Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

lyricon The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed. Invented by Bill Bernardi (and co-engineered by Roger Noble and with the late Lyricon performer Chuck GreenbergIngham (1998) p.184) of Shadowfax, file ...

, and

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

. His music includes elements of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and

symphonic music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

History

He was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. Urbaniak started his music education during high school in Łódź, Poland, and continued from 1961 in Warsaw in the violin class of Tadeusz Wroński. Learning to play on the alto saxophone alone, he first played in a

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

band, and later with

Zbigniew Namysłowski Zbigniew Jacek Namysłowski (9 September 1939 – 7 February 2022) was a Polish jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, cellist, trombonist, pianist and composer. Life and career Namysłowski was born in Warsaw, Poland, on 9 September 1939. He perfor ...

and the Jazz Rockers, with whom he performed during the

Jazz Jamboree The Jazz Jamboree Festival, simply known as Jazz Jamboree, is one of the largest and oldest jazz festivals in Europe, and takes place in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. History The first Jazz Jamboree was organised by the Hybrydy hot-club. It was ...

festival in 1961. After this, he was invited to play with

Andrzej Trzaskowski Andrzej Trzaskowski (23 March 1933 – 16 September 1998) was a Polish jazz musician, composer and musicologist. From the mid-1950s onward, he was regarded as an authority on syncopated music. Biography Early life and education Andrzej Tr ...

, and toured the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1962 with the Andrzej Trzaskowski band, the Wreckers, playing at festivals and clubs in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After returning to Poland, he worked with

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film score composer and jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the most influential Polish jazz musicians. He is best known for writin ...

's quintet (1962–1964). Together, they left for Scandinavia, where, after finishing a couple of contracts, Urbaniak remained until 1969. There he created a band with

Urszula Dudziak Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a Polish jazz vocalist. She has worked with Krzysztof Komeda, Michał Urbaniak (her ex-husband), Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, and Lester Bowie. In 2007, her 1970s song "Papaya" gained wides ...

and Wojciech Karolak, which gained considerable success and was later to be the starting point for the Michał Urbaniak Fusion. After Urbaniak returned to Poland and the violin (which he abandoned for the saxophone during the time in Scandinavia), he created the Michał Urbaniak Group, to which he invited, among others, Urszula Dudziak (vocals), Adam Makowicz (piano), Pawel Jarzebski – bass and Czeslaw Bartkowski – drums They recorded their first international albums, ''Parathyphus B'', ''Instinct'' and played in many festivals, including Jazz Jamboree in 1969–1972. During the Montreux 1971 festival, Urbaniak was awarded "Grand Prix" for the best soloist and received a scholarship to the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. After many triumphant concerts in Europe and the United States, in May 1973 he played for the last time before a Polish audience and emigrated with Urszula Dudziak on September 11, 1973, to the United States, where he now lives as a U.S. citizen. Despite getting an award from Berklee, he did not study there. Recommended by

John H. Hammond John Henry Hammond Jr. (December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was an American record producer, civil rights activist, and music critic active from the 1930s to the early 1980s. In his service as a talent scout, Hammond became one of the most in ...

, Urbaniak signed a contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, who published the West German album ''Super Constellation'' under the name Fusion. For the tour, he invited Polish musicians, including Czesław Bartkowski, Paweł Jarzębski and Wojciech Karolak. In 1974, Urbaniak formed the band Fusion and introduced melodic and rhythmic elements of Polish folk music into his funky New York-based music. With this band Urbaniak recorded another album for Columbia in New York: ''Atma''. Urbaniak followed his musical journey with innovative projects such as Urbanator (the first band to fuse rap & hip-hop in jazz), , Urbanizer (a project with his band and four-piece R&B vocal group, 1978) and UrbSymphony. On January 27, 1995, UrbSymphony performed and recorded a concert with a rapper and a 60-piece symphony orchestra. Since 1970 Urbaniak has been playing his custom-made, five-string violin furnished especially for him, a violin

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

nicknamed "talking" violin; soprano, alto and tenor saxophones; and

, an electric saxophone-like horn. His fusion with a hint of folklore was becoming popular among American jazz musicians. He started to play in well known clubs such as the Village Vanguard and Village Gate, in famous concert halls such as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, Beacon Theatre, and

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

. Urbaniak has played with

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

Buster Williams Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, as well as working with guitarist Larry Coryell, the Thelonious Monk reperto ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Harold Ivory Williams Bishop Harold Ivory Williams (April 20, 1921 - July 4, 2014) was the senior prelate of the Mount Calvary Holy Churches of America Inc. from 1972 - 2009. He was married to the gospel singer Shirley Caesar. Early life Harold I. Williams was b ...

