Mateusz Smoczyński Solo (Nublu 151, NYC)

Mateusz Smoczyński – jazz violinist, composer & band leader, former member of the Turtle Island Quartet

Graduate of the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. A student of Andrzej Gebski. Since 2017 he teaches jazz violin at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Winner of the 2nd International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition. Best jazz violinist of 2017 by Jazz Forum, European Magazine. He has performed at the most important jazz scenes and festivals in almost all around the world. Mateusz has collaborated with such renowned Polish musicians as Urszula Dudziak, Tomasz Stanko, Krzesimir Debski, Zbigniew Namyslowski and Jaroslaw Smietana.
He has recorded several dozen discs. Mateusz received the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship. He was awarded “Jazz Oscar” in the category “Music Lovers’ Hope of 2007″. He is the author of the Violin Concerto “Adam’s Apple”, whose premiere was held in November 2018 at NOSPR. Together with JoachimKuhn, Janusz Stefanski and Bronislaw Suchanek, he took part in the premiere of legendary jazz violinist Zbigniew Seifert’s Jazz Concerto for Violin, Symphony Orchestra and Rhythm Section.

For several years he has been the leader of the Quintet, with whom he recorded the album “Inspirations”, “Expressions” and “Berek” (Nomination for Fryderyk, a prize awarded by the Phonographic Academy in the category “Jazz Album of the Year”). In 2009, together with his brother Jan Smoczyński and Russian drummer Alex Zinger, he founded the New Trio. The band released two albums: “Perpendicular Realities” and “Simultaneous Abstractions” (nominated for Fryderyk in the category “Jazz debut of the Year”). In the year 2017 Mateusz Smoczyński released his first classicising album for solo violin – “Metamorphoses”.

Mateusz Smoczyński is a co-founder of the Atom String Quartet, the very first Polish jazz string quartet. The band won the “Bielska Zadymki” Jazz competition and the Bucharest International Jazz Competition. In June 2011, the Atom String Quartet released their debut album, “Fade In”, Fryderyk award in the category “Jazz Phonographic debut of the Year”. A few months later, Kayax released another album, “Places”, which was also awarded Fryderyk, this time in the category “Jazz Album of the Year”. In 2015 was released album AtomSPHERE, and in 2017, the fourth CD of the Quartet – Seifert. The Atom String Quartet was also on the first place in Jazz Top (survey of readers Jazz Forum magazine).

In the years 2012-2016, Mateusz Smoczyński was the first violinist of the legendary American band Turtle Island Quartet (multiple Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet). He gave more than 100 concerts to the most important American scenes. In 2013 the quartet took a part in the recording of the album “After Blue” by the vocalist Tierney Sutton, who was nominated for a Grammy award. n October 2014 they released their latest recording, “Confetti Man”, to critical acclaim and honors, including an award for best American Chamber Music Recording from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Mateusz Smoczyński together with Turtle Island Quartet cooperated with Cuban clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, Violer Michael Doucet, vocalist Nellie McKay and pianist Cyrus Chestnut.
In 2016, Mateusz Smoczyński founded a duo with one of the greatest cellists in the world, Stephan Braun.