Maciej Barabasz Biography
Maciej Barabasz was born in
Bielsko-Biala, Poland, and attended Karol Szymanowski State School
of Music in Torun, Second Level.
During that period, he won
the second prize at Jazz Juniors in Krakow in 1987, and then
first prize at the Pop and Jazz Festival in Elblag in1988, both
while collaborating with Piotr Olszewski, guitarist.
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After graduation,
he moved to Katowice and completed a master's degree in fine
arts in the Department of Jazz and Pop Music.
He then moved
to Warsaw, where he performed with Bogdan Holownia, Piotr Olszewski,
Kazimierz Jonkisz, Joachim Mencel, Adam Snopek, Piotr Cieslikowski.
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During his time in Warsaw, he also
collaborated with Lubomski, for whom he wrote and arranged some
music. In 1991, Maciej emigrated to the United States to further
expand his musical vocabulary.
He settled in
Chicago and briefly studied with Dave Baney and Bobby Broom.
Among others, he had the opportunity to work with Robert Shy
and Lin Halliday. Currently he works with Jess Birch, Geoff Bradfield,
Clark Sommers, Tony Do Rosario, Jeff Morrison, Brian Ritter,
Charles Heat, and Phares Whitted.
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His debut record as a leader,
"Hello, Duje, Duje," consists of six originals written
by Maciej and two standards.
When performing that program
at the Chopin Theater for Zaduszki Jazzowe in Chicago, his group
received a very favorable review from Chicago Tribune jazz critic
Howard Reich :
"..On the other end
of the expressive spectrum, the Maciej Barabasz Quartet aspired
to a bracing, hard-charging brand of improvisation that emphasized
agressive rhythm, astringent harmonies and nearly free-form melodic
lines.."
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Maciej also occasionally
works with Marek Balata, Krzysztof Scieranski, Marcin Zupanski,
Robert Szewczuga, Adam Buczek and Arek Skolik.
He performed as
a guest with legendary Polish jazz group Laboratorium (Janusz
Grzywacz, Marek Stryszowski, Krzysztof Scieranski) when they
toured Chicago in November 2007.
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