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Saturday, 30th of December
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Saturday, 30th of December The last months of '06 - Bass Days I did two Bass Days this October. The first one - in Verona (Euro Bass Day) - been there 4 times and it was great yet again. Played just before Stu Hamm. A great place - not much to add to that. I spent the last days of October over in Germany on the European Bass Day in Krefeld. No huge stars there as we had in Verona, but a great atmosphere, almost family-like. A lot of my bass mates from Germany, Holland and neighbouring countries. I played there with my whole band and I'm happy to conclude that we did get applause. It's so nice to hear requests for my songs - they know the tunes! We went there in a chartered camping car, and the ride to Germany took 27 hours...I'm serious. That surely must explain the atmosphere in the car. Riding with us was the representative of the Ministry of Culture and Manners, musical agitator and friend - Mr Wiesław. Because we forgot to pay for the petrol at the station (well, I did) we had some problems with the police, but meine koleegen-und-freund Adrian Maruszczyk helped us and we managed to escape long prison sentences. I really just forgot to pay... November - Bass Day in Manchester. My first time there. Had to sweat the shit out of myself to impress the guys. I played in the slot between Adam Nitti and Jonas Hellborg... but it went okay and yes, they clapped yet again AND, what's more, invited me to play next year - maybe even with my whole band. | ||||||
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Saturday, 30th of December The last months of '06 - tours and retrospections And now about the "Jest Radość" ("Happiness all around") tour - that is, Pilichowski Band live. We played in Jaworki, Lublin, Łódz, Raciborz, Torun, Bydgoszcz, Andrychow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gliwice and Pszczyna. Happiness was, of course, all around and that's the kind of Poland we're figting for... That was just 1/3 of the whole tour, more shows to come from January 2007 'till April. Details coming soon at www.pilichowski.pl We are really grateful for the help of YAMAHA and Marek Lamert, Box ELECTRONICS and AP Partner (who did those "happiness"-gadgets). These are the official sponsors of HAPPINESS!!! Thanks to all who turned up at the shows and please also turn up for the next ones:) In retrospection, it's also worth mentioning that Pilichowski Band gave a live performance in Radio 3 in Poland (one of the most notable stations we have here) a while ago, plus a short show at Dzień Kotana [Kotan's Day], one of the biggest charity festivals in the country. AND we played London with pop singer Kasia Kowalska (BTW, her latest album went gold), but that was way back in September... We also played with Pi-r2 recently, of course. The concerts of 16th and 17th of December in Ciechanow and Nasielsk gave us the opportunity to wish the merry society an even merrier Xmas. Now, from me, all the best in the new year... and lots of HAPPINESS! | ||||||
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Thursday, 20th of December 2006 | ||||||
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Friday, 1st of December 2006 | ||||||
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Sunday, 15th of October 2006 Bass Connection DVD If you want to learn Wojtek's technique, check out his latest DVD, Bass Connection. Coming soon with English subtitles.  | ||||||
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Sunday, 15th of October 2006 New galleries Check out new photos from the Studio im. Agnieszki Osieckiej and from London with Kasia Kowalska | ||||||
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Wednesday, 11th of October 2006 Tour Dates Update
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Wednesday, 11th of October 2006 Kotan's Day Video
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Sunday, 13th of August 2006 TT Band's Autumn-Winter tour Time's ticking away - the much-mentioned new tour of Pilichowski Band will soon be taking place. It's very probable that the band will visit every corner of the country as there are about 30-40 concerts planned. It's also true that the main patron of the event will again be Yamaha, of which we're proud to inform. The exact dates and places will come soon - keep your fingers crossed for 'happiness all around'! | ||||||
