BODY ENGLISH

I bought this one on vinyl many years ago. The vinyl is gone and all I have left is an MP3 I converted from an old tape of mine.

I bought this during my 'fusion phase' and I was starting to get very picky about my fusion. Trouble is that most fusion bands are simply boring. You get the fabulous musicianship, but often precious little else. Michal Urbaniak's 'Body English' was one of the few fusion albums that has that extra 'x factor', something beyond the standard fusion fare of Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, David Sanborn fare of MOR jazzrock.

Examples of other fusion albums of the time that I felt had that something extra (bearing in mind that I have long been a King Crimson tragic)?

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire Weather Report - Black Market and Heavy Weather Gong's - Shamal Brand X - Unorthodox Behaviour

The link? Strong compositions and the desire to do something different.

If I was to compare Michal U's music on Body English to anyone else, it would have to be Weather Report. The compositions, as I remember them, were excellent and the musicianship as virtuosic as one would expect from a top-drawer fusion act. While I was fond of Jean Luc Ponty's playing, Michal U's tone is richer to my ear and he's technically in the same ball-park.

As for the track that I managed to retain, 'Sevenish', it's a fusion masterpiece. Here MU really let's his gypsy leanings shine through in a song of three parts of three, each time building in intensity. Each major section starts with a rustic melody that calls to mind his native Poland and reminiscent of Ponty, then it goes into what could be called 'scrambled funk', where the solo instrument of the section creeps in which then bursts into full-blown fusion high tempo 7/8 fusion mayhem.

The first solo is synth, then violin, then guitar. Each solo is excellent but the standout to me is the climax of Steve Caro's blistering guitar solo towards the end of the song. Scorching!

If you enjoy sophisticated fusion that's a cut above most, you won't go wrong with this one.

One between Michal Urbaniak "American" albums, but far not the best one. Michal's violin is connected to sound synthesizer, plenty of keyboards from support fill the space, and whole sound is quite polished, over arranged and often openly commercial.

The music itself is still jazz fusion, with many East European folklore elements, some Latin arrangements, and quite cheese in moments. Urszula's vocal is still great, something on Flora Purim's manner, and all music is noticeably influenced by RTF early works. With such difference that RTF never were such cheese, and had a higher musicianship level for sure.

Still not a bad album, but more interesting for Latin/soft fusion fans. And really not the best one between Urbaniak's works.

Undaunted at being dropped by Columbia Records, Michał moved across the street to Arista (who were into a big support mode for the new and popular Jazz-Rock Fusion/Jazz-Funk style of music--having concurrently made quite an investment, for example, in Austrian Hermann Szobel).

1. "New York Polka" (5:52) sounding less like a polka than a country-bluegrass jamboree or, with it's brief intro, something out of England's mediæval prog scene, this funk band lineup is solid, tight, as is the composition, with perhaps a little less effects used on Michał's violin. New drummer Steve Jordan holds his own and Harold Ivory Williams shines quite brightly--is highly creative--on his keys. Joe Caro impresses as well, crossing that bridge between jazz-rock and blues-rock with apparent ease. I guess it's really the "Robin Hood"-feeling reset bridge that's doing the most to keep steering me toward this country-bluegrass label; the rest is just pretty standard funk. (8.875/10) 2. "Afterglow" (1:38) a pretty interlude that somehow manages to sound very much like a full orchestra without the addition of a single extra to the basic lineup. Impressive! I guess with three band members playing the keys anything is possible! (4.5/5)

3. "Zad" (6:50) cool clavinet, bass, and other synthesized deep bass play gives this stop-and-go song a cool early-Disco feel and sound. Clearly Michał is hearing all the funky R&B that's reaching the radio stations and dance floors. Lyricon and Ula's smooth voice are quite often delivering the lead melodies on this one--except in the chorus and bridges. Though he is no Anthony Jackson, the solo by Basil Farrington in the fourth minute is pretty decent. (He's enjoying experimenting with Larry Graham's thumb hits and finger pluck-snaps). Ula's presence is felt more in the instrumental department as her vocalizations seem to be limited to solo-like appearances (5:00) or the afore-mentioned main melody deliveries. Steve Jordan really hits a Steve Gadd stride in that section beneath Ula's scat solo. Harold Williams' keys are so lush and filling that you practically don't notice they are there (but would sorely missed if they weren't-- quite similar to Greg Phillanganes' work on Earl Klugh's Heartstring album from the same year.) An excellent song to keep you warm in the winter. (13.75/15)

