One of the Grooviest pieces of Jazz & Funk, I’ve ever had the privilege of hanging on to for all these years. Moog & Synth with sexy vocals from Urszula Dudziak.
Top notch musicians & creative input on this one. It’s been sampled by DJ’s & Producers but most recognized (in my opinion) are the samples from “Rien Ne Va Plus” used on “Car Thief” from The beastie Boys’ Pauls Boutique LP from 1989.
A very space-aged trippy voyage of Jazz funk & soul.
1st and only album by a one-time recording project organized by the brilliant Polish Jazz musician Michal Urbaniak and his wife Urszula Dudziak, following their move to the USA and after recording of several exquisite albums for the Columbia label.
The album is to a large extent a cheek-in-tongue joke by Urbaniak in response to the “accusations” by his fellow American colleagues, that Eastern European musicians are not “funky”.
Here we have a proof that Urbaniak and his cohorts can play Funk as well as any American musician, and perhaps even better, as his Funk is so much more sophisticated and multilayered than anything else recorded in that style.
Together with Urbaniak and Dudziak a couple of two other talented Polish musicians also take part in this project: virtuoso keyboardist Wlodek Gulgowski and singer Bernard Kafka, founder and leader of the superb Polish vocal group Novi Singers.
In addition to the four Poles, a sensational American rhythm section was assembled, with bassists Anthony Jackson and Tony Levin, drummers Steve Gadd and Gerald Brown and guitarists Barry Finnerty and John Abercrombie. Urbaniak burns his electric violin with the usual passion and virtuosity and Dudziak performs magic with her voice.
The music was all written by Urbaniak, Gulgowski and Kafka, so here we have Polish Funk, which funks away all that’s funky.
An exquisite slice of psychedelic jazz-funk, Funk Factory was criminally overlooked upon release but became a crate-diggers classic over time.
Yes, the LP is most famous for containing the peerless dusty groove of ”Rien Ne Va Plus”, heavily lifted by the Beastie Boys for their Paul’s Boutique standout ”Car Thief”. Yes, you’d be correct to assume said gem is worthy of the price of admission alone.
Yet, to those in the know, Funk Factory represents so much more than a Dust Brothers sample-source.
Indeed, the entire album represents a space-aged opus, featuring tripped-out keys, tight drums and baked synths; all laced by Urszula Dudziak’s ethereal vocals drifting around the exceptional instrumentation. Funk Factory were boldly led by brilliant Polish violinist and saxophonist Michal Urbaniak and vocalist Dudziak.
Two additional, accomplished Polish musicians were involved: virtuoso keyboardist Wlodek Gulgowski and singer Bernard Kafka, founder and leader of great Polish vocal group Novi Singers.
To augment this solid foundation, a sensational American rhythm section was assembled, with bassists Anthony Jackson and Tony Levin, drummers Steve Gadd and Gerald Brown and guitarists Barry Finnerty and John Abercrombie.
Legend has it that Urbaniak created this seminal record in response to his American colleagues’ claims that Eastern European musicians were not ”funky”. Funk Factory demonstrates that Urbaniak and his cohorts could play funk as well as any American musician. As sophisticated and multi-layered as the best of the genre, it deserves to be as canonical as the greatest works of Herbie Hancock and George Duke.
Accomplished and utterly unique, this intoxicating blend of crack musicians created an irresistibly heady dose of transportive funk that sounds every bit as vital today as it would have in 1975.
A1. Watusi Dance - 4:38
A2. Horsing Around - 3:56
A3. Rien ne va plus - 5:15
A4. After All the World Goes Home - 5:13
B1. Next Please - 3:12
B2. The Music in Me - 4:06
B3. Funk It - 3:42
B4. Lilliput - 5:27
B5. Sinkin’ Low - 4:55
