Urszula Dudziak
Urszula Dudziak (born October 22, 1943 in Bielsko-Biała - Straconka ) is a Polish jazz singer .
Act
Dudziak first learned to play the piano in Poland in the 1950s. Radio broadcasts with Ella Fitzgerald's vocals motivated her to sing too. That's how she got into jazz . In 1965 she met the jazz violinist and saxophonist Michał Urbaniak and sang in his jazz formation. They later married and went to Sweden together, where they lived between 1965 and 1969. In 1974 they moved to the USA . Their daughter Mika Urbaniak is also a jazz singer today. After the political change in 1989, Urszula Dudziak lived in Europe again.
In the USA, the singer, who has a vocal volume of four and a half octaves, refined her wordless jazz singing. In 1976 she had a hit with her "electronified" scat singing over the disco piece Papaya . In 1979 she was named Jazz Singer of the Year by the Los Angeles Times . In the group Vocal Summit she worked with the singers Bobby McFerrin and Bob Stoloff and singers like Jeanne Lee , Jay Clayton and Lauren Newton . Another high point of her career is working with Gil Evans in the 1980s ; At the 1987 Umbria Jazz Festival, two live albums with the Gil Evans Orchestra with their unmistakable improvisations were created. On the album Last Session , recorded the day before in Perugia , she sings in the background with Sting his songs in the arrangements of Gil Evans.
It was also Urszula Dudziak seven years singer of the fusion band Walk Away by Krzysztof Zawadzki . In this collaboration four albums were created between 1987 and 1994. She also recorded with the Vienna Art Orchestra . She has worked with many greats in international jazz, such as Tomasz Stańko , Archie Shepp , Attila Zoller , Flora Purim , Larry Coryell and Lester Bowie . As a composer, she has worked for the New York Dance Company , among others .
She is currently working in a duo, The Electronic Choir, with singer Jay Clayton.
Discography (under own name)
- Newborn Light (1972)
- Super Constellation (1973)
- Atma (1974)
- Urszula (1976)
- Midnight Rain (1977)
- Urbaniak (1977)
- Future Talk (1979)
- Ulla (1982)
- Sorrow Is Not Forever ... But Love Is (1983)
- Magic Lady (1989)
- Jazz Unlimited (1993)
- Journey, Saturation (1994)
- To I Hola (1998, with Grazyna Auguscik)
- And Life Goes On (2002)
- Malowany Ptak / Painted Bird (2003)
- Super Band Live at Jazz (2009)
- Wszystko gra (2013)
DVD
- Urszula Dudziak / Walkaway Live at Warsaw Jazz Festival 1991 (her ex-husband M. Urbaniak is also on one piece)
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dudziak, Urszula |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Urbaniak, Urszula (married name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish jazz singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 22, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Straconka |