Tatiana Okupnik

A talented vocalist, songwriter and composer. She started her career with Blue Cafe, the group with which she won numerous awards and consolidated her position in the Polish music arena. In 2006, having parted with the band, she left for the USA where she worked on a solo project in cooperation with American musicians and producers, including the distinguished jazz percussionist Lenny White. The end product of their cooperation is her new album On my own, which was released on the 13th of April 2007 and is now Gold.

The material was recorded in New York, mostly at the Tony Bennett Studio and Sony Music Studio. Lenny White also produced the album. He is a brilliant musician who has worked with such artists as Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, Dianne Reeves, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Marcus Miller and many others. Lenny invited some other great vocalists to work on the album: Nicki Richards, Chris Willis, Mike Harvey, Irene James and Keisha Williams, who have performed with such artists as Madonna, Mariah Carey, Anastasia, Jamiroquai, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Mary J. Blige and Seal. The album also contains a Polish accent, provided by the composition Keep it on the low, where Tatiana is accompanied by Mika Urbaniak (vocal) and Michał Urbaniak (violin).The lyrics were written by Tatiana, Shereen Coleman, Dane Russel and Chris Willis (CWill) who accompanies Tatiana in the song Around the world. Music for most of the pieces was composed by Lenny White and Cab, a New York rapper, as well as Renny Hurst, Vince Evans and Keith Stephens. The title song is Tatiana’s own composition – the artist’s song writing debut. The material presents a mixture of modern pop, R&B and soul and is divided into two parts: one energetic, the other lyrical, with the common element of Tatiana’s intriguing voice and modern musical arrangement.

The American album strengthened Tatiana’s position as a solo vocalist. Today Tatiana has many other successes to her credit, such as performances alongside The Rolling Stones and Jay-Z. She’s also participated in the Coke Live Music Festival and the Vena Music Festival and performed at the festivals in Sopot and Opole. She was the only vocalist to sing on the top floor of Pałac Kultury i Nauki as part of the “Street GIG” project, the first in a series of concerts given in various unusual places. She’s successfully hosted two editions of the Gwiazdy tańczą na lodzie (Dancing On Ice) TV programme, where together with Maciej Kurzajewski they formed a witty and professional duet. The programme has met with the recognition of both audiences and professionals, resulting in a nomination for the Telekamery 2008 in the “Entertainment” Category and for Wiktory 2008 in “The Greatest Television Discovery” category.

The vocalist has been nominated more than once as a candidate in the VIVA Najpiękniejsi (VIVA The Most Beautiful) magazine poll, and in the Róże Gali (Gala’s Roses) poll. She has twice received MISS FOTO statues during the festival in Opole. Still, it is the stage and contact with audiences that remain Tatiana’s element, and she is currently working on new material, again in cooperation with foreign musicians.

Tatiana is lastingly attached to her home town of Łódź.