Once Poland's most promising import in the jazz-rock 1970s, Michal Urbaniak's chief value in retrospect was as a fellow traveler of Jean-Luc Ponty, a fluid advocate of the electric violin, the lower-pitched Violectra, and the Lyricon (the first popular, if now largely under-utilized wind synthesizer). Like many Eastern European jazzmen, he would incorporate elements of Polish folk music into his jazz pursuits, and his other heroes range from the inevitable Miles Davis to Polish classicist Witold Lutoslawski. His electric violin was often filtered with a gauze of electronic modifying devices, and on occasion, he could come up with an attractively memorable composition like "Satin Lady." Urbaniak began playing the violin at age six, followed by studies on the soprano and then tenor saxophones. His interests in jazz developed chronologically from Dixieland to swing to bop as he grew up, and he studied at the Academy of Music in Warsaw while working in various Polish jazz bands and playing classical violin. In 1965, he formed his own band in Scandinavia with singer Urszula Dudziak (later his wife), returning to Poland in 1969 to found Constellation, which included pianist Adam Makowicz. Having won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music upon being voted Best Soloist at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival, Urbaniak made the U.S. his home in 1973. He soon formed a popular jazz-rock group called Fusion, recording for Columbia and Arista in a Mahavishnu Orchestra/Ponty fashion, with Dudziak adding darting, slippery scat vocals. This group lasted until 1977, and Urbaniak's profile would never be as high again, although he performed with Larry Coryell in 1982-1983, led the new electric group Urbanator in the 1990s, and has performed and recorded in other styles ranging from bop to free jazz into the 21st century. Line-up / Musicians Michal Urbaniak/violin,sax Urszula Dudziak/vocals,percussion Adam Makowicz/keyboards Wojciech Karolak/Hammond organ Czeslaw Bartkowski/drums Discography(Album)
Fusion 1974
1.Good Times, Bad Times 2.Bahamian Harvest 3.Impromptu 4.Seresta 5.Fusion 6.Deep Mountain 7.Bengal
SBB is one of the most important Polish bands of the seventies. This band, rightfully listed in the eclectic progressive genre, mainly plays a hybrid of symphonic prog, space/atmospheric prog and fusion. The band originated from the early seventies, with their initial name being SILESIAN BLUES BAND. The band was formed by composer, keyboardist, bass-player and extravert vocalist Józef SKRZEK. Young, but skill-full guitar-player Antymos APOSTOLIS added his great solo's and drummer extraordinaire Jerzy PIOTROWSKi freely experimented with his recognizable fast fills and break-up rhythms. In the end of '71, after a year full of gigs, the band started a fruitful cooperation with one of Polish most important musicians and song-writers: Czes³aw NIEMEN. For a year and a half the band NIEMEN toured in Poland, as well as in Europe. During this period SBB & NIEMEN recorded three critically acclaimed progressive records; "Marionetki" (1972), "Strange is This World" (1972) and "Ode to Venus" (1973). After this period SBB regrouped itself and changed its name in SZUKAJ - BURZ - BUDUJ (Search - Break - Build up). In 1974 their first album 'SBB' was recorded live. Though the album lacked cohesiveness (both piano ballads and very dirty experimental rock improvisation), it was a big hit in Poland and soon it ran out of stock. The record was sold on the black market for twice the price. In 1975 SBB recorded its first studio album in the radio studios of Polish Radio 3. 