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Monday, 14th of August Workshops in Konskie From the 17th to the 21st of July this year young musicians from all over the country spent many hours learning the tricks of the musical trade under the eyes of Elżbieta Zapendowska (vocal), Marek Raduli (electric guitar), Kamil Barański (keyboards), Wojtek Pilichowski (bass guitar), Tomasz Łosowski (drums) and, additionally, Bartek Papierz (guitar). The musicians were powered by BOX Electronics. The person who organized the event was Maciej Lisowski, who says: "It was great to have all these wonderful, open and talented people around. The music was with us from beginning to end. Big thanks go to Wojtek Pilichowski, who - from now on - will be titled the Godfather of these workshops. We are already planning the next edition". Check out how the workshops looked like here | ||||||
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Sunday, 13th of August 2006 5-metre bass strings I was driving home after my show and the concert of TTR2 at the Academy of Very Fine Arts when my phone rang: "Mr Wojtek Pilichowski? You seem to have left 5-metre bass strings at the canteen... What am I supposed to do with that?" A thousand thoughts raced through my head before the guy finally introduced himself as Jurek Owsiak [THE organizer of Woodstock] and invited me to next year's big stage with my lecture titled "the history of music according to Pi" and TTR2's concert. Of course, I agreed... 'Cause Woodstock is a great thing - it was the only place where I could sit down at one table with a priest, an immam, a yogi, Hołdys (whom I'd like to thank for being the guardian soul of the Academy of Very Fine Arts) and Wojtek Morawski. I keep thinking about that situation... | ||||||
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Friday, 28th of July 2006 Very Fine Arts indeed A never-before-seen occasion... Pi gave a show at "Akademia Sztuk Przepięknych" [The Academy of Very Fine Arts] taking place during this year's Przystanek Woodstock. A lot of people showed up... though Kazimiera Szczuka had even more listeners:) Luckily, Marek Raduli and Wojtek Morawski lent a supportive hand. | ||||||
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July 2006 Workshops in Jaworki This year's edition of international workshops in Jaworki was a huge success. Over 70 young musicians showed up with masses of enthusiasm towards learning. The bass class alone had 26 members! The pros of Poland: Wojtek Pilichowski (bass), Marek Raduli (guitar), Tomek Łosowski (drums), Bartek Papierz (guitar), Kamil Barański (keyboards) and Krzysiek Wałecki (vocal) were backed up by guest musicians Artur Lesicki and Witek Żuromski, as well as foreigners. From over the German border we had bassist Adrian Maruszczyk, whose knowledge on the theory of music generated huge interest of those who would like to know even more on how music functions. Italian drummer Daniele Chiantese taught how to work with modern music to create a powerful rhythm-section. The magical atmosphere of the setting, the club (www.muzycznaowczarnia.pl), the lessons, the jams, the concerts, the conversations contribute to making these workshops one of the best and most-favoured in the country. | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 POLAND AND ITALY After a few shows here and there me and Daniele Chiantese decided to form a band. We already have a couple of dates booked in Italy, and they're not club dates only - but also big outdoor venues. The rest of the line-up is still under construction, I'll let you know in time... | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 DVD PROMOTION The last few weeks also meant an intensive promotion of the Bass Connection DVD school - big thanks to Ania Piszcz, who organized everything... It's a pity there was not always enough time to play bass together, but you understand - I'm touring all the time. Huge thank-yous also to the Riff stores staff, they're a very professional and friendly bunch. The school is sold out now, they still have a couple of copies in some stores. By the way, an English version of the school is being created, for distribution in Germany, Italy and Holland. I don't know if there's a lot of sense in it - in Frankfurt the German guys bought the Polish version anyway, though I did tell them they wouldn't understand a thing :D | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 END OF TOUR The end of the Pilichowski Band tour we played with Zbyszek Fil, so the sound was rich - second guitar, vocals... We had great fun everywhere - except in Gliwice, when someone nicked my mobile phone. This is what The boss of 4 art, where we played, had to say when I told her what happened: The nerve! How can you?! Phew... Well, I'm sorry and thank you for not slapping me on the face. I don't recommend that club to anyone - unless you leave your mobile at home. The catchphrase "Jest Radość" ("Happiness all around") has entered the common usage probably in all towns we played in. The public repeated it like a mantra... The whole encounter happened thanks to Ewa Cichecka-Jaszczur, who deserves a big thank-you - and Piotrek "Zarobiony" ("Overworked") and Bogdan (still no