Music
Adam Makowicz
Music
ADAM MAKOWICZ - PROFILE
Adam Makowicz (born Adam Matyszkowicz August 18, 1940 in Gnojnik, Zaolzie) is a Polish-American pianist and composer living in Toronto, who performs jazz and classical piano pieces, as well as his own compositions. Besides playing solo, he has worked with such musicians as Michał Urbaniak and Leszek Możdżer, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, at the Kennedy Centre, at the Carnegie Hall, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and other major orchestras at concert halls in Americas and in Europe. His technical mastery as jazz pianist has been compared to that of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Errol Garner, among others. His speciality in classical piano since his studies in the 1950s has been the music of Chopin.
Adam Makowicz was born into a family of ethnic Poles in Czechoslovakia in 1940, during World War II. After the war, he was raised in Poland. He studied classical music at the Chopin Academy of Music in Kraków. Overcoming cultural restrictions under communism, he listened to the "Voice of America" every night, and eventually developed a passion for modern jazz. At that time, freedom and improvisation was disapproved by the pro-Soviet authorities. However, he chose a new life and switched from the career of a classical pianist to that of a touring jazz pianist. After years of hardship, Makowicz got a regular gig at a small jazz club in a cellar of a house in Kraków. By the mid 1970s, Makowicz established himself as one of the leading pianists in Europe. He was chosen the "Best jazz pianist" by the readers of "Jazz Forum" magazine, and was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to the arts.
In 1977 Makowicz made a sensational 10-week tour in the United States, produced by John Hammond. At that time he recorded a solo album titled Adam on CBS. In 1978 he settled in New York. Makowicz was banned from Poland during the 1980s, when the Polish regime imposed martial law to crush the Solidarity Movement. At that time he took part in Ronald Reagan's initiative called "Let Poland Be Poland," joining many artists and public figures.
Around the turn of the century he moved to Toronto, Canada, and continued his career as a concert pianist and recording artist. In the course of his career spanning 40-years, Makowicz performed with major symphony orchestras, such as the National Symphony Orchestra, at the Carnegie Hall, at the Kennedy Centre, and other major concert halls in Americas and in Europe. Eventually he recorded over 30 albums of jazz, popular, and classical music, with his own arrangements of pieces by Chopin, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, Porter, Rogers, and other composers. Makowicz also wrote and recorded his own compositions for piano.
Makowicz has been building bridges between cultures by his numerous concerts performance and recordings of cross-cultural and cross-style compositions. He performed and recorded music by Chopin and Gershwin with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and other internationally recognized companies. In 1999, in commemoration of 150th anniversary of Chopin's death, Adam Makowicz played his piano tribute to Chopin at the French Embassy in Washington. His interpretations of classical pieces by Chopin and Gershwin are marked by finesse, inventiveness, and extraordinary technical virtuosity.
What the critics say:
Adam Makowicz (real name: Adam Matyszkowicz), jazz pianist. Born on 18 August 1940 in Gnojnik (Hnojnik, Czech Silesia).
On this page we present two articles devoted to Adam Makowicz - his biographical note written by Małgorzata Kosińska in October 2007, and his profile by Marek Romański, acquired in December 2008.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
He started playing piano when he was ten, his first teacher being his mother - a pianist and singer. He was a student of the music schools in Rybnik and Katowice, and continued his studies at the Music Secondary School in Kraków. In the mid-1950s, thanks to the Music USA Jazz Hour radio programmes of Willis Conover, the U.S. promoter of jazz, he became fascinated with this music, its rhythm and freedom of improvisation, especially when performed by such maestros of the piano as Art Tatum or Erroll Garner. He dropped out of school in 1956 and linked up with the Helicon jazz club in Kraków (where he lived, practised, and gave concerts). In 1962, together with trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, he formed the band Jazz Darings, recognized as the first European jazz combo. In 1963 the band won first prize at the Southern Poland Jazz Competition. From that moment, the greatest Polish jazzmen started inviting Makowicz to play the piano with them, including Andrzej Kurylewicz, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Michał Urbaniak, Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski, and the group Novi Singers. At the same time, he developed his skills as a composer, and at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s included the Fender electric piano in his range of instruments. He became a member of Michał Urbaniak's new band Constellation in 1970. He featured on vocalist Urszula Dudziak's album in 1972. He played in Tomasz Stańko's band Unit in 1973-76, and has performed with Duke Ellington's orchestra.