'Nowy Horyzont' was a full-blown innovative and progressive recording that would set the course for the rest of their career. The political involvement in the lyrics of their studio-debut makes it a historical achievement, though it's recording doesn't stand the test of time very well. The band had some clear fusion influences (MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA is said to been a big influence), some spacey influences from bands like PINK FLOYD and some symphonic influences. The atmosphere of SBB's albums would however be a bit more abstract then those of their English colleagues. The drums of SBB stand out as very energetic and important for the band's intelligent atmospheres. Late in 1975 SBB returned to the studio, resulting in their first swan-song ' Pamieç'. Three long songs, with full-blown and mature symphonic arrangements, vocal theatrics and long spacey/atmospheric passages. In 1977 SBB continued their eclectic prog style with 'Ze S³owem Biegnê Do Ciebie', with only two long epics on it. Both albums are considered to be great eclectic prog albums. In 1977 and early 1978 SBB experimented with material with a leaning towards pop and funk-jazz. 'Jerzyk' and 'Amiga album' aren't considered to be classics of the band. But, 1978 showed yet another new course for SBB with the recording of 'Follow My Dream', a record with the goal to hit the Western European market. On this album SBB reinvented itself with a new, modern symphonic/progressive sound. Also, some of the lyrics were sung in English. The new arsenal of top-notch synthesizers and other equipment gave the band the sound it needed to make recordings that would stand the test of time. This move gave the band the opportunity to tour in many new countries and they were even allowed to tour behind the Iron Curtain, which was a big thing at the time. The band would fully benefit from their new sound during the recording of 'Wo³anie O Brzêk Szk³a aka Slovenian Girls' in late 1978. Again, an album with only two long compositions, but this time with an emphasis on electronic equipment. To this day this album is mentioned as an SBB favorite by fans because of its well-balanced, great sounding progression. In 1979 SBB went to the studio to record 'Welcome', an album that was plagued by some mediocre compositions. Nevertheless, the opening-track 'Walking On A Stormy Bay' became a stage-favourite. In 1979 a new band-member Slawomir PIWOWAR was added to release some pressure from the band that had some of most intensive touring schemes possible. He would play bass, second guitar and some key-instruments as well. A final come-back to the studio resulted in their last album 'Memento Z Banalnym Tryptykiem' in 1980. This album is their most symphonic record and perhaps their most conventional progressive record. Line-up / Musicians Jozef Skrzek/bass,piano,organ,synthesisers,vocals Antymos Apostolis/guitar Jerzy Piotrowski/percussion Discography(Album) Pamięć 1975
1.W kolysce dloni twych (In The Cradle Of Your Hands (To My Father)) (Ojcu) 2.Z ktorych krwi krew moja (From Whose Blood, My Blood) 3.Pamiec w kamien wrasta (Memory Grows Into Stone) 4.Poranek nadziei 5.Barwy drzewa 6.Osiem rak 7.Waldie 8.Niedokonczona progresja 9.Reko-reko 10.Serenada Gia Sena
Czesław Niemen (the real name is Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki) was born in Stare Wasiliszki (Old Vasilishki), a village in Byelorussia, Soviet Union, in 1939. In 1958 he has repatriated to Poland. His scenical name is a pseudonym taken after the name of the river Niemen. Debuted as a rock and soul singer in the early 1960's. He recorded "Dziwny jest ten świat" (Strange Is This World) as a major Polish protest song in 1967, and was an early pioneer of psychedelic music in communist Poland in the late 60's. He recorded three albums with the band Akwarele, as well as later works with Enigmatic, Grupa Niemen, and Aerolit. His first self-acclaimed progressive work was entitled "Enigmatic", and was released in 1969. The most notable song from it was "Bema pamięci żałobny - rapsod" (A Mournful Rhapsody, in memory of Jozef Bem, a Polish solider who served as a Polish Army general in the Polish War of Independence (November Uprising). Like "Rhapsody", many of the other songs from "Enigmatic" were based Polish folk poetry. During his progressive period Niemen played keyboards extensively, including a Hammond, and later a mellotron and finally a Moog synthesizer.In the early 70's Niemen recorded three albums for CBS International (Schaelplatten), including a 1974 release entitled Mourner's Rhapsody with Jan Hammer and Rick Laird of Mahavishnu Orchestra, electric violin and saxophonist