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...

Lenny White Leonard White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". White has won thre ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...

Roy Haynes Roy Owen Haynes (March 13, 1925 – November 12, 2024) was an American jazz drummer. In the 1950s, he was given the nickname "Snap Crackle" for his distinctive snare drum sound and musical vocabulary. He is among the most recorded drummers in ja ...

, Vladyslav Sendecki,

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

, and

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

. In 1985, he was invited to play during the recording of '' Tutu'' with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

. In 2012, he acted in the Polish film ''My Father's Bike''.

Discography

As leader

* ''Urbaniak's Orchestra'' (1968) * ''Live Recording'' (1971) * '' New Violin Summit'' with Don Harris,

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

(1972) * ''Super Constellation'' (and ''Constellation in Concert'') (1973) * ''Paratyphus B'' (1973) * ''Inactin'' (1973) * ''Michal Urbaniak - Tomasz Stanko - Attila Zoller - Urszula Dudziak: We'll Remember Komeda'' (1973) * ''Moving South'' (1973) * ''Polish Jazz'' (1973) * ''Atma'' (1974) * ''Fusion'' (1974) * ''Super Constellation'' (1974) * ''Funk Factory'' (1975) * ''Fusion III'' (EMI, 1975) * ''Body English'' (1976) * ''The Beginning'' (Catalyst, 1976) * ''Tribute to Komeda'' (BASF, 1976) * ''Urbaniak'' (Inner City, 1977) * ''Smiles Ahead'' (1977) * ''Ecstasy'' (Marlin, 1978) * ''Heritage'' (MPS, 1978) * ''Urban Express'' (EastWest, 1979) * ''Daybreak'' (

Pausa In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pâusis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in ...

, 1980) * ''Music for Violin and Jazz Quartet'' (1980) * ''Serenade for the City'' (1980) * ''Folk Songs: Children's Melodies'' (Antilles, 1981) * ''Jam at Sandy's'' (Jam, 1981) * ''Daybreak'' (1981) * ''My One and Only Love'' (

SteepleChase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

, 1982) * ''The Larry Coryell and Michael Urbaniak Duo'' (Keynote, 1982) * ''Recital'' with Władysław Sendecki (1983) * ''A Quiet Day in Spring'' (Steeplechase, 1983) * ''Facts of Life, Urbaniak/Coryell Band'' (SWS, 1983) * ''Take Good Care of My Heart'' (

, 1984) * ''Burning Circuits'' (Sonet, 1984) * ''Michael Urbaniak'' (Headfirst, 1986) * ''Milky Way'' (Bellaphon, 1987) * ''Live At The Warsaw Philharmonic'' (1987) * ''Urbaniax'' (1998) * ''Recital'' (1998) * ''Cinemode'' (1988) * ''Songs for Poland'' (Ubx, 1988) * ''Folk Songs, Children's Melodies, Jazz Tunes, And Others...'' (1988) * ''New York Five at the Village Vanguard'' (1989) * ''Urban Express'' (1989) * ''Milky Way, Some Other Blues, Mardin'' (1990) * ''Cinemode'' (Rykodisc, 1990) * ''Songbird'' (

, 1990) * ''Code Blue'' (1990) * ''Michal Urbaniak'' (Headfirst, 1991) * ''Manhattan Man'' (Milan, 1992) * ''Milky Way'' (L & R, 1992) * ''Burning Circuits, Urban Express, Manhattan Man'' (1992) * ''Just Friends - Nevertheless'' (1992) * ''Michal Urbaniak Quartet At The Village Vanguard'' (1993) * ''Urbanator'' (1993) * ''Friday Night at the Village Vanguard'' (Storyville, 1994) * ''Some Other Blues'' (

