Adam Makowicz
b. 18 August 1940, Czechoslovakia. Makowicz's piano teacher mother taught him to play. He studied classical music at the Fryderyck Chopin School in Kracow, but left when he became interested in jazz. His first work was with Tomasz Stanko (trumpet) in one of the first European groups to be influenced by the free style of Ornette Coleman. In 1965, he moved to Warsaw, where he had his own trio and played with Zbigniew Namyslowski (alto) with whom he toured worldwide. Makowicz's interest in composition grew during this period and he became involved with electric keyboards. In 1970, he joined Michal Urbaniak in his new group Constellation and recorded an album with Urbaniak's wife, Urszula Dudziak. Between 1973 and 1976 he played in a group called Unit with Tomasz Stanko and played the piano with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at a concert in Prague (1976). In 1977 he went to the USA as a solo performer, playing in a way which reflected his interest in Art Tatum, Keith Jarrett and romantic piano music. He settled in New York in 1977 and became an American citizen in 1986.