Starting in 1974, Adam Makowicz embarked more and more often on individual artistic projects which met with substantial interest from critics and audiences alike. He travelled to the United States in 1977 (this was when he changed his name to Makowicz), where Willis Conover helped him. In the same year, thanks to John Hammond, the talent scout and record producer, he completed a 10-week contract at The Cookery jazz club in Greenwich Village, New York, and recorded the album Adam for CBS Columbia. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. He returned to New York in 1978, where he decided to stay for good after martial law was imposed in Poland in 1981. He has taken part in numerous recordings, played at small jazz clubs and larger concert halls, also at prestigious Polish, European, and U.S. jazz festivals, appearing as a soloist but also with bands and orchestras (including the Chester String Quartet, Amici String Quartet, Washington National Symphony Orchestra) in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and with the greatest jazz artists, to mention Sarah Vaughan, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, George Shearing, Marian McPartland, Benny Goodman, Herbie Hancock, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard.
Apart from typical standards and jazz pieces, Adam Makowicz's repertoire also includes classical music. He has developed a cycle of original adaptations of works by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter, and has come to specialize in concerts and monographic albums devoted to great names from the borderland of jazz and light music. He has recorded more than 50 albums. He is also the composer of more than 100 pieces for string quartets and jazz trios, numerous piano works, and wrote the music for animated films - Kaśka i Baśka w cyrku / Kate and Babs at the Circus (1973) and Ja się zabiję! / This Is Killing Me! (1975), dir. Alina Maliszewska, and documentaries - Kaśka i Baśka w dyskotece / Kate and Babs at the Disco (1974), dir. Alina Maliszewska, and Brygada Majstra Mortala / Foreman Mortal's Gang, dir. Tomasz Lengren (1976).
Selected discography:
On this page we present two articles devoted to Adam Makowicz - his biographical note written by Małgorzata Kosińska in October 2007, and his profile by Marek Romański, acquired in December 2008.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
He started playing piano when he was ten, his first teacher being his mother - a pianist and singer. He was a student of the music schools in Rybnik and Katowice, and continued his studies at the Music Secondary School in Kraków. In the mid-1950s, thanks to the Music USA Jazz Hour radio programmes of Willis Conover, the U.S. promoter of jazz, he became fascinated with this music, its rhythm and freedom of improvisation, especially when performed by such maestros of the piano as Art Tatum or Erroll Garner. He dropped out of school in 1956 and linked up with the Helicon jazz club in Kraków (where he lived, practised, and gave concerts). In 1962, together with trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, he formed the band Jazz Darings, recognized as the first European jazz combo. In 1963 the band won first prize at the Southern Poland Jazz Competition. From that moment, the greatest Polish jazzmen started inviting Makowicz to play the piano with them, including Andrzej Kurylewicz, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Michał Urbaniak, Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski, and the group Novi Singers. At the same time, he developed his skills as a composer, and at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s included the Fender electric piano in his range of instruments. He became a member of Michał Urbaniak's new band Constellation in 1970. He featured on vocalist Urszula Dudziak's album in 1972. He played in Tomasz Stańko's band Unit in 1973-76, and has performed with Duke Ellington's orchestra.
Starting in 1974, Adam Makowicz embarked more and more often on individual artistic projects which met with substantial interest from critics and audiences alike. He travelled to the United States in 1977 (this was when he changed his name to Makowicz), where Willis Conover helped him. In the same year, thanks to John Hammond, the talent scout and record producer, he completed a 10-week contract at The Cookery jazz club in Greenwich Village, New York, and recorded the album Adam for CBS Columbia. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. He returned to New York in 1978, where he decided to stay for good after martial law was imposed in Poland in 1981. He has taken part in numerous recordings, played at small jazz clubs and larger concert halls, also at prestigious Polish, European, and U.S. jazz festivals, appearing as a soloist but also with bands and orchestras (including the Chester String Quartet, Amici String Quartet, Washington National Symphony Orchestra) in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and with the greatest jazz artists, to mention Sarah Vaughan, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, George Shearing, Marian McPartland, Benny Goodman, Herbie Hancock, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard.
Apart from typical standards and jazz pieces, Adam Makowicz's repertoire also includes classical music. He has developed a cycle of original adaptations of works by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter, and has come to specialize in concerts and monographic albums devoted to great names from the borderland of jazz and light music. He has recorded more than 50 albums. He is also the composer of more than 100 pieces for string quartets and jazz trios, numerous piano works, and wrote the music for animated films - Kaśka i Baśka w cyrku / Kate and Babs at the Circus (1973) and Ja się zabiję! / This Is Killing Me! (1975), dir. Alina Maliszewska, and documentaries - Kaśka i Baśka w dyskotece / Kate and Babs at the Disco (1974), dir. Alina Maliszewska, and Brygada Majstra Mortala / Foreman Mortal's Gang, dir. Tomasz Lengren (1976).
