urbaniak on violin, Vi-tar and saxes, Urszula Dudziak on vocals and percussion, Wlodek Gulgowski on keyboards, Anthony Jackson and Tony Levin on bass, Steve Gadd and Gerry Brown on drums, Bernard Kafka on vocals, and John Abercrombie and Barry Finnerty on guitars. This album has been reissued thanks to the re-issuing label Wounded Bird Records.

Track Listing:

1. Watusi Dance (Instrumental)

2. Horsing Around

3. Rien Ne Va Plus

4. After All the World Goes Home

5. Next Please (Instrumental)

6. The Music in Me

7. Funk It (Instrumental) (Sampled Above)

8. Lilliput (Instrumental)

9. Sinkin' Low (Instrumental)

Buy Funk Factory at Amazon or Wounded Bird Records, or

Michal Urbaniak-Fusion III

Michal Urbaniak's famous Fusion trilogy came to an end with his third recording for Columbia Records, “Fusion III” released in 1975. In a way it solidified Urbaniak’s sound combining his high-flying electrified and modified violin, his wife, Urszula Dudziak’s wide-range vocals and sound effects with compositions influenced by Eastern European ethnic music patterns and melodies. This time all these elements receive an amazing funkified dose of musicianship from Urbaniak’s American counterparts as the original Polish line-up has been replaced by an amazing cast of New York musicians who stretch even further Urbaniak’s boundaries into improvisation and rhythmic accompaniment. Personnel are Urbaniak on violin and violin synthesizer, Urszula Dudziak on vocals, percussion and synthesizer, Wlodek Gulgowski on piano, organ and moog, the funkified rhythm section of Anthony Jackson on bass and Steve Gadd on drums replaced by Gerry Brown on “Bloody Kishka” and “Roksana”, Bernard Kafka on voice on “Stretch” and the amazing guitars and solos of John Abercrombie, Larry Coryell and Joe Caro who add a twist to Urbaniak’s Fusion sound, which never incorporated guitars before. Probably frustrated awaiting for Sony/Columbia to reissue it, this fusion gem has been reissued by the artist himself on his label UBX by re-mastering it from vinyl. The album as sold on iTunes is also by UBX but I have no way of knowing if it is taken vrom vinyl. Wounded Bird Records did issue it on CD and it is from the original tape (see it on Amazon). Regardless of which one you choose, it's worth it!!

Track Listing:

1. Chinatown, Pt. 1

2. Kuyaviak Goes Funky

3. Roksana

4. Crazy Kid

5. Prehistoric Bird (sampled above)

6. Bloody Kishka

7. Cameo

8. Stretch

9. Metroliner

10. Chinatown, Pt. 2

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Michal Urbaniak's Fusion - Atma

Michal Urbaniak’s Fusion second release came about also in 1974 as this was a very prolific time for the Polish violin virtuoso. This classic of the fusion genre was also very much conceived around the elements that established Urbaniak’s group as pioneers. But this time the Eastern European folk music patterns and Urbaniak’s ethnic background have become embedded in the compositions themselves, which are centered more on concrete themes. The group continues to explore new boundaries into contemporary improvisational music by consolidation the creative mixture of Urbaniak’s high-flying electric violin and Urszula Dudziak’s wide-range voice as a non-verbal instrument. Her vocal sounds and effects are now featured as musical interludes. The interplay among the performers is enhanced by the use of synthesizers as solo instruments. In spite of the aggressiveness of the soloists, this album somehow has a smooth tone present throughout. Personnel are Michal Urbaniak on electric violin, vi-tar violin and soprano saxophone, Urszula Dudziak on voice and percussion, Wojciech Karolak on keyboards, Pavel Jarzevski on bass, Czeslav Bartkowski on drums and Ray Mantilla on Congas, Drums and percussion. Unfortunately this album has never been released on CD. Note: Blogger filed a complaint regarding the posting of the shared audio files thus the link has been removed.

Track Listing:

1. Mazurka

2. Butterfly

3. Largo

4. Ilex

5. New York Satsa (sampled above)

6. Kama, Pt. 1

7. Kama, Pt. 2

8. Atma-Yesterday

9. Atma-Today

10. Atma-Tomorrow

Michal Urbaniak Fusion

Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak is one of the most prominent jazz-rock musicians coming out of Poland. He moved permanently to the U.S. in 1973 where formed his group “Fusion” joined by his wife Urszula Dudziak as they recorded a series of somehow commercial releases for Columbia and Arista Records. This first U.S. release from 1974 was very much conceived in the mainstream fusion genre of the period but the playing explores new territories into contemporary improvisational music. Eastern European folk music patterns and Urbaniak’s ethnic background compose part of the sound which characterized Urbaniak’s music, but the creative mixture of his high-flying electric violin and the use of Dudziak’s wide-range voice as a non-verbal instrument (sometimes electronically treated) with a startling array of sounds and effects are the true innovative unique combination, which provided a canvas for an abundance of interplay among the performers. Personnel are Michal Urbaniak on violin and soprano saxophone, Urszula Dudziak on voice and effects, Adam Makowicz and Wojciech Karolak on keyboards and Czeslav Bartkowski on drums. Unfortunately the Remastered CD, which was a low budget item when it was released, is available quite expensive from 2nd hand users, but you can find it on iTunes or Amazon Download.

Track Listing:

1. Good Times Bad Times (sampled above)

2. Bahamian Harvest

3. Impromptu

4. Seresta

5. Fusion

6. Deep Mountain

7. Bengal

Buy Fusion at Amazon or