URBAN EXPRESS

I was a fan of Michal Urbaniak back in the seventies, partly because of his excellent violin playing, but moreso because of the vocals of his then wife, Urszula Dudziak. Her unique style of treated scat vocals and four octave range was unlike any other vocalist I've heard before or since. Alas, Urszula is not on this album.

Originally released in 1979 on LP, and reissued in 1990 with a bonus track, this album claims to be a full digital recording. That may be, as the sound is quite good. i wish I could say the same for the music. While Urbaniak plays some good violin solos, the tracks are mostly sequenced sounding synths loops, and awful drum patches. Particularly awful is I Want To Know Your Name, a smooth jazz radio friendly piece of drivel with lame, repetitious lyrics. Kookoo's Nest pales in comparison to the version recorded for Dudziak's "Midnight Rain" album.

The only bright spots are Frantic Lover which alternates between a cool upbeat arrangement (the frantic part, I suppose) and some more mundane verses, and the bonus, Blues For Pinky, obviously a blues piece, that has the best violin solo on the album.