Makowicz Adam, actually A. Matyszkowicz, *18 August 1940 Gnojnik (Hnojnik near Český Těšín), Polish jazz pianist and composer based in the United States. After the Matyszkowicz family moved to Poland (1946), Adam began studying at the Karol and Antoni Szafranek State Music School in Rybnik. After graduating, he studied at the Music High School in Kraków. Under the influence of W. Conover’s radio broadcasts, he became fascinated with jazz; he dropped out of school and began working independently on his jazz pianist skills. In 1962, together with T. Stańko, he founded the Jazz Darings band, which won the 1st prize at the Southern Poland Jazz Performers’ Competition in Kraków in 1963. After parting ways with Stańko, Makowicz played in the A. Kurylewicz quartet (Jazz Jamboree, 1963), and then in the M. Urbaniak band. From 1965, he collaborated with Z. Namysłowski’s group, and later with the Novi Singers vocal quartet; he recorded and gave concerts with these bands (Europe, Australia, India, and New Zealand). At that time, he also played with J.P. Wróblewski’s group and accompanied W. Młynarski. In 1970, he became a member of Michał Urbaniak Group (later renamed Constellation); it was then that he began playing electric instruments – clavinet and Fender piano. In 1973, together with U. Dudziak, he recorded the experimental album Newborn Light; after its reissue by CBC Columbia (1974), the album received the highest rating in the prestigious magazine “Down Beat.” After a period of renewed cooperation with T. Stańko (Jazz Jamboree, 1974; the album Unit, 1976), Makowicz decided to pursue a solo career (the album Live Embers, 1975). In 1977, at the invitation of J. Hammond’s manager, he left for the United States, where he made his debut with a series of concerts at the Cookery Club in New York; in the same year, he recorded a solo album Adam for Columbia. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, he performed (solo and in larger ensembles) throughout the United States, playing in clubs and concert halls (including Carnegie Hall in New York). His concerts and albums (From My Windows, The Name Is Makowicz, Classic Jazz Duets, Moonray) were appreciated by the audience and highly rated by reviewers. In the early 1980s, he collaborated with musicians such as R. Carter, B. Williams, B. Hart, G. Mraz, and P. Woods; on stage, he performed alongside H. Hancock, G. Shering, and M. McPartland, among others. In 1987, he received American citizenship. In the same year, his album Naughty Baby was released, containing jazz versions of G. Gershwin’s songs; the pianist’s regular concert repertoire included Rhapsody in Blue (he had already performed this piece in the early 1980s). Makowicz’s subsequent albums included themes by I. Berlin (the album Plays Irvin Berlin, 11 concerts in various Polish cities in 1993), J. Kern (the album The Music of Jerome Kern) and R. Rodgers (the album My Favorite Things. The Music of Richard Rodgers). The recordings of these albums featured, among others: D. Holland, C. Haden, A. Foster, and G. Mraz. In 1994, together with the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra and the Affabre Concinui vocal ensemble, he recorded the album Plays Cole Porter, and in 1995 – Plays Berlin; the author of the arrangements on both albums was the jazz violinist, composer and conductor K. Dębski, with whom the pianist had been cooperating since 1989. Makowicz often gives concerts in Poland; in 1996, he performed in Warsaw on the occasion of the anniversary of the monthly “Jazz Forum.” In 2004, in a duet with L. Możdżer, he played at Carnegie Hall. The concert received excellent reviews, and the material from the performance was released on the album Makowicz vs. Możdżer – At The Carnegie Hall. In 2018, the artist recorded a solo album Swinging Ivories.
Makowicz’s music draws inspiration from three sources: 1. the broadly understood jazz tradition (standards), 2. the work of the Romantics (especially Chopin), post-Romantics and Impressionists, 3. the classics of American popular music (Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern, and Rodgers). His piano style initially showed influences of bebop with elements of free (Jazz Darings) and mainstream, and later fusion music (M. Urbaniak’s group); after starting a solo career, the artist turned to the tradition of jazz piano – from ragtime and stride (F. Waller) to swing (A. Tatum, T. Willson, E. Hines, D. Ellington, E. Garner, O. Peterson), rarely reaching for the achievements of modern jazz (B. Evans). After recording Naughty Baby, he focused on arrangements of themes by Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern and Ellington. He usually begins his interpretations with the melodic line of the original composition, which he equips with a new, usually strongly chromaticised harmony full of surprising modulations, builds the entire energetic course of the piece from scratch, diversifying the dynamics, colour, texture and introducing frequent agogic changes; he also does not shy away from quotes and sound jokes (dissonances, glissandos). He usually closes the whole in an arch form: part I – exposition of the theme (already in a new harmonic form), part II – extended improvisation, part III – a reference to the exposition with the possibility of extending it with a virtuoso coda or his own, extended cadenza (Rhapsody in Blue). Makowicz’s playing, distinguished by its exceptional technique (complete independence of both hands, freedom in performing the most breakneck runs, passages and arpeggios, dexterity of the left hand rarely found among jazz musicians), is sometimes compared to A. Tatum’s playing.
In the 1990s, Makowicz’s style, which is a kind of synthesis of American music (with a dominance of jazz elements) and European heritage (harmony, tradition of Romantic virtuosity, lyrical expression), was eventually crystallised and does not undergo any further alterations.
As a composer, Makowicz uses quite conservative language, composing mainly with himself in mind in the role of a performer. He has composed both jazz themes for piano solo (Blues, Past Tense, Live Embers, Opalescence, Interface) and pieces for chamber ensembles (cycle of his compositions for jazz trio and string quartet was performed in Warsaw in 1989 as Classic-Jazz-New Age).
Makowicz is one of the most outstanding Polish jazz pianists and one of the few artists who succeeded also in the United States.