nickname), who drove us around, Tomek Lipinski who took care of the stage and filmed us, Lukasz "Rejesrator" Blasinski, who made the audience feel good, Adam Adamowicz from Lauda, thanks to whom we were amplified by Nexo systems. Of course, can't forget to mention the band - you were great! Agnieszka, as you already know, got into Kayah's band, and Kamil Baranski got a new nickname - UFO - and learnt how not to be late to the morning bus thanks to only a few vocalized reprimands. In Jaworzno we had a great support band - again, the question is whether it was not too great... All the best to Grzesiek Skotnicki (drums) and Ola Chodak (vocal). Keep going! | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 TWO BASSES In March me and Adrian Maruszczyk gave a couple of interesting shows in Germany - four gigs and 3 gear exhibitions. There weren't really any crowds, but no wonder - there were 2 bassists on stage and one loop thingy. The playing's great - we have different approaches to bass playing, we don't get in each others' way, so no cables suddenly get unplugged on stage. We compliment each other musically, personally everything's great, so the collaboration won't end on those few shows for sure. | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 THANKS JIMI FESTIVAL We gave a nice little show with Jan Bo during the Thanks Jimi Festival in Wroclaw - the world record was beaten, there were 5 bassists on the stage, 20 guitarists and one drummer, and in the audience - 1581 guitarists. And there have been talks about the new Jan Bo record and playing as the old three-piece band. | ||||||
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Friday, 14th of May 2006 SHEET MUSIC Somebody's whining that sheet music for my songs would be useful. Well, they've been here on this website for more than a year, you know :D - here | ||||||
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Friday, 17th of March 2006 Just finished a long and tough tour - hard especially for the debutants. A two-week tour of clubs, supported by Yamaha (just like the rest of the crew I'll also be using Yamaha... Magic Stomp effects), with only two lighter days, but apart from that - driving and playing, playing and driving... We started in Katowice - a warm-up and a jam session, and then all hell started! Tiring trips and demanding but rewarding concerts. All thanks to the enthusiasm of the audience, which filled up clubs in practically all places we played in. That's really great, because - after all - this is the first tour of this band, young musicians... I got to know a lot of new people and new places, in which I haven't played yet - like the club in Świnoujście: someone really got to work and so we played in a really great environment. On the road we also had Łukasz Błasiński, who uses Yamaha and Nexo gear, Tomek Lipiński who took care of the stage technicalities (unfortunately - not on all concerts), and we were driven around by Piotr Walke. In April we're hitting the road again with the same line-up - what's interesting, there'll be some video material from that. Maybe not a separate album, but a bonus to a record... we'll see. I played the tour on new, neodymium Ashdown cabinets - great gear, the sound of thunder and - what's more - really light! The band was happy with the selectivity and audibility of the bass, its strength and dynamics. Expensive stuff - around 6.000 PLN each, but that's really the top shelf, gear worth its money. The youngsters - Agnieszka and Kamil - barely made it, but they were brave. It's hard, physical work - lugging the gear around, playing the show, packing it all back again. Then you've also got to drive it all around different towns (longest distance - 600 km), crossing the country, so you also get mentally tired. Even Bartek Papierz had enough after just one week, but he got his stuff together. We're really beginning to be a band. Unfortunately, Zbyszek Fil didn't make it on the tour - he's got other stuff on his mind at the moment, so he didn't manage. I hope he'll be there with us on the second part of the tour. | ||||||
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Friday, 17th of March 2006 The workshop at Krzyżowa will surely take place - 27th of July 'till 6th of August. Please note, though, that it won't be a bass guitar holiday, but some hard, serious work. The bass class will be max 10 people, so we'll experiment with individual sessions. Not sure yet about Bolesławiec - things are still under construction. Lastly - workshops at Jaworki and Końskie, I don't think that needs any extra recommendation... | ||||||
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Thursday, 2nd of March 2006   | ||||||
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Thursday, 12th of January 2006 An interview with Wojtek from Bass Professor | ||||||
| archive: 2005 |
