Lighter Notes: an interview with jazz pianist and composer Luca Sestak
Joy. Bubbling, uninhibited joy. When was the last time a recording filled you with the unencumbered pleasure of being alive? With so many tragedies and pressing issues miring us in the mud of stress, grief, and outrage, it’s easy to forget that humans are also born for happiness and delight. Lighter Notes is a reminder to come home to joy. It’s an invitation to recover our sense of humor, to smile, and perhaps, to dance a little.
Through this recording, German born jazz pianist and composer Luca Sestak reminds us to lighten up. In his words, this music “is a reminder to not take oneself too seriously, to appreciate the lighter notes in music and in life.” He succeeds. Every note of this recording sparkles with energy and joy. Nothing feels labored. And while his virtuosity dazzles, it is never an end unto itself—these tracks are about the music, about the groove he and his trio find, and about a bubbling energy channeled into a musical dance of joy.
Luca Sestak is a virtuosic pianist with classical training who fell in love with jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie. His music blends all of these elements with clear, clean playing, a superior sense of time, and a hefty dose of humor. He has fun, and through his music he invites us to look at ourselves “with a wink” and not take ourselves so seriously. It is a joy to feature him on No Dead Guys.
I read that you started classical piano lessons at the age of 9 and by age 11 you discovered jazz and started writing your own music. What jazz artists most influenced you at that time and how much does their music still inform your playing today?
Back then we had a digital piano that could play floppy disks. Out of curiosity, I popped one of the demo disks into the drive and it contained Bach's Solfeggio in C minor, albeit in a jazz version trio based on Eugen Cicero. I was totally fascinated by this new sound for me at the time, it was my first contact with jazz, so to speak.
This quickly led me to blues & boogie and funk. James Booker, Vince Weber, Jamie Cullum were musicians I was relatively obsessed with for years and their influences have left their mark on my music to this day.
You’ve stated in the past that once you discovered blues and boogie-woogie your interest in classical music faded. What is it about these styles of music that captured and held your interest?
Playing the piano and performing has always been something serious, something tense for me. The audience doesn't have to cough, anyone who claps or cheers during the pieces is looked at askance. Discovering that there is piano music where these rules don't apply was somehow liberating and opened my eyes to seeing music in a light-hearted way.
This interaction with the audience, which is common in most genres - the freedom to improvise and invent something new - simply captivated me.
Many pianists dream of becoming a YouTube sensation. You’ve actually done this. What gave you the courage to post those first videos, and how do you think social media continues to enhance your career today?
My father came to me at the time and said: "Hey look, there's a site on the internet where everyone can watch and upload videos, it's great." He suggested I film myself playing the piano and just upload it. YouTube was still in its infancy back then, wasn't yet part of Google and still had the 5-star rating system for videos.
I was still a kid back then and that naturally fascinated viewers. One quality I had was that I didn't care at all whether anyone watched my videos or not - I just uploaded them. You don't need that much courage to do that - which is of course different today with the mass of content and competition.
In the age of TikTok and Instagram, it has become easier to get a huge reach with a bit of luck and skill. However, I have the feeling that there has been a kind of "inflation" of followers for a few years now.
Of course, this creates many opportunities, but I would say that reach is no longer the same "value" as it used to be. It has become more difficult to reach your own followers at all and you must get creative to get followers to actually listen to your music or buy a record or concert ticket.
Congratulations on the release of your latest album, Lighter Notes. You write that this album “is a reminder to not take oneself too seriously, to appreciate the lighter notes in music and in life.” Can you tell me more about this?
Thank you! Lighter obviously has several meanings: First of all, of course, it means softer, lighter. It's a kind of memo to me not to hit the keys so hard all the time (which I used to do a lot), to take my foot off the gas and play in a more relaxed way. That way, the "hard" parts come into their own much more.
Secondly, looking back, I realized that I often took myself and my music too seriously and that I also like people who look at themselves with a wink and don't take themselves so seriously.
Life is serious enough, so I appreciate every moment when you can forget that.
I understand that you recorded Lighter Notes live. What do you feel a live performance gives a recording that can’t be found in edited tracks?
A tempo that changes with the dynamics of the piece. The energy of all the band members is simply different when you play together. Knowing that you can't simply iron out mistakes naturally also creates a certain tension that you can hear.
You are an astonishingly gifted pianist with virtuosic technique and rhythmic grounding, yet one of the things that most impressed me about your playing is how you embrace silence and space in your music. How difficult is it for you to reign in your natural exuberance to allow for moments of quiet?
Quite difficult! I like to shoot myself with all the weapons I have and lose myself in fiddling and virtuosity, so I'm very happy to hear that!
