Additional Information
Polish acoustic guitar sensation Marcin Patrzałek will fill the Palais Montcalm for a second consecutive year. The rendezvous with Quebec music lovers is scheduled for this Saturday, September 13, as part of his Solo Dragon tour, which follows the album Dragon in Harmony, released in 2024.
A polystylistic virtuoso, he intersperses his interpretations with eighth notes and other technical feats. Highly accessible despite his extreme velocity, percussive acuity, and insane finger-picking, this 24-year-old musician aims to lead his audience down a highway marked by lively and spectacular eclecticism, yet paved with well-known references.
Marcin’s recordings and concerts are thus crossed by flamenco nuevo, metal (recently with guitarist RJ Pasin), grunge (Nirvana), jazz (Miles Davis), jazzy soul (Sade), classical soul (Bill Withers), modern classical music (Claude Debussy), romantic music (Bizet) or the Great American Songbook (Cry Me A River). He even does indie pop, having recorded with the voices of Delaney Bailey Hayato Sumino, Ichika Nito, and more.
An interview is necessary!
PAN M 360: We can describe you as a polystylistic virtuoso. You use different playing techniques; you’ve built your own technique. A very vast universe! How did you organize it?
Marcin: What I do technically is a very niche style. It’s sometimes very close to the bass, I also do several things. But what I’m best known for is my percussive way of playing the acoustic guitar. And it’s very niche, because most people who play this way don’t manage to go beyond the circles of initiates. I quickly realized that if I remained stuck in this circle, I wouldn’t be able to grow as an artist, so I became interested in several musical styles, I agreed to several collaborations. It was a must because people don’t listen to much instrumental music, except classical music or film music. Solo guitar remains an extreme niche.
PAN M 360: You talked about a percussive, finger-picking approach, and we’re thinking of Michael Hedges, Tommy Emmanuel, Andy McKee, and Adrian Legg, all of whom you’ve certainly listened to and observed closely.
Marcin: I love the artists you mentioned. Michael Hedges is the one who most developed the percussive side of the acoustic guitar, and many others have since developed this approach. Antoine Dufour excels in this style. When I was a teenager in Poland, I watched the best artists on YouTube while I was learning classical guitar and the works of Francisco Tarrega or Heitor Villa Lobos. I enjoyed it, but I felt like I was in a small circle, even if I won national competitions in Poland or even international competitions. I also felt like I had to focus on things that didn’t seem artistic to me, but rather mathematical or technical. I couldn’t see myself spending my life doing that, especially since the classical guitar repertoire seems very limited to me.
And then I explored flamenco, artists like Carlos Piñana and Yerai Cortés. Carlos Piñana, by the way, gave master classes in Poland, I had seen him play when I was 12 or 13. I was used to classical players and I discovered this proud musician, comfortable in his body, really cool. I went to one of his workshops, he liked my playing, he saw potential and gave me some scores that I then learned on my own, making mistakes. A year later, I played his piece Farruca for him remotely and he was impressed…
PAN M 360: Very interesting, because you don’t play with a flamenco guitar and you take up several elements of flamenco playing.
Marcin: It was very different from classical guitar, it was closer to electric guitar and much more percussive, that’s why I like it. But I’m not apologetic, I don’t claim to be part of anyone. This way of doing things seems academic to me.
PAN M 360: So let’s talk about your new concert. How will you present yourself on stage on September 13th at the Palais Montcalm?
Marcin: Last year I played at the Palais Montcalm, it was full and it was very good, I’m proud of it. Things have progressed since then, I have a production team at my side, my organization has more resources. I will be alone on stage, with a program that I am also very proud of. For me, the idea is to give the best show possible. I want to be original but I also have to give a show to the best of my abilities.
PAN M 360: How is the program constructed?
Marcin: This concert is called Art of Guitar. I play three different instruments.
First there is the percussive acoustic, that’s the main focus, to which I add the electric to play heavier stuff. There is also a nylon string part. I don’t play untouched flamenco or classical covers, I improvise from two pieces: the first is Capricho árabe by Tarrega followed by an improvisation session and then I play a new arrangement of Schubert’s Ave Maria. When I play the nylon part of Ave Maria you can feel the emotion that swells in the room!
PAN M 360: What is your primary goal in concert?
Marcin: My hope is that you can say when you leave the concert, “I’ve never heard anything like this before!” Fingers crossed.
