Michal Urbaniak discography [1970-2009]

 

Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician and composer born in Warsaw, Poland, playing mainly the violin, lyricon and saxophone during concerts and recordings. He played a central role in the development of jazz fusion in the 1970s and 1980s, and has introduced elements of folk, R&B, hip hop, and symphonic music to jazz.

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.

 

Michal Urbaniak.1970- Paratyphus B

Michal Urbaniak.1971- Inactin

Michal Urbaniak.1971- Live Recordings (Polish Jazz)

Michal Urbaniak.1972- We'll Remember Komeda

Michal Urbaniak.1973- Constellation In Concert

Michal Urbaniak.1974- Atma

Michal Urbaniak.1974- Fusion

Michal Urbaniak.1975- Funk Factory

Michal Urbaniak.1975- Fusion III

Michal Urbaniak.1976- Body English

Michal Urbaniak.1977- Smiles Ahead

Michal Urbaniak.1977- Urbaniak

Michal Urbaniak.1978- Ecstasy

Michal Urbaniak.1978- Heritage

Michal Urbaniak.1980- Serenade For The City

Michal Urbaniak.1982- Solo's, Duo's & Trio's (w.Larry Corryel)

Michal Urbaniak.1984- Burning Circuits

Michal Urbaniak.1989- Songs For Poland

Michal Urbaniak.1990- Milky Way

Michal Urbaniak.1992- Manhattan Man

Michal Urbaniak.1993- Urbanator

Michal Urbaniak.1994- Some Other Blues

Michal Urbaniak.1996- Code Blue

Michal Urbaniak.1996- Live In Holy City

Michal Urbaniak.1996- My One And Only Love

Michal Urbaniak.1996- Urbanator II

Michal Urbaniak.2001- Sax, Love & Cinema

Michal Urbaniak.2005- Urbanator III

Michal Urbaniak.2007- Jazz Legends 2

Michal Urbaniak.2009- Miles Of Blue 2CD

Miles Davis - Tutu (2 CD Deluxe Edition, 2011/FLAC)

 

Tutu is an album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, released in 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded primarily at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and Clinton Recording in New York, except the song "Backyard Ritual", which was recorded at Le Gonks in West Hollywood. Davis received the 1986 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Grammy Award for his performance on the album.

Originally planned as a collaboration with pop singer/songwriter Prince, Davis ultimately worked with bassist/multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller. Miller wrote and arranged all the songs, except "Tomaas" (co-written by Davis), "Backyard Ritual" (by keyboardist George Duke), and "Perfect Way" (by pop group Scritti Politti). The music is strongly inspired by mid-1980s R&B and funk, with heavy use of synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines.

• Miles Davis - trumpet
• Marcus Miller - bass guitars, guitar, synthesizers, drum machine programming, bass clarinet, soprano sax, other instruments.
• Jason Miles - synthesizer programming
• Paulinho da Costa - percussion on "Tutu", "Portia", "Splatch", Backyard Ritual"
• Adam Holzman - synthesizer solo on "Splatch"
• Steve Reid - additional percussion on "Splatch"
• George Duke - all except percussion, bass guitar, and trumpet on "Backyard Ritual"
• Omar Hakim - drums and percussion on "Tomaas"
• Bernard Wright - additional synthesizers on "Tomaas" and "Don't Lose Your Mind"
• Michał Urbaniak - electric violin on "Don't Lose Your Mind"
• Jabali Billy Hart - drums, bongos