Biography

Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska spent several years in the pop band Matt Bianco, an offshoot of Blue Rondo à la Turk, before launching a solo career in 1987. With the musical assistance of Matt Bianco's Danny White, she developed a subtle cocktail jazz-pop first showcased on her 1987 debut album, Time and Tide. Supported by the singles "New Day for You" and "Time and Tide," the record became a hit in Europe and America, where the album went platinum. Basia's second record, 1990's London Warsaw New York, was just as successful, but her third effort, 1994's Sweetest Illusion, failed to find an audience. Clear Horizon: The Best of Basia followed in 1998 and proved to be her only release for several years, as the deaths of her mother and several close friends temporarily sapped Basia's drive to make music. Urged by her former bandmates Danny White and Mark Reilly to join the reunited Matt Bianco, however, she eventually returned to music in 2004 and issued Matt's Mood with the band. Basia then returned her focus to her solo career, releasing It's That Girl Again with White's help in early 2009. As a comeback album, it proved to be a success, reaching the Top Ten on the U.S. jazz charts and going platinum back home in Poland. Basia returned in 2011 with From Newport to London: Greatest Hits Live... and More, a live collection captured in Łódź, Poland that also featured a handful of new studio recordings, including an acoustic version of her 2009 track "There's a Tear." Following another somewhat lengthy hiatus, she reunited with White to record 2018's Butterflies, her fifth studio album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi