Lukasz Pawlik: Making Long Distance Connections

It would come as no surprise if the last name Pawlik is familiar to you. Grammy-winning jazz composer and pianist Wlodek Pawlik, from Poland, has been a vital part of the jazz community for many years now. As it turns out, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. His son, Lukasz Pawlik, is a multitalented multi-instrumentalist who has surely raised the fusion bar of intelligence and melodic sensibilities.

His cast on Long Distance Connections (Summit Records, 2021) includes Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Dave Weckl, Tom Kennedy, and Gary Novak. While those names surely draw your attention to the record, and they all play exceptionally well, it is Lukasz Pawlik that is the star of this brilliant record. Pawlik plays beautifully on the piano, and on one song the cello, however it is his compositional and arrangement skills that broadly make this record a fusion listeners dream.

Truthfully told, I wasn't aware of the younger Pawlik until a couple of months ago. It was by chance that I heard his record. After putting my socks back on, I reached out to the always thoughtful Brecker for Pawlik's contact information. I just had to talk to this cat...

All About Jazz: Good day Lukasz, I should say good evening with the time difference. Nine hours I believe, so 9pm your time in Poland, right?

Lukasz Pawlik: Yes, Jimmie, except that we say it differently. Here it is twenty-one.

AAJ: Right, yeah, what we refer to as military time. So how are you? Really glad to meet you in this way.

LP: Yes, Jimmie, I have been looking forward talking with you.

AAJ: I don't often start a conversation this way, but I have to say, Lukasz, that your most recent record, Long Distance Connections, just really blew me away.

LP: Oh my God! Thank you for saying that. You are very kind.

AAJ: Some people are connoisseurs of fine wine, I am more of a connoisseur of fine fusion. To put it in terms of the former, it has a magnificent bouquet. Obviously, I'd like to talk about the record, however, you were surrounded by the richness of high end classical piano even before you were even born. Maybe you could start by telling us about your parents and the musical environment you were born and raised in. It must have had an impact on your appreciation of music.

LP: Yes, you make a good point, as my mother was practicing a lot on the piano when she was pregnant. I was surrounded by music before I came out of nowhere (laughing).

AAJ: (laughing) A comfortable seat in the womb to be enveloped with fine classical music.

LP: Yes, my mom was practicing some of the most challenging classical pieces as a student of the Warsaw College of Music. She was still required to play even at very late stages of pregnancy. I think it kind of determined my path. I heard this wonderful music from the very beginning. My parents have had an influence on my deep relationship with music— my connection with classical music and jazz. I was surrounded by both of those genres. My father also used to study and play classical music. By the time I was born he was done with that, and was playing jazz. My mom was nearly finished with her master's degree in music at that point.

AAJ: So you heard jazz and classical about as early as humanly possible.

LP: Yes, and my father would always be bringing home records, many jazz and classical records. My parents, and I would sit and listen to all of them. I am very grateful to my parents for the musical choices they made all during the time when I was a little boy. I was hearing music that totally opened my horizons and my imagination. I still remember those records. I have a very vivid recollection. They are still part of me.

AAJ: You had a vast introduction to music and soaked it all in like a sponge. Was it primarily piano based or broader than that? I'm guessing the latter.

LP: My mother is a big fan of Pat Metheny. My dad too. This was back in the eighties. His white album, with the quartet, [officially known as Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978)], was played a lot. I even started to try to imitate Metheny's guitar. We had a guitar and I would try to play along with the record.

AAJ: How old were you when you tackling Metheny's chops?

LP: I was maybe five or six.

AAJ: Wow. Most kids that age aren't able to wrap their head around Metheny's complexities, much less try to play them. A high percentage of adults don't "get" what Metheny or John McLaughlin, or Stern or other fusion giants are doing. No matter how much of a head start you got on exposure to music, there is a certain kind of genius attached to that.

LP: Well, this music affected me in a powerful way. By age six or seven I felt very strongly the need to play an instrument. I played the guitar some, but the drums were really my first serious instrument. I started by emulating different drummers by playing on many different objects around the house.

