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Matthew Rybicki

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew Rybicki has performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Laurence Hobgood, Ernie Watts, Hilary Kole, Ted Rosenthal, Mark Gould, Wycliffe Gordon, Nnenna Freelon, Renee Fleming, Terell Stafford, Winard Harper, Mark Whitfield, and Victor Goines.  He has also had the great fortune of performing at many well-respected venues in New York such as The Village Vanguard and The Blue Note, as well as concert halls and festivals in locations ranging from Italy to Taiwan. Rybicki maintains an active performing schedule, working with his own small ensembles and with many accomplished colleagues and mentors such as Lew Tabackin, Lewis Nash, Dan Nimmer, Oscar Perez, David Berger, Charlie Persip, Charenee Wade, and Loren Schoenberg. An adept educator, Matthew is on faculty at The Juilliard School and is an artist/instructor for Jazz at Lincoln Center where he developed and taught the inaugural bass course in the Essentially Ellington Band Director Academy. He has also been the Music Director for several educational performance initiatives, including Jazz in the Schools and hospital tours in conjunction with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Department of Program and Services for People with Disabilities. In addition, Rybicki was a program coordinator for school programs by Midori and Friends and has led musical workshops at The Whitney Museum of American Art as part of the museum’s 2004 Romare Bearden exhibition. He teamed up again with the Whitney in 2005 for “An American Birthday Adventure” where he designed and presented educational performances that incorporate jazz with the fine art showcased at the museum. He has also led clinics at Georgia State University, in New York City public schools, Aspen city schools, St. Louis, and throughout the northeast, working to preserve and share the rich heritage of America’s greatest musical art form. With his debut CD, Driven, Matthew has formally entered the jazz scene as a performer and composer of note. Recording with jazz greats Ron Blake, Freddie Hendrix, Gerald Clayton, and Ulysses Owens, he was able to capture innovative and sophisticated performances on newly created original works that maintain ties to the history of jazz. Matthew received his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music in 1995 and his Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School in 2004.

Gear

Upton Hybrid (endorser), Pirastro Strings (endorser,) 1910 Hawkes Panormo, Sadowsky Metro 5-string


Tags

179
Album Review

Matthew Rybicki: Driven

Read "Driven" reviewed by Matt Marshall


Driven may seem a curious title for the debut album of a 37-year-old artist. But it's likely bassist Matthew Rybicki chose the title more as a pronouncement of his musical tastes ("It's definitely critical for me to be trying to swing all the time," he has noted) and, perhaps, of the bassist's role within music, generally. A self-described latecomer to the jazz game, Rybicki played in rock bands until entering the Berklee College of Music, and he ...

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"He has a knack for instantly singable melodies" - Jon Ross, Downbeat, April 2011 "Rybicki commands a strong, pliable tone that signals him the expert leader of the dance, effortlessly twirling his partners through complexrotations, then slipping unnoticed from support role to front-and center." - Matt Marshall, AllAboutJazz, February, 2011 "...this CD has a polish and professionalism that rises well above an artist’s first CD..." - Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition, January, 2011

Primary Instrument

Bass

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

An adept educator, Matthew is on faculty at The Juilliard School and is an artist/instructor for Jazz at Lincoln Center where he developed and taught the inaugural bass course in the Essentially Ellington Band Director Academy. He has also been the Music Director for several educational performance initiatives, including Jazz in the Schools and hospital tours in conjunction with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Department of Program and Services for People with Disabilities

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Driven

Self Produced
2011

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Videos

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