Tuesday, February 12, 2013

DownBeat phenom Matt Dwonszyk all Monked up





Crank up this teenager’s 2010 arrangement of
  • Third Plane

  • and feel the devotion to
  • Ron Carter

  • renowned bassist with the second great Miles Davis quintet.

    “Ron Carter says and shows me that he is the absolute master of his instrument and a master at making any musical situation sound good. He knows what to play and what not to play. He is extremely tasteful.”

    This is from Matt Dwonszyk, now 21 and on the home stretch to earn a Jazz Performance degree from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music. While learning Carter, he didn’t have time to be intimidated.

    “Third Plane,” he noted, “is a bass player’s song. I was practicing four hours a day – you kinda lose yourself and things come out naturally. I know I’m not gonna touch Ron Carter, but I wasn’t scared.”

    Dwonszyk has been an up-and-coming musician since his brother Joe bought him an electric bass a decade ago, steadily emerging as among the hottest and most humble jazz bassists in Connecticut. I’ve watched this guy play about half a dozen times over the past four years, wondering if he was really that young, forgetting and then wondering again. Dwonszyk is one smooth, mellow dude who has engendered deep fondness and respect from his mentors, colleagues and audiences.

  • DownBeat Magazine
  • the bible of jazz, blues and beyond since 1934, honored Dwonszyk in 2010 – while he was still a student at Rocky Hill High School and Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. DownBeat cited his
  • arrangement
  • of Thelonius Monk’s “In Walked Bud,” a tribute to the pianist Bud Powell. Joining Dwonszyk in that high school combo was highly-regarded drummer Jimmy Macbride, who is now at Julliard.

    Dwonszyk’s emulation of Monk gave Hartt faculty including trombonist Steve Davis and bassist Nat Reeves plenty to work with ...

  • Complete column at Register Citizen


  • Also at:
  • Middletown Press

  • Litchfield County Times


  • West Hartford News


  • New Haven Register


  • After Thursday’s senior recital at Hartt:

    Thursday, February 14, 2013 – 8pm - Reservations strongly recommended. 860-278-7427 DANA LAUREN CELEBRATES VALENTINE'S DAY WITH AN EVENING OF ROMANTIC JAZZ STANDARDS WITH SAM PARKER ON PIANO, MATT DWONSZYK ON BASS and DRUM TBA

    Black Eyed Sally's - 350 Asylum Street – Hartford

  • Hartford Jazz Society Calendar


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