Biography
Kinga Głyk, the Polish bassist and composer whose name is pronounced GWICK, has collected multiple awards while building a sound that fuses jazz, fusion, blues, R&B, and funk around a strong rhythmic core. She launched her professional path at twelve in the Głyk P.I.K Trio, the group her father, vibraphonist and drummer Irek Głyk, directed; the family unit traveled across Europe during school holidays. Her first independent album, Rejestracja, surfaced in 2015 and prompted Polish industry voters to name her both Jazz Bassist of the Year and Discovery of the Year. The live recording Happy Birthday followed in 2016. She then moved to Warner Music and delivered Dream in 2017, fronting a studio ensemble that featured saxophonist Tim Garland, pianist and keyboardist Nitai Hershkovits, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Two years later, Feelings spotlighted a core rhythm section augmented by several guest keyboardists. Her fifth album, Real Life, arrived internationally in 2024 and was co-produced with Snarky Puppy’s Michael League.
Born in Poland in 1997, Głyk grew up in Rydułtowy, a town situated in the southwestern Silesian Highland on the Rybnik Plateau within the Oświęcim-Racibórz Valley, a coal-mining district. Her father Irek, already a recognized European jazz drummer and vibraphonist, exposed her to numerous fusion, jazz, and funk recordings during childhood. Encouraged by him, she took up the bass at eleven and, later that same year, joined the family touring band Głyk P.I.K Trio—her brother Patryk on drums—for an accelerated immersion in ensemble performance. From the outset her approach combined physical force with lyrical phrasing, shaped early on by Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, and Marcus Miller. She appeared on the trio’s 2013 release Released at Last and, the following year, on Kolędy Narodów alongside guitarist Mate.O (Mateusz Otremba).
Working with her own trio—father Irek and keyboardist Joachim Mencel—Głyk issued the independently released Rejestracja in 2015. The album received substantial rotation on Poland’s state-run Trójka radio and drew praise from the national jazz press, resulting in the Bass Player of the Year and Discovery of the Year honors. The group subsequently toured Poland, Germany, and northern Europe. In 2016 she issued the live set Happy Birthday, seven tracks that included three originals and one composition by her father. Highlights featured a Pastorius-style arrangement of Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” alongside Felix Mendelssohn’s Spinnerlied; a separate Facebook clip of her performing Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” later amassed more than twenty million views.
At the close of 2016, Głyk entered a multi-album agreement with Warner Music in Europe. Dream was tracked at Monochrom Studio in Gniewoszowo, Poland; the expanded budget permitted her to engage musicians beyond Poland’s borders. The sessions involved Israeli pianist Nitai Hershkovits, British saxophonist Tim Garland, and American drummer Gregory Hutchinson, with her brother Patryk handling recording and mixing duties. Although she composed seven of the nine pieces, the band developed them through studio improvisation. The album also contained covers of “Tears in Heaven” and Pastorius’s “Teen Town.” It performed strongly in Poland, reached the upper reaches of the jazz charts in Germany, and earned her an Echo Jazz Prize nomination. European touring followed throughout 2018.
At twenty-one she released her fourth album, Feelings, in 2019. Seven songs were written solely by Głyk, while two others were co-written with pianist and producer Paweł Tomaszewski. The project was anchored by American drummer Calvin Rodgers and a rotating cast of keyboardists that included Brett Williams. Three covers appeared as well: Lennie Tristano’s “Lennie’s Pennies,” Duffy’s “Mercy,” and Victor Bailey’s “Low Blow.” The video for the opening track “Let’s Play Some Funky Groove” surpassed one million views in its first week, and Tristano’s composition was recast in a contemporary jazz-funk idiom. The record gained traction at European radio outlets, especially in Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, and registered on international streaming platforms.
The COVID-19 pandemic halted her touring schedule, confining her largely to Poland for the next two years, during which she concentrated on writing and demoing new material. In the course of that period she began corresponding with Michael League of Snarky Puppy; the two eventually met and agreed to collaborate. League joined her as co-producer and guitarist for her fifth album, recorded in 2023. Drummer Robert Searight completed the central trio alongside longtime keyboard collaborator Brett Williams. Additional keyboardists Julian Pollack, Nicholas Semrad, Caleb McCampbell, and aerophone player Casey Benjamin also participated. The sessions took place at League’s studio in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, with Grammy-winning engineer Nic Hard overseeing mixing. Lead single “Fast Life” emerged in September and registered on European contemporary-jazz charts; follow-up “Who Cares,” styled after 1970s funk, achieved even greater streaming success. Titled Real Life, the album reached listeners worldwide in January 2024, drawing attention from jazz publications and mainstream outlets across North America and elsewhere while charting on streaming services.
