Album Notes

Mateusz Kolakowski

Mateusz is 21 years old and currently studying classical piano at the music Academy of Katowice. He was the winner of 3rd prize at the International Chopin Competition in Antonin, Poland (1996), and at the Padereweski Competition in Katuuzy (1997). In 1997, he was made a laureate of "Vertuosi per musica di pianoforte" (Usti). He has also performed Beethoven & Mendelssohn concertos with the Polish Youth Symphony Orchestra in Erkelenz, Germany.

Mateusz toured the USA every year from 1998 to 2005, playing in places such as The Knitting Factory in New York City; The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, California; Sandy's in Chicago, Illinois; and the 7th Vail Jazz Festival in Vail, Colorado. In 2002, he received a scholarship for the summer Jazz program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

At the 2002 Martial Solal competition in Paris, Mateusz won the prize for "The most promising pianist." He has participated in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland twice, receiving an honorable mention in the Jazz Piano Competition in 2002 and playing with the Olés brothers as the house pianist. During his run as house pianist, Mateusz performed in 14 trio concerts in the "Montreux Jazz Club," playing with Stanley Jordan, among others.

In 2003, his solo recital in Prague was recorded by Czech Radio during the “8th International Festival of Jazz Piano." A CD of the performance “14th Spring” was released in Poland by Jazz Forum. He won the "Jazz Frederyk” in 2002, a prize awarded by the Polish Ministry of Culture. Mateusz has received wide acclaim from leading jazz critics:

“…[Mateusz] has accumulated and been blessed with the wisdom to use his harmonic knowledge to achieve believable jazz ends.”
–Doug Ramsey, Jazz Times (2003)
“I was impressed with his touch, harmonic sense, and in particular, his poise—remarkable for one so young.”
–Dan Morgenstern, Jazz Forum (2004)