AAJ: Who needs a snare when you have pots and pans?

LP: Yes. We had a small apartment at the time and I was playing on a lot on chairs. I was also making a lot of noise.

AAJ: (laughing) I can picture that. With so much musicality coming from both sides of your family, I have to imagine that gene goes further back. Were your grandparents involved with music as well?

LP: Yes. My grandfather was one of the first saxophone players in Poland. Both my mom and dad's family were more or less professional musicians. There are a couple of ancestral generations to look up to. There is even a picture of a huge orchestra and choir, that is at my parents house, that has my mom's grandfather playing the clarinet and my father's mom in the choir. They didn't know each other at the time.

AAJ: That's very cool that there was a musical connection well before your families actually knew each other.

LP: Yes it is a real gem.

AAJ: A wonderful family treasure. Your father has been quite successful as a pianist and composer. He is very well-known, and respected in jazz circles. Writing all of the compositions and taking home a Best Large Jazz Ensemble Grammy in 2014 for Night in Calisia (Pawlik/Summit, 2012), performed with Randy Brecker. has to be a very proud family memory as well

LP: Yes, he is the first musician from Poland to ever win a Grammy, along with his trio and the symphony orchestra from the city of Kalisz. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Yes, it was a big sensation here. My father was on the news for quite a while especially because he received the award personally. It was quite an event.

AAJ: He became like a rock star for awhile.

LP: Kind of, yeah, like a celebrity.

AAJ: I love that your mom is in charge of Pawlik Relations. That's clever, and I would imagine quite helpful in coordinating all the schedules. She too, stays busy with her own concert schedule. Much more in the classical world, yes?

LP: She is very active especially in the spectrum of vocal music. She has her own festival of vocal music in Warsaw. She is also a tutor in the piano class at the Warsaw College of Music. She also has recorded two records on the piano in the past year, and many more before. My father and I are always impressed at how much energy she has to work and coordinate the many projects she is involved with. That includes the family business of all three of our records and schedules. We are one big family and we support each other.

AAJ: I was going to ask you what age were you when you started out on the cello. But from what you mentioned perhaps the drums came first?

LP: I picked up a lot of things, including also the guitar I mentioned. But yes, I believe my first performance was on the drums. I took lessons for a while. For some reason my parents didn't want all that noise at home (laughing). We had one piano so it was difficult to get any time on it, so the cello became the logical choice. It is much more quiet. In fact, I had sort of a miniature cello as young boy. I enjoy playing the cello, and also the electric cello. I still play some drums. I have an electric bass and keyboards. I like to play and have some knowledge of each instrument. I think my music becomes deeper when you understand the intricacies of all the instruments.

AAJ: That has to be exceptionally helpful in studying composition at school.. Not too many people can say that they went to college in Michigan and in Düsseldorf. How did that come about?

LP: My father had a good relationship with a bassist whose wife was the Dean of Classical Music at Western Michigan University. She supported the idea of a scholarship for me to attend. I went there for about three years and am very grateful for that opportunity. It was a great experience and I made a lot of friends there. Officially I went there as a cellist. The school knew that I had won a cellist competition in Poland. I learned a lot and it was very nice to experience life on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I was eighteen when I left for the United States. My dad taught me some improvisations on the piano before I left. I was able to work in the jazz department and play with some of those musicians. I ended up composing for their big band, as well. That experience allowed me to believe in myself as a composer. Before that I was never sure of myself. I was confident as a player, but not as a composer. I thought, "my father, now there's a composer." But I went back home with new found confidence.

AAJ: It's great that you got so much out of that experience.

LP: Yes, and I should say that although I wrote for the jazz big band, most of my compositions were of classical music. I feel that the techniques used in classical composition are very helpful when I compose improvised music. Understanding composition on the classical side is beneficial to improvisation to a certain extent.

AAJ: I've noticed in music from many artists that have classical background, that their fusion or jazz compositions have a broader scope. It seems to just pop off of a sturdy canvas.

LP: I think so, yeah. It builds a strong foundation.

AAJ: Then it was off to school in Dusseldorf.

LP: Yes, as a matter of fact I still live in Germany. It isn't far, so I go back and forth with my schedule between the two countries. I am always on the go. So, I completed my classical education in Germany. I also had some experiences in the renowned Germany Symphony Orchestra and Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra. I mostly did it to earn money, but it turned out to be a very inspiring stage of my musical development because I got to know classical music so much more. It was wonderful experience being part of a large symphony. It was also a very good lesson in how different composers orchestrate. ,

AAJ: You then started professionally in a band called Kattorna. What was that all about?

LP: When I came back from the United States I was excited to start composing my own music. I started composing music for an acoustic jazz quintet. Kattorna had a trombone, saxophone, acoustic piano, bass, and drums. I later got very interested in electronic music. I cultivated different sounds and transitioned them into my compositions. It is very inspiring for me to create with all these different colors.

AAJ: That led into your first record as a leader, Lonely Journey (Summit, 2017). Is that title personal? Did you experience a lonely journey?

LP: Well, yes I did. To be precise the title was inspired by a lonely journey that I took by train from Germany to Italy through the Alps. I wanted to see the picturesque landscapes of Switzerland. The title track composition reflects my feelings during that journey. This I believe added a more personal touch to the music.

AAJ: It would be natural to want to establish your own sound that differentiates from that of your father's. You certainly have done that. I'm interested in that process. Leaning toward fusion is part of that.

LP: Yes, but I am not deliberately trying to differentiate from my father. He is well known for a certain type of music that is mostly acoustic. I simply identify myself more with the broader sonic, so called fusion genre, that I can use so many ingredients from world music. I find that very inspirational. Of course being able to design the music by myself is something that transpires throughout the process. I don't know where it is going to go next. I am still indulging myself in the wealth of spiritual instruments. I have more and more new tools to help design a new musical journey.

AAJ: You managed to have Mike Stern on both of your records. I'll go out on a limb and say that knowing Randy Brecker through your father was a factor in getting hooked up with Mike.

LP: Yes, definitely. My father has known Randy for over twenty years. In 2014 Randy and my father played Night in Calisia with a Japanese Symphony Orchestra. Mike happened to be working on his own project there and invited Randy and my dad over to play together one night. Tom Kennedy was playing bass and Lionel Cordew was on drums. Mike played on my song "Vibrance of the Coast" on Lonely Journey. I had originally thought of a saxophone for the melody of the song, but I was adventurous and started thinking of a guitar. Then it hit me that adding Mike's signature sound would really be something else. I was blown away by what he did on my song.

AAJ: I believe you have had the opportunity to play live with Mike when he tours in Poland, right?

LP: Yes, I played with Mike a few times here in Poland when we had a premier of the record. We also played in the studio together at the beginning of the second record, Long Distance Connections. That was a very interactive experience. Mike was the first person to record for that record.

AAJ: Stern then was able to open the doors of Dave Weckl, Gary Novak, and Tom Kennedy to play on the record, as well as Brecker. Long Distance Connections indeed references the fact that you were all recording separately in different parts of the world due to covid and busy schedules. It's remarkable that the record sounds so very connected. That had to be perhaps the most complex aspect of the entire project.

LP: Absolutely, I was very aware of the possibility of the record not sounding organic. Musicians not being together in the studio presents some issues. There are steps to take to reduce this risk. I tried to come up with pretty invigorating computer arrangements of the songs for the solos. Mike and Randy recorded first. I provided an emulated rhythm section that I programmed. I improvised the bass on the keyboards so it wouldn't seem boring and predictable. They had some reference for the solos. I chose to do it this way because having the rhythm section play to the actual solos allowed them to play very spontaneously. That thought process I believe proved to be right for this record.

AAJ: I would say so. As I stated in my review, Long Distance Connections is "in one man's opinion, the best fusion record I have heard in 2021." There are many reasons why, but the core is your compositions and arrangements. You write strongly to your musician's strengths. Let's talk about that. Do you, for example, compose a song and later know that Stern will be playing on it and make adjustments to maximize his skill set, or did you write the songs already knowing the personnel?