4. "Sevenish" (6:43) a solid Jean-Luc Ponty-like slightly-medieval or bluegrass-infused opening turns into something more attuned with Joe Zawinul's WEATHER. REPORT--despite the military drumming and frequent reminders in the sound palette of Jean-Luc Ponty (coming not just from Michał's synthesized violin). Composed, performed, recorded and mixed really well. This one begs the question: Which came first: Jean-Luc Ponty's slide over into the lush side of synthizer-heavy jazz-funk or Michał Urbaniak's? Using this song as a determiner the chronology looks pretty similar. (9/10)

5. "Body English" (6:03) "Turn Me Loose" synth note and funky wah-effected bass play open this one before drums, congas, percussion, guitar, and other keyboards join in. The initial solo melody-carriers are, in fact, one-note percussive synthesizers. With its jazzified Disco foundations we have something on the novelty range like a combination of the instrumental radio hit, "Popcorn" with an Average White Band song and some Herbie Hancock pleasure candy, and yet it still has that solid core of perfectly-aligned funk masters in the rhythm section. I happen to like it quite a bit! It's very cute, melodic (borrrowing a bit from Diana Ross' version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), and memorable. (8.875/10)

6. "Quintone" (2:33) synthesized violin, chorused bass chords, flange-wah-wahed rhythm guitar, and multiple keys present a very pensive melody and chord progression before settling into something soft and gentle in the second minute--with a heart-wrenching pop ballad melody. Simple but oh-so pretty! (9/10)

7. "Lyricon" (6:58) another richly-textured BOB JAMES-like melodic Smooth Jazz adventure on which Michał displays some of his saxophone skill (doubled up with his violins) with his Lyricon (an electrified saxophone-like wind instrument that had been pioneered by L.A. session god and solo artists Tom Scott back in 1974). In Michał's hands, here, the Lyricon sounds like a synthesized flute. Nice Moog ("polymoog"?) solo in the fourth minute (Michał's?) I also hear a little Smooth-era Weather Report in the palette of this song. (8.875/10)

8. "Satin Lady" (5:49) It has become obvious by this point in the album that Arista had exerted quite some control on Michał's musical direction; Smooth Jazz and Steely Dan-like "Yacht Rock" were becoming all the rage and I'm sure the big record company wanted to see sales from their investments. At the same time this is a fine song, with some great violin playing, nice lead and support contributions from Ula (and male vocalist Bernard Kafka) over a very engaging easy listening BOB JAMES-like groove played to perfection by the band. It's just that Ula's presence leaves me longing for more as I know how talented she is and how integral she had been to all of Michałs previous albums. Plus, she'd just put out her second solo album (also on Arista)--and it is great! (I wonder if they were signed as a team or if Ula was given her own album as a promise to Michał--or even as a bargaining point--or as a test drive for this new band.) (9/10)

9. "Zomar Land" (1:11) an excellent little bass and Ula show that packs so much into its brief time; it's like a mix of funk and the Carnatic Indian tradition of konnakol vocal percussion syllable singing. Cool! (4.75/5)

Total time: 43:37

I find little or no depreciation in the quality or skills on display in these compositions. Michał had worked with most of these musicians before and seems to really click with all of them. They aren't the "name" players that he had on the last two Columbia releases (including Steve Gadd, Anthony Jackson, John Abercrombie, and Larry Coryell) but these guys are all very, very good. Well-respected music reviewer Adam Baruch (blogpage "The Soundtrack of My Life" and "Jazzis" on rateyourmuisc.com) carries the opinion that Michal's best output ended with the end of his association with Columbia Records. This album is allowing me to realize that this is simply not true: this is a very good album! The weakness for me is in the bass: it's still amazing and perfectly funky and well-deserved in its leadership role within each song on the album, but after Michał's last album on which Anthony Jackson gives one of the most astonishingly innovative displays of future bass potentialities, poor Basil Farrington just can't compare. (No one could.)

B+/4.5 stars; another very high quality and amazingly-consistent collection of jazz-funk songs here displaying Michał's willingness to experiment with the new Disco and Easy Listening sides to Jazz-Funk and Jazz-Rock Fusion. A near- masterpiece of music however you spell it out. Highly recommended.