Michal Urbaniak of Fusion, bassist the late Seldon Powell of the Buddy Rich Band, and session pianist the late Don Grolnick. The album featured a fifteen minute version of "A Mournful Rhapsody". In the latter 70's Niemen's musical work tended more toward jazz/fusion, and even electronica. He released seven additional albums and a retrospective collection before he passed of cancer in 2004. Line-up / Musicians Czesław Niemen/vocals,Hammond Zbigniew Namysłowski/saxophone Janusz Zieliński/bass Tomasz Jaśkiewicz/guitar Czesław "Mały" Bartkowski/drums Zbigniew Sztyc/saxophone Michał Urbaniak/saxophone,flute Alibabki/choir Discography(Album) Enigmatic 1970
1.Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod 2.Jednego serca 3.Kwiaty ojczyste 4.Mów do mnie jeszcze
Dzamble were a relatively short-lived (with a couple of breaks) Polish ensemble with jazz-rock leanings. Actually, the music they played on their sole album was a mixture of jazz, rock, R&B, and classical music. All tracks have song structures with bluesy vocals sung in Polish and great extended instrumental passages. You can say the music is close to Blood Sweat and Tears with some hints of Ekseption.The origins of the band date as far back as to September 1966 when Tadeusz Gogosz (ex- Szwagry) and Jan Budziaszek together with Wieslaw Wilczkiewicz, Jerzy Horwarth, Edward Aniol, Czeslaw Styczen and Jan Kaleta formed the first band called Jumbles (sailors from "Book of Nonsense" by Edward Lear).The band played their own versions of standards and jazzy compositions of Jan Kaleta but it broke up in February 1967 for various reasons. The second line-up (Wieslaw Wilczkiewicz, Andrzej Ibek, Benedykt Radecki, Marian Pawlik and Marian Koster) also quickly ceased to exist (Autumn 1967).Dzamble were reactivated again in Autumn 1968 in a jazz club "Helikon" in Cracow and the band started to look for a vocalist. After short collaborations with a couple of singers at the beginning of 1969 they finally found Andrzej Zaucha who became a permanent member of the band.Soon, the band started to perform during festivals and contests and quickly gained success. They played concerts not only in Poland but also in the neighbouring countries like Hungary and also recorded some of their songs for the radio.In 1971 Dzamble recorded their first and, as it turned out later, also the last studio album titled "Wolanie o slonce nad swiatem". The band was supported in the studio by many guests from the first line of Polish jazz and rock musicians at the time: M. Alaszewski - vocals, M. Pawlak - vocals, J. Muniak - tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, Z. Seifert - soprano saxophone, M. Urbaniak - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass guitar, violin, T. Stanko - trumpet, J. Bartz - percussion, J. Gawrych - percussion.Because of a conflict with the label Polskie Nagrania the band didn't manage to record another album and fell apart at the end of 1972.Dzamble were reactivated for a short period in 1978. Since 1980 the vocalist Andrzej Zaucha conducted a successful solo career in music as well as in acting until he was shot in October 1991 by a French director who suspected him of having an affair with his wife (he shot them both actually).J. Bezucha was an active jazz musician to his death in a car accident in January 1994. M. Pawlik is still an active and highly apreciated jazz musican and also manufactures double-basses and bass guitars in his workshop in Cracow. B. Radecki at the beginning of the 80s joined Waly Jagiellonskie and also played with Maanam. Line-up / Musicians Jerzy Bezucha/drums Jerzy Horwath/organs,piano Marian Pawlik/bass,guitar Andrzej Zaucha/vocals Guests: Marek Ałaszewski/vocals Jerzy Bartz/drums Józef Gawrych/drums Janusz Muniak/flute,saxophone Marek Pawlak/vocals Zbigniew Seifert/saxophone Tomasz Stańko/trumpet Michał Urbaniak/bass,saxophone,saxophone,violin Discography Wołanie o słońce nad światem 1971
1.Święto strachów 2.Hej, pomóżcie ludzie 3.Muszę mieć dziewczynę 4.Naga rzeka 5.Dziewczyna, w która wierzę 6.Masz przewrócone w głowie 7.Wymyśliłem ciebie 8.Szczęście nosi twoje imię 9.Wołanie o słońce nad światem