LP: Well, that's a very good question, Jimmie. As best I can remember I didn't have certain artists in mind when I was composing. The choices were made after I wrote the music. I took the time to think about who would bring a certain personality or ambiance to a song or a groove. With "Indian Garden" it was rather obvious with the relatively open space for the guitar. Harmonically as well with Mike being such a tremendous improvisor. It is very complex but also with reference to the blues. It was paramount to have such a player. I couldn't ask for a better guitarist or moreover a better musician than Mike Stern. Now with Randy I thought of my song "Greg's Walk." It has kind of a Brecker Brothers feel to it. I am huge fan of their music. I have spent countless hours listening to it.

AAJ: I'm guilty of that too.

LP: (laughing) So it was sort of a personal tribute.

AAJ: Speaking of skill sets, you mostly play the piano on the record. You played cello on one song. However as a cellist the word virtuoso comes to mind. I have particularly enjoyed listening and watching some duets with your father on piano. You two clearly enjoy playing together. There's a whole lot of incredible musicianship going on.

LP: Thank you very much for saying that. That's a very nice compliment. Perhaps you saw the one-hour concert we performed and recorded about a year ago for Polish radio. I played mostly acoustic but also some electric cello at the end.

AAJ: Indeed I saw that. On one tune you were rocking that electric cello like it's an electric guitar!

LP: Yes, inspired by Mike. It was a lot of fun.

AAJ: Whether orchestras or jazz venues, from what I have gathered the music scene in Poland is quite rich. Is that the case?

LP: Definitely. That's very very true. There are a lot of very talented musicians in Poland. There is something very unique and special about Polish music. We have our own DNA. There is a great history of music here in Poland. The Frederic Chopin Piano Competition every five years celebrates this rich history. I am always reminded of the scope of it all. It explains why we have such a wealth of talent today.

AAJ: You have a current project that I believe involves orchestra and a small jazz ensemble in an entirely new light. I'm excited to hear what that is all about.

LP: This a relatively vast composition, almost one hour of music. I started to write it when the whole pandemic began. It evokes into a three-piece composition for orchestra that includes improvising from a jazz trio. Its not very common to do this with a symphony orchestra but I wanted to take it to another level and kind of reverse the roles of importance. This makes the orchestra more prominent. I'm very satisfied with the results and am hoping that I will be able to perform it at some point when the orchestras are allowed to play at full size. This is a composition for a large symphony orchestra. This is new territory of brass, percussion, and jazz piano that I have ventured into. I wanted to challenge myself and I hope to be able to bring it to life in the near future.

AAJ: I hope so too. That sounds like a very strong project. I look forward to hearing it.

LP: Thank you. I look forward to sharing it with everyone, but I am going to wait until I can do it right with a full symphony orchestra.

AAJ: I completely understand that. There are a lot of complexities in the music that you have recorded. Are you able to play it in a live performance?

LP: Yes, it is stage-ready. You are right though that it is complicated. I bring in as many layers as I can on my computer. While playing the keyboards I am also pushing buttons at certain times to bring in another layer. It is difficult. I have forgotten a couple of times and then have to get it back on track. Sometimes I have to take something out. But I really try to do as much as possible with my two hands and two legs. Also switching from one keyboard to another. It really helps to have a guitar player. A quartet with a guitarist. It really helps with the harmonics. I also have a saxophonist that can play tenor, alto, and soprano that is part of the mix.

AAJ: Complicated, but I'm glad you are able to do it. Your music from your first two records is sensationally rich and complex. I'm happy to have heard it, and have really enjoyed talking with you today.

LP: Thank you, Jimmie. You know sometimes I feel like I was born too late. I write music for the real listener. The average attention span these days is quite low. So, it is more important for me to have a conversation, such as this, with someone that appreciates and understands. Thank you again for your most positive and analytical review of Long Distance Connections.

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