You became interested in music quite early in your life.
I was born in Żywiec into a musical family, so in a way I had no choice. My father, Jacenty Ignatowicz, is a professional musician who has been fascinated by highland music for years. My family home was always filled with sounds, and various instruments surrounded me throughout my childhood. My father is a multi-instrumentalist and self-taught. He plays many folk instruments, including bagpipes, ocarinas, various flutes and whistles, but he can also play the clarinet, violin or saxophone. My father is a well-known promoter of this music in the region and throughout Poland. As are my uncles on my mother’s side, although she doesn’t play anything.
As a highlander from Żywiec, however, you followed a different musical path.
Not right away. For as long as I can remember, I have seen my father playing some instrument. He was my first teacher and thanks to him I have this and no other musical sensitivity. And I am certainly very grateful to him for that. The first instruments I learned to play were necessarily highland instruments. My father really wanted me to play the clarinet and it was the clarinet that was my main instrument at the state primary music school in Żywiec. The second was the piano. However, the guitar appeared at practically the same time in my life, but not at school, but on vacation. I was 10, maybe 11 years old then. Someone brought a guitar to a party, started playing it and I liked it very much. We had guitars at home, but when I came back after those vacations I looked at them completely differently. And I started practicing them seriously. At first I was self-taught and watched my friends play and learned my first licks from them. Those were the times. Of course, there was no talk of any jazz back then.
Wouldn’t Dad be happy?
No. Dad had nothing against either the guitar or jazz. What’s more. He loved jazz, although the more traditional, New Orleans style. And that was the kind of jazz that never really interested me. However, when I was in high school, I got two jazz records from him: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things, so you could say they were absolute classics of jazz, not New Orleans at all. I played some rock songs on the guitar back then, but they were pretty simple and repetitive. When I heard Miles and Coltrane’s compositions, it was one big “wow” and I thought it would be great to be able to play and improvise on the guitar in a similar way.
There doesn’t seem to be a guitar on those records at all.
Yes, but I realized that musically it was a much higher level of driving compared to what my musical idols were playing at the time, like Steve Vai. Of course, Vai is a guitarist, and as you rightly noticed, there is no guitar on the aforementioned albums, but I am generally talking about the type of music and the possibilities of interpretation that jazz offers. I think that this was a breakthrough moment in my view of music, which also decided on my further education. At the same time, Miles Davis’s autobiography also appeared on the publishing market in Poland. After reading it, I was completely absorbed in jazz and knew what I wanted to do in life. It was also the moment when I decided that I wanted to be in New York in the future. I love Żywiec, it is beautifully situated in the mountains between two rivers by a lake, but nothing great happens there in terms of art or culture. On the other hand, I wanted to be in an environment that is very creative, in a place where there is wide access to theaters and museums. Where there is a large music scene and crowds of listeners. It is hard to find a better place in this respect than New York. Miles’ autobiography only confirmed this belief. When I finished high school, I knew what I wanted to do in life. Well, where?
You didn’t end up in New York right away.
Yes. After graduating from high school, I went to study in Cieszyn, where there is a branch of the University of Silesia. There are mostly art departments there, where the lecturers are often amazing teachers. I studied jazz guitar there, and one of my guitar teachers was professor Karol Ferfecki, habilitated doctor, who is also a lecturer at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. I finally graduated in 2005, and then spent a few months on the Coast playing in music clubs in Gdańsk. Later, I went on a trip to New York, to a city I would never have visited if not for my fascination with music, and jazz in particular.
What is jazz to you?
I have to admit that I don’t like the word jazz at all. Because it’s a made-up word and a vague term that fits everything. And I don’t like division into made-up categories. I like playing a variety of music and being inspired by many things. So maybe it will be easier for me to answer the question of what music is to me in general. Namely, it is everything. Addiction and oxygen. I cannot imagine life without music and without creating. It is something that gives me energy and a reason to get out of bed every day.
Do you have any guitar idols, or at least guitarists who have had the greatest influence on your work?
