Bass phenom Kinga Głyk is leading the vanguard of musicians taking jazz to the mainstream – with a little help from YouTube and social media, of course.
“My dad always told me to be 100 percent involved in whatever I play, no matter whether there are five thousand people or just one person in the room,” Głyk told Bass Player in a 2020 interview. “In music, it’s very important to put your heart into what you play.”
Głyk applies this same approach to her covers. Precisely a decade ago, the then 19-year-old posted her own take on pioneering fusion bassist Jeff Berlin’s rendition of Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven. What started as an unassuming cover quickly turned into a viral video that empowered Głyk to take her career beyond her native Poland.
“I think what happened with Tears in Heaven for me, years ago, I didn't know that was possible,” she says matter-of-factly in an interview with Rick Beato.
“I thought my computer actually broke. I called my brother, and I was like, ‘Do you see the views... you see them moving? This is not normal.’”
As for how social media can actually serve as a launchpad – rather than a hindrance – for artists, Głyk says that, “Now I think it's much easier to do it. I think it's a good side of it – we all can share things, and people can follow you for that and be with you and support you.
“But I think it's important to sometimes remove your brain from this world. I treat it more like my job, where I do it and then I go and live my life. So it's not for me, constantly thinking about if people reacted to something well or not, because you can be very depressed [if you do that].”
And, speaking of social media pressures on musicians, last year virtuoso Yvette Young spoke candidly about the pressures of touring in the social media age – and why we all need to rethink our relationship with music.
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