Michał
Urbaniak

Violinist and saxophonist, a pioneer of Polish fusion, active also on the New York scene.

Michał Urbaniak (1943 to 2025) is one of the most important Polish jazz musicians, a violinist and saxophonist, as well as a composer and bandleader. He began playing the violin as a child, later adding the saxophone and electronic instruments. He became a pioneer of jazz fusion, combining jazz with funk, rock and electronics, and weaving elements of Polish folk music into his New York sound.

After winning a prize at the Montreux festival in 1971, Urbaniak moved to the United States in 1973, where he recorded a series of groundbreaking fusion records. Many of them were made in collaboration with the vocalist Urszula Dudziak, his then wife. In 1985 he was invited by Miles Davis to take part in the recording of the album Tutu.

In the 1990s Urbaniak launched the Urbanator project, combining jazz with hip hop, to which he invited musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller and Michael Brecker. Throughout his career he recorded several dozen records and remains one of the most recognizable figures of Polish jazz worldwide.