Pivot throws 'Access denied for user'

I am not able to run:

create table xpivot1
engine=connect table_type=PIVOT
option_list='PivotCol=FirstLetter,FncCol=cnt'
Srcdef='select table_type, left(table_name,1) as FirstLetter , count(table_type) as cnt from tables group by 1, 2';

The query returns an error:

SQL error (1105): (1045) Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO) 

, while root is still connected.

If I run the query from the command line, the same error reveals.