Michal Urbaniak

Michał Urbaniak operates as a violinist, saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and arranger from his base in New York City. Since the early 1960s he has remained active, and his groundbreaking jazz fusion albums from the 1970s, especially Paratyphus B (1973), Inactin (1973), Super Constellation (1973), and Atma (1974), brought him before listeners worldwide. Beyond fronting ensembles, he appeared as a sideman alongside numerous jazz icons such as Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Billy Cobham, and Larry Coryell. For an extended period his principal partner was the internationally celebrated Polish vocalist, composer, and then-spouse Urszula Dudziak. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, after emigrating to the U.S., Urbaniak composed film scores, functioned as a session and touring sideman, and produced his own releases that spanned straight-ahead jazz on My One and Only Love to funky fusion and disco on Funk Factory and Facts of Life [Coryell-Urbaniak Band]. Entering the 21st century he issued the tribute Miles of Blue, the big-band fusion project UrbSymphony, the acid jazz, funk, and hip-hop-infused Urbanator, and Friday Night at the Village Vanguard. In 2023 Germany’s Moosicus label issued Sound Pieces, which gathered Paratyphus B and Inactin together with a restored, previously unissued live recording from Radio Bremen that captured Urbaniak performing material from both albums several months prior to their original release.

Born in Warsaw, Urbaniak spent most of his childhood in Lodz. He took up violin at age six and later pursued soprano saxophone before moving to tenor saxophone. As his development continued, his jazz preferences shifted from Dixieland and swing toward bop, hard bop, and modal music. While enrolled at the Academy of Music in Warsaw he performed with assorted Polish jazz and classical groups. His first appearance on record came on tenor saxophone with the five-track 1962 EP Holiday Moods by Jazz Rockers, whose alto saxophonist was Zbigniew Namyslowski. From 1962 to 1964 Urbaniak served as a central member of pianist and composer Krzysztof Komeda’s quintet. In 1965 he contributed soprano and tenor saxophones to Rolf Kuhn’s Solarius; in 1968 he assembled Michal Urbaniak’s Orchestra in Scandinavia alongside vocalist Urszula Dudziak, resulting in a self-titled release before they returned to Poland in 1969 to establish the quintet Constellation, which featured pianist Adam Makowicz and drummer Czesław Bartkowski and released Live Recording in 1970. The next year Urbaniak earned a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music after receiving the Best Soloist award at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival. Urbaniak and Dudziak relocated to the U.S. in 1973, the same year the Michal Urbaniak Group issued Paratyphus B and Inactin, signaling his deliberate return to violin; that year he and Dudziak also participated with Attila Zoller and Tomasz Stanko on the tribute album We’ll Remember Komeda honoring the late Polish composer.

After a recommendation from legendary producer and A&R executive John Hammond, Urbaniak secured a U.S. recording contract with Columbia. He organized the band Fusion, whose lineup included Bartowski, Paweł Jarzębski, Dudziak, and Wojciech Karolak. In 1973 Fusion delivered Super Constellation in both Germany and the U.S., incorporating melodic and rhythmic components from Polish folk traditions into its funky, fusion-rooted jazz approach. The same ensemble followed with Atma in 1974. At that stage, still-nascent fusion featured groups stylistically adjacent to Fusion, among them Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jean Luc Ponty, and Weather Report.

In various configurations Fusion produced six additional albums before disbanding in 1977: Fusion, Funk Factory, Fusion III, Body English, The Beginning, and Urbaniak. The same collective also supported Dudziak on her widely acclaimed Arista releases Urszula and Midnight Rain. Although Urbaniak’s commercial visibility never again attained comparable heights, his wide-ranging abilities allowed him to pursue numerous creative avenues, frequently in parallel. During those years the violinist contributed to notable recordings by Charles Earland, Oliver Nelson, Don Pullen, and Larry Coryell.

In 1978 a fresh iteration of Michal Urbaniak’s Fusion, featuring Dudziak as co-billed guest and keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, released Heritage on MPS. Urbaniak acted as Dudziak’s musical director and in 1979 recruited Namyslowki, Kirkland, John Abercrombie, Marcus Miller, and additional musicians to accompany her on Future Talk. In 1980 he recorded the light smooth-jazz collection Serenade for the City for Motown.

Also in 1980 Urbaniak joined the Harris Simon Group for Swish and performed with Billy Cobham’s Glassmenagerie on the 1981 album Stratus. The violinist issued My One and Only Love in 1982 with a trio comprising guitarist Gene Bertoncini and bassist Michael Moore. He and Coryell released The Larry Coryell/Michael Urbaniak Duo in 1982, toured with the project, and followed with Facts of Life in 1983 and Larry Coryell and Michal Urbaniak in 1984. In 1986 he participated in the sessions yielding Miles Davis’ Tutu and the 1987 album Siesta. In 1987 Urbaniak unveiled the futuristic, entirely electronic funk of Burning Circuits with his trio Urbaniax on his own UBX imprint. Following the appearance of Dudziak’s Magic Lady in 1988, the couple divorced. That same year Sonet issued his Cinemode album, drawn from the many film scores he had composed; it was succeeded by Folk Songs, Children’s Melodies, Jazz Tunes, And Others…, a duo recording with pianist Władysław Sendecki. Urbaniak closed the decade with the leader dates Urban Express and Songs for Poland while also contributing studio work to the Gil Evans Orchestra and Earl Klugh.

In 1990 he released the refined Code Blue, fronting a contemporary jazz quartet that included R&B keyboardist Bernard Wright, drummer Lenny White, and guitarist Tom Fox. In 1992 the album Manhattan Man appeared; 1994 followed. He also launched his enduring jazz-hip-hop fusion group Urbanator, which delivered its self-titled debut and the 1996 sequel Urbanator II. Steeplechase additionally issued Some Other Blues.

At the outset of the 21st century his UBX label presented an eclectic series of recordings: Sax Love & Cinema (2001), Recital (2002), Urbsymphony (2003), Jazz I Love You and Decadence (2004), and Sax Love (2005). In 2002 Sony Jazz released Eden, a set blending contemporary jazz, funk, and hip-hop that featured guest appearances by Dudziak and Eugene Lazarotti.

Urbanator III surfaced in 2005 as well. In 2007 Jam Records issued Music for Violin & Jazz Quartet, pairing the violinist with NY5: drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Buster Williams, and guitarist Ted Dunbar. UBX put out Sax Love for Lovers Only in 2009. In 2014 Urbaniak appeared as co-billed featured guest on 3 Days with Alex Kolosov & Big Sky. The following year he collaborated with the legendary Polish progressive rock band SBB on SBB & Michal Urbaniak. In 2016 the violinist released Jazz Legends 1 on UBX, interpreting standards by composers Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver, and Stanley Turrentine. In 2019 Urbaniak assembled Urbanizer and issued their debut Just a Funky Feeling the next year. In 2023 the German label Moosicus supplied thoroughly remastered editions of Paratyphus B and Inactin along with Sound Pieces, uniting those two albums with an unissued live concert recorded several months before their original release.