Ewa Bem

Ewa Bem, born Ewa Maria Bem-Sibilska, is one of the most important Polish jazz singers, and at the same time an artist who has long moved freely between jazz, blues, swing, bossa nova and popular song. She was born in Warsaw, and that city remains the strongest point of reference in accounts of her career. The safest year to mark as her musical debut is 1969, when she began singing in a youth blues band associated with the Stodoła club. A year later she became the vocalist of Zbigniew Seifert’s quartet, and her first clearly documented major success came in 1971 with first prize at the jazz festival in Lublin. That early phase quickly established her as a serious artist with a distinctive vocal tone and...