Basia

Barbara Stanislawa Trzetrzelewska, aka Basia, is a singer-songwriter from Jaworzno in the east of Poland, most famous for her work with 1980s jazz-pop band Matt Bianco who had UK top 20 hits with 'Get Out of Your Lazy Bed' and 'Don't Blame It On That Girl'. However, Basia began her singing career in her home country in the late 1960s while also studying for a degree in physics at Jagiellonian University. Dropping out of full-time education she toured the Soviet Bloc countries as the singer in a variety of Polish rock bands before relocating to Chicago and then, in 1981 to London. In London she met and joined forces with singer Mark Reilly, keyboardist Danny White and bassist Kito Poncioni, who had previously been members of the jazz-pop group Blue Rondo a La Turk, to form the band Matt Bianco. This collaboration resulted in the release of the successful 'Whose Side Are You On?' album in 1984. However, in 1985 Trzetrzelewska left the band, she adopted the stage name Basia and embarked on a solo career. She released her first album, 'Time and Tide', in 1987, which was certified as a Billboard Platinum in the USA in 1989. By 1994 and her third release, 'The Sweetest Illusion', she was able to play her first solo gigs in her home country. In 2000, however, the deaths of her mother and her cousin lead Basia to take a sabbatical from music work. In 2004 she was convinced by White and Reilly to reform Matt Bianco and to record and release a new album named 'Matt's Mood' as a homage to Thelonius Monk's 1957 track 'Monk's Mood' that had been recorded with John Coltrane. She followed this in 2009 with solo album 'It's That Girl Again' which went platinum in Poland and sold well in the United States. Basia continues to record and tour, having released her 'Butterflies' album in 2018.

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