Włodek Pawlik, born on 4th October, 1958 in Kielce, is a graduate in piano of the Conservatory in Warsaw and of the HochSchule fuer Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Hamburg. He is a laureate of many national and international competitions.
Włodek Pawlik has played concerts on all continents. He has composed symphonic, film, jazz, vocal and chamber music. His musical output includes Koncert fortepianowy / The Piano Concerto. He taught at Western Michigan University and at the International Jazz Conference in Los Angeles in 1999. He has recorded for radio and television. He has performed at the most important jazz festivals all over the world (in 1998 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Haga). He worked with the American band Western Jazz Quartet and with other famous musicians such as Richie Cole, Spike Robinson, Sal Nistico, Herb Geller, Alex Riel, Johannes Faber, Dusko Goykovic, Wolfgang Haffner, Scott Hamilton, Tom Knific, Billy Hart, Randy Brecker.
He has released over 24 original records under his own name to date. His album Anhelli recorded with Włodek Pawlik Trio (2006) has been very popular in Poland and was awarded the 'Fryderyk Award' for best Polish jazz-rock act.
(...) No doubt, it is really jazz, in some recordings very energetic (for instance 'Witkacy' or 'Transylvanian Dance'). There are sometimes calm moments, moments of contemplation, romanticism. It is a jazz with Polish background, with Chopin in the back of the head (similarity of beautiful 'Ellenai' with the 'Prelude in G major'). No doubt, this record is excellent - wrote Dorota Szwarcman, Polityka 7/2006.
In 2012, Pawlik reunited with Randy Brecker during a recording session of Night In Calisia – released both in Poland and in the USA (Summit Records). His performance on the album received another nomination for the ‘Fryderyk 2013’ award for best Polish jazz musician of the year. The album was awarded the 2014 Grammy Award in the Best Large Ensemble Album category.