One of my favorite tracks on Lighter Notes is “Sarcasmus,” an arrangement you did of a piece by the famous Austrian classical and jazz pianist Friedrich Gulda. Can you tell me a bit about the origins of this piece and why you found it such a perfect fit for your personal brand of blues playing?
Thank you! It's the fourth piece ("Allegro, ma non troppo") from the work "Play Piano, Play" - a collection of 10 jazz practice pieces by Gulda for his then wife Yuko Wakiyama. But I would say that the pieces are much more than just practice pieces - Gulda was a classical pianist, so many of the pieces have a classical approach, which I found very exciting. As a result, the pieces were also a challenge that I really wanted to get to grips with.
I got to know the work many years ago during piano lessons and dug it out again for this album. They are actually solo piano pieces, but in my head I always wanted to play them with a band, so I arranged them for that and changed a few things to get the a jazz trio sound.
”Toccata,” also an arrangement of a piece by Friedrich Gulda, is another of my favorites. How difficult was it to switch pianistic gears between strict classical technique and jazz?
Yes, this is a great piece! For me, there is no "switch" but rather a symbiosis. I think both can benefit wonderfully from each other and I try to show that in the piece.
I’m impressed with how you embrace so many different styles of music and make them your own. One of my favorite examples of this is “Solfeggietto” in which you honor the classical feel and add jazz elements around it. What was it about this famous piece by C.P.E. Bach that you felt would make it such a great jazz piece?
Firstly, the piece is incredibly fun to play, it has a lightness that just lends itself to jazz. There is a version of this piece by Eugen Cicero, which inspired me (besides the demo floppy disk recording on my first piano). However, I naturally wanted to give it my own touch. The basic harmonic concept of the piece already uses many elements that are also used in jazz and that simply spurred me on to drill a little further and see how much you can build around it without getting completely lost in the abstract.
In addition to your touring and recording career, I was impressed to see that you’ve created several boogie-woogie piano lesson courses that you offer for sale through your website. What encouraged you to create these and what has the response been to them thus far?
There have simply been a lot of people asking for tutorials and courses over the years and at some point I thought I'd give it a go. At the time, I would have been happy if I could have had a lesson directly from a pianist I liked to listen to. I'm happy when I can motivate people to play the piano.
I noticed that you offer sheet music for sale through your website. Will selections from Lighter Notes be available for purchase?
Absolutely! I plan to release some or maybe all of the pieces as sheet music. However, there are not only lighter notes but also many, so I’ll need a little more time until it’s done.
What current or future projects are you most excited about?
From March I'll finally have my own studio room with a Kawai grand piano - I'm going to lock myself in there and work a lot on new music. I'm really looking forward to that!
What advice can you offer other pianists who are seeking to create music careers for themselves?
If the ups and downs of normal life aren't enough for you and you like extremely low hourly wages and periodic depression, go for it!
Joking aside - Don’t be intimidated by the mass of great musicians out there; be inspired. Stop comparing, don’t copy, or if you do, then make your own jam. Keep practicing; hard work usually pays off. And something I’m still working on right now: Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Luca Sestak is a young pianist, composer and producer from Germany who has taken the international music scene by storm with his virtuosic performances and distinctive sound.
Born in 1995, Luca started taking classical piano lessons at the age of nine. By the age of eleven, he discovered jazz music and was already beginning to compose his first own music.
In 2006 Luca started uploading his piano performances on YouTube - his videos have since amassed over 30 million views and helped establish Luca as a rising star in the music world. He began performing publicly at the age of 14, playing in small venues and local events. Developing a unique style, which blended elements of Jazz, Blues, Boogie Woogie with classical and pop music made him stand out as a musician and soon he was performing in larger venues and at festivals across the world.
Luca's music is characterized by his virtuosic playing paired with his ability to humorously blend traditional piano genres like jazz, classical and blues with contemporary elements and modern beats. His compositions are often a fusion of different genres, and his improvisational skills are second to none. He is known for his intense rhythmic grooves, soulful melodies, and his ability to create an emotional connection with his audience through his music.
In addition to his work as a performer, Luca is also a prolific composer, with three albums sheet music books to his name.
Alongside worldwide performances, Luca can look back on some impressive achievements like performing for the federal president of Germany, the president of Ireland, a 3-week China Tour in 2018, numerous TV and radio appearances. Since 2018 Luca is an officially endorsed by one of the world’s leading piano manufacturers, KAWAI Pianos. One year later Sony Music signed him to produce his album Right or Wrong.
Today, Luca Sestak is considered one of the leading pianists of his generation. He continues to tourinternationally, playing in venues around the world and captivating audiences with his unique soundand style. With his talent and passion for music, Luca is sure to continue pushing the boundaries ofwhat is possible on the piano for years to come.