Adam Makowicz Blue Sapphires
Latest album by Adam Makowicz, recorded directly to master tape.
Recordet 1,2 February 2023 in Custom 34 studio in Gdańsk.
Recording engineer – Piotr Łukaszewski
Analog mastering and cutting laquers from tapes –by Alex Wharton (The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Rolling Stones)
On 26th March 2023 in Abbey Road Studios in London.
Setup For this pure analog recording:
A very rare Grand Piano Malmsjö.
Restored and prepared by PIANOFORTE.
Tuned at 432Hz.
Only ten of those pianos were made and only three survived to this day. This is the only one that is still functional. It is also the only piano in the world where the strings are not crossing due to its unique “banana shape”.
One stereo and two mono HUM AUDIO DEVICES microphones
Two U87 Neumann microphones, Lexicon 960L and Studer a807. RTM 911, 14” magnetic tapes.
Adam Makowicz - piano
Side A:
1.Walking Downtown – Adam Makowicz
2.Humoresque – Antonin Dvorak
3.Cheek to Cheek – Irving Berlin
4.Blue Monk – Thelonius Monk
5.What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Live- Michel Legrand
Side B:
1.You Do Something - Cole Porter
2.Sleep Safe and Warm - Krzysztof Komeda
3.My One and Only Love - Guy Wood
4.All the Things You Are - Jerome Kern
5.Broadway at 14 Street - Adam Makowicz
6.When Lights are Low - Benny Carter
Limited edition 400 pcs crystal clear vinyl (nr 001-400) + Standard edition 600 pcs black (nr 401-800). 180gr vinyl, 33 1/3 Rpm
Adam Makowicz was born into a family of ethnic Poles in Hnojník (eastern Moravia, now in the Czech Republic), in an area annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war, he was raised in Poland. He studied classical music at the Chopin Conservatory of Music in Kraków.[1]Overcoming cultural restrictions under the communist government, he developed a passion for modern jazz. At the time, political freedom and improvisation were disapproved of by the pro-Soviet authorities. Nonetheless, he embarked on a new professional life by switching from the career of a classical pianist to that of a touring jazz pianist. After years of hardship, Makowicz gained a regular gig at a small jazz club in a cellar of a house in Kraków. He was named the "Best jazz pianist" by the readers of Poland's Jazz Forum magazine, and was awarded a gold medal for his contribution to the arts.
In 1977, Makowicz made a 10-week concert tour of the United States, produced by John Hammond. At that time, he recorded a solo album titled Adam on CBS. In 1977, he settled in New York. Makowicz was banned from Poland during the 1980s after 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.
During the 2000s, he moved to Toronto, Canada, and continued his career as a concert pianist and recording artist. In the course of his career, Makowicz has performed with major symphony orchestras, such as the National Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall, at the Kennedy Centre, and other major concert halls in Americas and in Europe. He has recorded over 30 albums of jazz, popular, and classical music, with his own arrangements of pieces by Chopin, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, Porter, Rodgers, and other composers. Makowicz also wrote and recorded his own compositions for pi
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, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony 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.