Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak was already well known in Europe, and
somewhat famous in America, with five previous overtly commercial
efforts for the Columbia and Arista labels. This album for Inner City
Records showcases a much more substantive, energetic, and contemporary
type of jazz music perfectly suited for the fusion-oriented '70s. With
wife Urszula Dudziak singing and Zbigniew Namyslowski playing alto sax
in a David Sanborn-type dialect, these three form a hummable, tuneful
front line whose symmetry and sonic footprint are hard to resist. Aside
from the lead performers, fans of Kenny Kirkland should take note of his
presence on this album, one of his earliest works. Kirkland plays
brilliantly here on Fender Rhodes electric piano, Polymoog, and miniMoog
synthesizers, buoying and supporting the others in bright dimensions
and shimmering tones. Though adept at the straight-ahead mainstream
style, R&B-oriented jazz-rock fusion is at the equally delightful
and danceable core of Urbaniak's music. The band sets the tone with the
opener, "Tie Breaker," a track with active, quickly ground strokes
featuring Urbaniak on the lyricon opposite Namyslowski's alto and
Kirkland's busy keyboards in a tribute to the first and greatest Polish
men's tennis professional, Wojtek Fibak. Dudziak, a unique-unto-herself
scat singer only rivaled by Flora Purim, raises the bar even higher on
"Strife," as Urbaniak's violin solo reaches for heights beyond the
stratosphere. The inevitable comparisons to peer Jean-Luc Ponty rate
Urbaniak favorably, as creeping bass and marching drums set up his
soaring strings during "Mountaineers." Namyslowski composed most of the
tracks here, with his impressive piece "Stray Sheep" strong in rhythmic
content within the funky beat, but multifaceted, always changing from
within, and adding a bit of Polish folk flavoring. On the other side,
"Jasmine Lady" is a tiptoed walk through imagery of delicacy. The
resonant Fender Rhodes work of Kirkland is ripe for the times, perfectly
complementing the bandmembers by matching their dynamics beautifully
with every step, never looking back, and always forging ahead.
Approaching age 35 at the time of this recording, Urbaniak was no spring
chicken, and had firmly established his vision and voicings. So it
should come to no one's surprise how focused and concentrated this music
is, not to mention that after several decades, it does not sound dated.
Kudos to the Inner City label for issuing this fine effort -- highly
recommended without reservation -- on CD so that listeners may relish in
its exuberant qualities. Michael G. Nastos
Tracklist:
1. Tie Breaker 7:03
2. Strife 6:13
3. Mountaineers 4:00
4. Weird Creatures 7:03
5. Jasmine Lady 8:22
6. Always Ready 7:08
7. Stray Sheep 5:08
Credits:
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Zbigniew Namysłowski
Bass – Tony Bunn
Drums – Lurenda Featherstone
Piano, Synthesizer – Kenny Kirkland
Violin, Lyricon, Producer – Michal Urbaniak
Voice, Percussion – Urszula Dudziak
