Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a Polish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

vocalist. She has 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 ...

Michał Urbaniak Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop music, hip hop, and symphonic music. History He was born in War ...

(her ex-husband),

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, and

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in th ...

. In 2007, her 1970s song "Papaya" gained widespread popularity in Asia and Latin America.

Career

Dudziak was born in the Straconka, now a neighbourhood of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

, Poland. She studied piano, but began to sing in the late 50s after hearing records by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

. Within a few years, she was one of the most popular jazz artists in her native country. She met and later married Michał Urbaniak. In the late 1960s, the couple began to tour overseas and in the 1970s settled in New York City. Dudziak customarily eschews words in favour of wordless vocalising that is far more adventurous than

scat Scat or SCAT may refer to: Education * School and College Ability Test also known as SCAT * Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology was previously referred to as SCAT * Somerset College of Arts and Technology is referred to as SCAT Games * Skat ...

. Already gifted with a

five-octave vocal range {{Category pair, Singers with a four-octave vocal range, Singers with a six-octave or greater vocal range 5 Octave Singers ...

, Dudziak employs electronic devices to extend possibilities of her voice. She has frequently worked with leading contemporary musicians, including

and

, and was a member of the Vocal Summit group, with Jay Clayton,

Jeanne Lee Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunte ...

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

Norma Winstone Norma Ann Winstone MBE (born 23 September 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her contributions to improvised vocal music. Musicians with whom she has worked include ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

, and

Lauren Newton Lauren Amber Newton (born 16 November 1952) is an avant-garde jazz and Contemporary classical music, contemporary classical singer and founding member of the Vienna Art Orchestra. Biography Newton earned a degree in music at the University of O ...

. Dudziak has also co-operated and performed with her fellow Polish female jazz vocalist

Grażyna Auguścik Grażyna Auguścik (born 17 August 1955) is a Polish jazz vocalist, composer, and arranger.''River'' CD. 2001 Grażyna Auguścik/GMA RecordsGrażyna Auguścik's web site http://www.grazynaauguscik.com/ She frequently uses Polish folk music, Latin ...

. On 11 November 2009, Dudziak was awarded the Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

by President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

Papaya dance

In 2007, Dudziak's classic 1970s song "Papaya" saw a resurgence in popularity in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

where it was regularly featured in the local noontime TV game show ''

Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba? ''Game Ka Na Ba?'', () formerly ''Million-Million Na! Game Ka Na Ba?'', ''Next Level Na! Game Ka Na Ba?'', and ''Pilipinas Game Ka Na Ba'' (stylized on short term as ''Game KNB?'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television game ...

'' A favourite track for Filipino

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

s as

lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

h material in the '70s gay disco/bar scene, the song then saw a revival when a TV host danced to the tune, helping to spread the popularity of the song to Latin America and the US. The dance has then been featured in several news programs, including ''MSNBC'', and ''Reuters''. On 21 March 2008, the dance was featured on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', where the hosts also danced to the song. Before the breakthrough of papaya dance in 2007, the song Papaya became a success in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1970s as the opening theme of the original version

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

'' Anjo Mau'', produced by

TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

in 1976.

Personal life

Dudziak and

are divorced, together they have two daughters: pop singer

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname, and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

(Michelle, born 1980) and sculptor Kasia. After the divorce, she was in a relationship with

Jerzy Kosiński Jerzy Kosiński (; born Józef Lewinkopf; 14 June 19333 May 1991) was a Jewish-Polish-American writer and two-time president of the American chapter of P.E.N., who wrote primarily in English. Born in Poland, he survived World War II there, ...

for four years; Kosinski left her a note just before his suicide. In 1993, she married

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

captain Benght Dahllof. Dudziak owns apartments in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

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 ...

. Her brother Leszek was jazz drummer known for his work with

. On 8 March 2011, she released her autobiography called ''Wyśpiewam wam wszystko'' (''I'll sing everything for you'').