For me, music is not just about the guitar or some virtuosity. This results from my perspective on music. When listening, I pay attention to the composition itself, harmony, the instruments used and the arrangement. So I am inspired by all music, regardless of genre. In fact, I only divide it into good and bad. I like good, and I don’t like bad. The good includes the work of many artists. I can listen to Marilyn Mason or David Bowie, and then move on to Igor Stravinsky and Johann Sebastian Bach, and end with the music of John Coltrane or Pat Metheny. These are just examples, of course, because there are really many of these artists. So I don’t have my guitar idols, but I can tell you about my favorite guitarists, whose work is definitely an inspiration to me. This group includes the aforementioned Steve Vai and Pat Metheny, but also John Scofield and Bill Frisell. These are incredible artists who have done something new and groundbreaking in jazz.
It was only in the States that you started creating your own music.
I was still recording in Poland, but my two original albums were created here, in New York. My debut album entitled “Talk to you later” saw the light of day in 2008. We recorded it as a trio, i.e. guitar, double bass and drums. This instrumental album features 5 of my compositions and two jazz standards: Wayne Shorter’s Infant Eyes and Herbie Hancock’s The Sorcerer. The second album was released in 2016 and is called Here and Now. It’s a very eclectic, instrumental album that includes many different musical genres. There are some elements of minimalism characteristic of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, whom I love. There’s also drum and bass, Indian music, American folk, and even electronic sounds. To sum up, there’s a lot going on there and it’s a completely different album than my debut. Apart from that, practically everything was recorded live and this album features only my compositions.
When can we expect your next original works?
I already have material for a few more albums, but of course creating an album is a rather complicated process, which also involves considerable financial outlays. I hope that my next album will be released in the fall of this year, or in the spring of next year. However, a lot depends on the sponsors, which I am currently looking for. The album will definitely feature my compositions with motifs borrowed from many musical genres, but as always, everything will be strongly rooted in improvised music, i.e. jazz.
You are someone who gives a lot of concerts, and not only in New York.
That’s true. I may not have played in the largest and most famous clubs in the metropolis, such as Blue Note or Village Vanguard, but I have performed regularly in dozens of smaller ones, such as Smalls, Smoke, St. Mazie, or in the very popular, but unfortunately no longer existing 55 Bar, where I think everyone played, including Mike Stern, the guitarist known for his collaboration with Miles. I also had the pleasure of performing at the legendary Blues Alley in Washington. I was also lucky enough to meet many excellent musicians and perform with them on one stage. New York, like few other places in the world, offers such an opportunity. The most outstanding musicians I have played with certainly include: double bassist Christopher “Chris” Tordini, pianists Julian Shore and Benito Gonzales, drummers Ari Hoenig, Ferenc Nemeth and Antonio Sanchez. The latter is known, among others, for his collaboration with Pat Metheny.
You also perform in Poland every year.
I regularly appear in my hometown of Żywiec, where I have performed several times during the Żywiec city of senses festival, which takes place every year in the fall. My last performance in Poland took place last year in Piaseczno near Warsaw, where in the local cultural center I had the opportunity to play with excellent musicians, Piotr Wyleżał on piano and Patryk Dobosz on drums.
Have you performed at the Center yet?
Yes, and many times, although never during any festival. I have lived in Greenpoint for over 20 years, with short breaks, so it would even be strange if I had never played there before. And I do not hide the fact that I really like performing there. I am glad that the Center organizes events such as the jazz festival and thus actively supports both musicians and promotes music culture. Especially since not much is happening in Greenpoint in this regard. There is no music club here that regularly hosts concerts. It is very important that the Center fills this space.
What can the participants of the Festival at the Center expect from you?
At the Festival, I will perform as the Paweł Ignatowicz Trio, i.e. me on guitar, accompanied by Matt Penman on double bass and Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums. These are great musicians with whom I have not had the opportunity to play yet, so I am even more looking forward to our cooperation. I will present songs from both of my albums, but there will also be other compositions of mine that have not been officially released yet. However, I believe that it will happen in the near future.
Thank you for the conversation and good luck at the Festival.
