Back from Poland … and here´s an album from one of most important jazz singers from this country … :
Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a leading Polish jazz vocalist. She has worked with artists such as Krzysztof Komeda, Michał Urbaniak (her ex-husband), Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, and Lester Bowie. Her 1970s song, Papaya, gained widespread popularity in Asia and Latin America in 2007.
Dudziak was born in the Straconka, now a neighborhood of Bielsko-Biała, Poland. She studied piano, but began to sing in the late 50s after hearing records by Ella Fitzgerald. 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 60s they began to tour overseas and in the 70s settled in New York City.
Dudziak has some problems with language and customarily eschews words in favour of wordless vocalizing that is far more adventurous than scat. Already gifted with a remarkable five-octave vocal range, Dudziak employs electronic devices to extend still further the possibilities of her voice. She has frequently worked with leading contemporary musicians, including Archie Shepp and Lester Bowie, and was a member of the Vocal Summit group, with Jay Clayton, Jeanne Lee, Bobby McFerrin, Norma Winstone, Sting, Michelle Hendricks, and Lauren Newton. Dudziak has also cooperated and performed with her fellow Polish female jazz vocalist Grażyna Auguścik.
On 11 November 2009 Dudziak was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by President Lech Kaczyński.
Dudziak and Michał Urbaniak are divorced, together they have two daughters: pop singer Mika (Michelle, born 1980) and Kasia. After the divorce she was in a relationship with Jerzy Kosiński for four years. In 1993 she married Swedish captain Benght Dahllof. Dudziak owns apartments in Manhattan, Sweden and Warsaw.
On 8 March 2011 she released her autobiography called Wyśpiewam wam wszystko (I’ll sing everything for you).
And this is her very special album … celebrating her 70ths birthday … and it´s maybe one of her best albums ever recorded … listen and enjoy !
Personnel:
Robert Cichy (guitar)
Urszula Dudziak (vocals)
Artur Lipiński (drums)
Krzysztof Pacan (bass)
Łukasz Poprawski (saxophone)
Jan Smoczyński (keyboards)
Tracklist:
01. Wookies Walk (Smoczyński) 9.11
02. Turkish Mazurka (Smoczyński) 8.21
03. Song For S (Smoczyński/K.Urbaniak) 8.56
04. Cajon (Smoczyński) 6.45
05. Balkan Dance (Smoczyński) 3.13
06. Shortcut To Heaven (Smoczyński) 6.46
07. Drumming (Lipiński) 1.42
08. Happy Riding (Smoczyński) 5.23
09 Let’s Have A Good Time (Smoczyński/M.Urbaniak) 3.57
Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a leading Polish jazz vocalist. She has worked with artists such as Krzysztof Komeda, Michał Urbaniak (her ex-husband), Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, and Lester Bowie. Her 1970s song, Papaya, gained widespread popularity in Asia and Latin America in 2007.
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