Gallery

WiKi_UrszulaDudziak20101104a.jpg, Jam session in connection with Jazz Jamboree 2010, November 2010, Warsaw, Poland. UrszulaDudziak20101121.jpg, Aid concert for saxophonist Tomasz Szukalski, November 2010, Warsaw, Poland. WiKi_UDudziakSuperband20110925b.jpg, Performing with backing group Superband at the Cross Culture Festival, Warsaw, Poland, September 2011. WiKi_UDudziakSuperband20110925c.jpg, Cross Culture Festival, Warsaw, Poland, September 2011.

Discography

As leader

* ''Newborn Light'' with Adam Makowicz ( Cameo, 1972) * ''Urszula'' ( Arista, 1975) * ''Midnight Rain'' (Arista, 1977) * ''Future Talk'' (

Inner City The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

, 1979) * ''High Horse'' ( CTI, 1984) * ''Magic Lady'' (In+Out, 1989) * ''Live at Warsaw Jazz Festival 1991'' (Jazzmen, 1993) * ''Koledy'' with Grazyna Auguscik (Voice Magic, 1996) * ''Malowany Ptak'' (Polonia, 1997) * ''To I Hola'' with Grazyna Auguscik (Selles, 2000) * ''Forever Green/Zawsze Zielona'' (Green Town of Jazz, 2008) * ''Super Band Live at Jazz Cafe'' (EMI, 2009) * ''Wszystko Gra'' (Kayax, 2013)

As guest

With

Michal Urbaniak Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, making ...

* ''Fusion III'' (Columbia, 1975) * ''Heritage'' (MPS, 1978) * ''We'll Remember Komeda'' (MPS, 1973) * ''Zycie Pisane Na Orkiestre'' (Ubx, 2001) * ''Smiles Ahead'' (Ubx, 2012) With

* ''Live at Umbria Jazz Vol. 1'' (EGEA, 2000) With others *

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 ...

, '' Journey'' (Atlantic, 1974) * Ulla, ''Ulla'' (Pop Eye, 1982) * Vocal Summit, ''Sorrow Is Not Forever—Love Is'' (Moers Music, 1983) * Vocal Summit, ''Live at Willisau: Conference of the Birds'' (ITM, 1992)

Filmography

* 1980 – ''Papaya, czyli Skąd się biorą dziewczynki'' – main role, music * 1982 – ''Percussion Summit'' – minor role * 1983 – ''Vocal Summit'' – minor role * 1995 – ''Malowany chłopiec'' – music * 1985 – ''Urszula Dudziak – waga'' – main role * 2000 – ''Ponad tęczą'' – music * 2001 – ''Eden'' – music performance (vocal) * 2002 – ''Zielona karta'' – music, song performances * 2005 – ''Panna młoda'' – music * 2007 – ''Wiersz na Manhattanie'' – main role * 2007 – ''

Niania ''Niania'' is a Polish comedy television series directed by Jerzy Bogajewicz, which aired on TVN from 10 September 2005 to 24 October 2009. It was based on the American original ''The Nanny'' licensed by CBS, which aired in the 1990s. Produ ...

'' – herself * 2008 – ''Urszula Dudziak: Życie jest piękne '' – document about her * 2011 – ''Bitwa na głosy'' – as team leader * 2019 – '' The Voice Senior'' – herself, as a coach *2020 – ''

The Voice of Poland ''The Voice of Poland'' is a Polish reality television, reality talent show that premiered on September 3, 2011, on the TVP 2 television network. ''The Voice of Poland'' is part of the international syndication ''The Voice (franchise), The Voice' ...

'' – herself, as a coach

References

External links

Polish Jazz
at Culture.pl
Urszula Dudziak
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudziak, Urszula 1943 births Living people Jazz fusion musicians Musicians from Bielsko-Biała Polish women jazz singers Polish jazz singers Post-bop jazz musicians Scat singers Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Vienna Art Orchestra members