Michal Urbaniak ~ Poland

Live At Lile Eule, Bremen (1972)

After the last two sessions with early Michal Urbaniak, which proved to be pretty rough, I didn't have high hopes for a full 2 CD set of live material from the same era. All the pieces are taken from those two albums, and then extended. I'm not sure I'm up for all of this, but I'll at least let it play for a bit and see if some of this gels in a manner I can appreciate.

They waste no time getting into the noisy action with 'Winter Piece' from the debut, complete with Ursula's scat and a drum solo. Next up is a 28 minute centerpiece circling around 'Valium' from Paratyphus B. This will be telling.

Yea, no surprise, but this goes way beyond my interest level in jazz, rock, or music in general. Truly avant garde, one has to admire the creative spirit here. Would prove to be a tough task to emulate what Urbaniak and the gang are doing here. I can't imagine a "Michal Urbaniak Group" cover band.

I'll toss this in a box, and either sell it one day later, or trade it locally to anyone who is interested in it. I know that his later albums are far more to my tastes, and I'll update this post when I get to them.

3/9/26 (review)
 

Inactin (1973)

Back into the Sound Pieces set. Paratyphus B proved to be too "out" for my tastes, let's see how Inactin does.

Yes, a bit better. A little more focused, though its clear Urbaniak had no intention of going mainstream here. The German influences are more to the fore, and there's clearly some of that Krautrock experimentation going on. Mixed with free jazz. Every once in a while they catch a groove and you begin to think this might be more towards jazz rock. Then it shifts gear into atmospheric jazz, and a lot of noodling. Ursula sounds even more wacked out here. Not easy listening for certain.

Next up will be the live show. 

See Paratyphus B for ownership details. This title came from a VG record, curious why they didn't find a better one to use for their CD. Not so rare in Germany.

2/23/26 (review)

Paratyphus B (1971)

I'm largely ignorant of Michal Urbaniak's extensive canon of work, though I've been aware of him since I started crate digging in the middle 1980s. Some like-minded friends were into him, though I never pursued in earnest. I recall very little about his music that was played for me back then.

As I listen to Paratyphus B, I can understand why I probably didn't pursue. You really have to be in the mood for stuff like this. Released only in Germany on the Spiegelei label, you can hear the avant garde jazz of the era almost immediately. Urbaniak provides a very adventurous type of electric violin, miles away from the likes of Jean-Luc Ponty. On the final track he plays the saxophone in similar fashion. Future wife Urszula Dudziak is very much into scat singing, and she is at once energetic and atmospheric, occasionally at the same time. Electric piano also gets a workout. The three piece rhythm section rounds things out. 

This title is a bit rough for my ears. The melodic jazz parts work really well in this setting, but it gets very noisy in places that I don't find pleasant or comforting. Not sure how this CD set will turn out. Depends on where I land with the other recordings. I don't mind owning music like this, as it provides a stark contrast, just not too much of it please. More to come.

Former ownership: 2023 Made in Germany (3xCD). Part of Sound Pieces. Tri-fold digipak with historical liner notes inside the digipak. Obviously mastered from vinyl (or a noisy tape). Acquired in 2026.

2/9/26 (review)

Also once owned: Body English

2/9/26 (new entry)