, 1994) * ''Code Blue'' (1996) * ''Urbanator II'' (1996) * ''Live in Holy City'' (UBX Records, 1997) * ''Ask Me Now'' (

, 2000) * ''Just a Funky Feeling, Urbanizer'' (UBX Records, 2001) * ''Michał Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak, Mika Urbaniak – Życie Pisane Na Orkiestrę'' (2001) * ''From Poland with Jazz'' (2002) * ''mSax&Love'' (2002) * ''Urbsymphony'' (UBX Recordsx, 2003) * ''Eden'' (Sony, 2003) * ''Decadence'' (UBX Records, 2004) * ''Urbanizer'' (UBX Records, 2004) * ''Urbanator III'' (2005) * ''Michal Urbaniak's Group'' (2005) * Urbaniak / Lackerschmid Connection – Polish Wind (Minor Music, 2005) * ''I Jazz Love You'' (UBX Records, 2006) * ''Sax Love'' (UBX Records, 2006) * ''Polish Wind'' (Minor Music, 2007) * ''Miles of Blue'' (2009) * ''Sax Love'' (2009) * ''SBB & Michal Urbaniak'' (2015) * ''UrbSymphony'' (2015) * ''Michal Urbaniak Presents Urbanator Days Beats & Pieces'' (2015) * ''For Warsaw with Love'' (2019)

As sideman

With

* 1976 ''Urszula'' * 1977 ''Midnight Rain'' * 1979 ''Future Talk'' * 1983 ''Sorrow Is Not Forever...But Love Is'' * 2010 ''Jazz Na Hradé'' With others * 1965 ''Solarius,'' Rolf Kühn * 1970, ''Enigmatic,'' Czesław Niemen * 1971 '' Swiss Suite'',

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

* 1973 ''Bosko Petrovic's Nonconvertible All Stars'' – Swinging East * 1974 '' Journey'',

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

(Atlantic) * 1975 ''Mourner's Rhapsody'', Czesław Niemen * 1977 '' Tomorrow's Promises'',

Don Pullen Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...

* 1977 '' The Lion and the Ram'',

* 1979 The Motive Behind The Smile, Cam Newton * 1980 ''Swish'',

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

* 1981 ''Stratus'',

* 1984 ''Islands'',

Scott Cossu Scott Cossu is an American new-age pianist. He released a large number of albums on Windham Hill between 1980 and 1992, some to considerable sales success: 1987's ''She Describes Infinity'' reached number 24 on the U.S. Billboard Top Contemporar ...

* 1986, ''Rhythm & BLU'', John Blake / Didier Lockwood / Michael Urbaniak * 1986 '' Tutu'',

* 1987 ''Music from Siesta'', Miles Davis/

* 1987 '' The Camera Never Lies'', Michael Franks * 1989 '' Whispers and Promises'',

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy Award and received 13 nominations. Biography At the age of six, Klugh commenced training on the piano until he switched to the guitar ...

* 1994 ''Rejoicing'',

Paul Bley Paul Bley, Order of Canada, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live per ...

* 1994 ''Mo' Jamaica Funk'', Tom Browne * 1995 ''Present Tense'',

* 1996 ''Swish'', Harris Simon Group * 2002 ''Glass Menagerie'', Billy Cobham * 2003 ''Nevertheless'',

Bob Malach Bob Malach (born August 23, 1954) is an American jazz saxophonist. Malach learned several reed instruments in his youth, and played with Philadelphia soul bands such as The Stylistics and The O'Jays while still a teenager. He played in the big ...

* 2004 ''Music for Planets, People, and Washing Machines'',

Randy Bernsen Randy Bernsen (born July 15, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Bernsen was born in Needham, Massachusetts and grew up in Florida. He attended high school in Plantation and was active in the clubs of South Florida, starting at age 17. ...

* 2016 ''Kino Mocne'', Dariusz Makaruk

References

External links

*
Michał Urbaniak
at

Filmweb Filmweb is an online database of information related to films, television series, actors and film crew personnel. Since 2011, the database also contains video games. Filmweb was launched on March 18, 1998. It is a Polish-language site, and the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbaniak, Michal 1943 births Living people Polish male jazz composers Polish jazz composers Polish jazz violinists 21st-century Polish violinists 21st-century Polish male musicians