Born in Poland in 1997, Głyk grew up in Rydułtowy, a town situated in the southwestern Silesian Highland on the Rybnik Plateau within the Oświęcim-Racibórz Valley, a coal-mining district. Her father Irek, already a recognized European jazz drummer and vibraphonist, exposed her to numerous fusion, jazz, and funk recordings during childhood. Encouraged by him, she took up the bass at eleven and, later that same year, joined the family touring band Głyk P.I.K Trio—her brother Patryk on drums—for an accelerated immersion in ensemble performance. From the outset her approach combined physical force with lyrical phrasing, shaped early on by Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, and Marcus Miller. She appeared on the trio’s 2013 release Released at Last and, the following year, on Kolędy Narodów alongside guitarist Mate.O (Mateusz Otremba).
Working with her own trio—father Irek and keyboardist Joachim Mencel—Głyk issued the independently released Rejestracja in 2015. The album received substantial rotation on Poland’s state-run Trójka radio and drew praise from the national jazz press, resulting in the Bass Player of the Year and Discovery of the Year honors. The group subsequently toured Poland, Germany, and northern Europe. In 2016 she issued the live set Happy Birthday, seven tracks that included three originals and one composition by her father. Highlights featured a Pastorius-style arrangement of Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” alongside Felix Mendelssohn’s Spinnerlied; a separate Facebook clip of her performing Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” later amassed more than twenty million views.
At the close of 2016, Głyk entered a multi-album agreement with Warner Music in Europe. Dream was tracked at Monochrom Studio in Gniewoszowo, Poland; the expanded budget permitted her to engage musicians beyond Poland’s borders. The sessions involved Israeli pianist Nitai Hershkovits, British saxophonist Tim Garland, and American drummer Gregory Hutchinson, with her brother Patryk handling recording and mixing duties. Although she composed seven of the nine pieces, the band developed them through studio improvisation. The album also contained covers of “Tears in Heaven” and Pastorius’s “Teen Town.” It performed strongly in Poland, reached the upper reaches of the jazz charts in Germany, and earned her an Echo Jazz Prize nomination. European touring followed throughout 2018.
At twenty-one she released her fourth album, Feelings, in 2019. Seven songs were written solely by Głyk, while two others were co-written with pianist and producer Paweł Tomaszewski. The project was anchored by American drummer Calvin Rodgers and a rotating cast of keyboardists that included Brett Williams. Three covers appeared as well: Lennie Tristano’s “Lennie’s Pennies,” Duffy’s “Mercy,” and Victor Bailey’s “Low Blow.” The video for the opening track “Let’s Play Some Funky Groove” surpassed one million views in its first week, and Tristano’s composition was recast in a contemporary jazz-funk idiom. The record gained traction at European radio outlets, especially in Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, and registered on international streaming platforms.
The COVID-19 pandemic halted her touring schedule, confining her largely to Poland for the next two years, during which she concentrated on writing and demoing new material. In the course of that period she began corresponding with Michael League of Snarky Puppy; the two eventually met and agreed to collaborate. League joined her as co-producer and guitarist for her fifth album, recorded in 2023. Drummer Robert Searight completed the central trio alongside longtime keyboard collaborator Brett Williams. Additional keyboardists Julian Pollack, Nicholas Semrad, Caleb McCampbell, and aerophone player Casey Benjamin also participated. The sessions took place at League’s studio in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, with Grammy-winning engineer Nic Hard overseeing mixing. Lead single “Fast Life” emerged in September and registered on European contemporary-jazz charts; follow-up “Who Cares,” styled after 1970s funk, achieved even greater streaming success. Titled Real Life, the album reached listeners worldwide in January 2024, drawing attention from jazz publications and mainstream outlets across North America and elsewhere while charting on streaming services.
Albums
Singles