Selected discography:
- Zbigniew Namysłowski Quartet - with saxophonist Zbigniew Namysłowski (1966)
- Novi Singers - with the Novi Singers (1968)
- New Faces in Polish Jazz (1969)
- Jazz Jamboree '69 - with saxophonist Lucky Thompson (1969)
- Michał Urbaniak's Group - with violinist Michał Urbaniak (1971)
- Newborn Light - with vocalist Urszula Dudziak (1972)
- Michal Urbaniak Fusion - with Michał Urbaniak (1975)
- Unit - with trumpeter Tomasz Stańko (1975)
- Live Embers (1975)
- Remembering Duke's World - with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (1977)
- Winter Flowers (1977)
- Adam (1978)
- From My Windows (1980)
- Classic Jazz Duets - with bassist George Mraz (1981)
- Naughty Baby (1987)
- The Solo Album: Adam in Stockholm (1987)
- Name Is Makowicz (1988)
- Solo (1988)
- Naughty Baby: Honoring George Gershwin, Live at the Mayback Recital Hall Series (1993)
- Makowicz Plays Gershwin - with George Mraz, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Krzesimir Dębski (1993)
- Plays Irving Berlin - with the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra conducted by Krzesimir Dębski (1993)
- Music of Jerome Kern (1993)
- A Handful of Stars '81 - with drummer Jack DeJohnette (1997)
- Tribute to Art Tatum (1997)
- Gershwin / Makowicz (1998)
- Adam Makowicz Plays Duke Ellington (2000)
- Reflections on Chopin (2000)
- Songs for Manhattan (2003)
- Makowicz vs. Mozdzer at Carnegie Hall - with pianist Leszek Możdżer (2004)
- From My Field (2006)
ADAM MAKOWICZ - PROFILE
Adam Makowicz (born Adam Matyszkowicz August 18, 1940 in Gnojnik, Zaolzie) is a Polish-American pianist and composer living in Toronto, who performs jazz and classical piano pieces, as well as his own compositions. Besides playing solo, he has worked with such musicians as Michał Urbaniak and Leszek Możdżer, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, at the Kennedy Centre, at the Carnegie Hall, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and other major orchestras at concert halls in Americas and in Europe. His technical mastery as jazz pianist has been compared to that of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Errol Garner, among others. His speciality in classical piano since his studies in the 1950s has been the music of Chopin.
Adam Makowicz was born into a family of ethnic Poles in Czechoslovakia in 1940, during World War II. After the war, he was raised in Poland. He studied classical music at the Chopin Academy of Music in Kraków. Overcoming cultural restrictions under communism, he listened to the "Voice of America" every night, and eventually developed a passion for modern jazz. At that time, freedom and improvisation was disapproved by the pro-Soviet authorities. However, he chose a new life and switched from the career of a classical pianist to that of a touring jazz pianist. After years of hardship, Makowicz got a regular gig at a small jazz club in a cellar of a house in Kraków. By the mid 1970s, Makowicz established himself as one of the leading pianists in Europe. He was chosen the "Best jazz pianist" by the readers of "Jazz Forum" magazine, and was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to the arts.
In 1977 Makowicz made a sensational 10-week tour in the United States, produced by John Hammond. At that time he recorded a solo album titled Adam on CBS. In 1978 he settled in New York. Makowicz was banned from Poland during the 1980s, when the Polish regime imposed martial law to crush the Solidarity Movement. At that time he took part in Ronald Reagan's initiative called "Let Poland Be Poland," joining many artists and public figures.
Around the turn of the century he moved to Toronto, Canada, and continued his career as a concert pianist and recording artist. In the course of his career spanning 40-years, Makowicz performed with major symphony orchestras, such as the National Symphony Orchestra, at the Carnegie Hall, at the Kennedy Centre, and other major concert halls in Americas and in Europe. Eventually he recorded over 30 albums of jazz, popular, and classical music, with his own arrangements of pieces by Chopin, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, Porter, Rogers, and other composers. Makowicz also wrote and recorded his own compositions for piano.
Makowicz has been building bridges between cultures by his numerous concerts performance and recordings of cross-cultural and cross-style compositions. He performed and recorded music by Chopin and Gershwin with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and other internationally recognized companies. In 1999, in commemoration of 150th anniversary of Chopin's death, Adam Makowicz played his piano tribute to Chopin at the French Embassy in Washington. His interpretations of classical pieces by Chopin and Gershwin are marked by finesse, inventiveness, and extraordinary technical virtuosity.
What the critics say:
"Makowicz plays with beauty, compassion, and vision. He is one of the most phenomenally spectacular pianists in jazz". (Hugh Wyatt, "New York Daily News")Author: Marek Romański, December 2008
"Adam Makowicz is a magician of the keyboard." (W. R. Stokes, "Washington Post")
"With a fertile imagination and an unlimited technique, he is not only an extraordinary pianist, he is also an unusual and fascinating composer." (Gene Lees, "Jazzletter")
"Makowicz's command of the piano is ultimate... He is the Liszt of jazz piano... a phenomenal player whose musicianship is on the highest level." (Stephen Pedersen, "The Mail-Star", "The Chronicle-Herald", Canada, April 8, 2003)
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