Life and Career
Dudziak was born in the Straconka neighborhood of Bielsko-Biała, Poland. She studied piano, but began to sing in the late 50s after hearing records by Ella Fitzgerald. Within a few years she was one of the most popular jazz artists in her native country. She met and later married Michał Urbaniak, In the late 60s they began to tour overseas and in the 70s settled in New York.
Dudziak has some problems with language and customarily eschews words in favour of wordless vocalizing that is far more adventurous than scat. Already gifted with a remarkable five-octave vocal range, Dudziak employs electronic devices to extend still further the possibilities of her voice. She has frequently worked with leading contemporary musicians, including Archie Shepp and Lester Bowie, and was a member of the Vocal Summit group, with Jay Clayton, Jeanne Lee, Bobby McFerrin, Norma Winstone, Sting, Michelle Hendricks, and Lauren Newton. Dudziak has also cooperated and performed with her fellow Polish female jazz vocalist Grażyna Auguścik.
On November 11, 2009, Dudziak was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by President Lech Kaczyński.
On March 8, 2011, she released her autobiography called Wyśpiewam wam wszystko (I'll sing everything for you).
Read more about this topic: Urszula Dudziak
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