The Kraków-based duet was formed by pianist Mateusz Gawęda and tenor saxophonist Sławomir Pezda. Gawęda and Pezda are two young and versatile musicians who started playing together while still in their teenage years. They won the Grand Prix at the 3rd Tarnów International Jazz Contest in 2010. They’re also a part of the PeGaPoFo quartet, winners of Jazz Juniors 2011. On stage the duo combine a variety of influences: free jazz, classical music and contemporary music, with Mateusz Gawęda responsible for most of the composing duties. The musicians also embellish their performances with jazz standards in surprising arrangements.S
SŁAWOMIR PEZDA
This 26-year-old graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków in the Contemporary Music and Jazz Department became fascinated by jazz as a teenager. He often worked with traditional big bands and took part in many jazz workshops. Eventually, during his studies he swapped the alto saxophone for the tenor saxophone. He started getting his inspirations from a wide variety of genres, such as rock, punks, electronic music, drum ’n’ bass and breakcore. Pezda also contributes to bands such as Cracow Jazz Collective, Silberman New Sextet, and his own project The Flash!
MATEUSZ GAWĘDA
Gawęda is a 24-year-old composer and arranger. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków in jazz piano under the tutelage of Joachim Mencel. The Wadowice-born artist started his musical adventure early. In 2005 he started participating in summer jazz workshops. Gawęda plays in PeGaPoFo, Pezda/Gawęda Duo, Mateusz Gawęda Trio, Gawęda/Wykpisz/Dobosz Experiment, Gawęda/Fortuna Experiment and Cracow Jazz Collective. Most of these bands’ repertoire consists of his original compositions. The young composer also has some impressive collaborations under his belt, including shows with Billy Hart, Rusty Jones, Willem von Hombracht, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Leszek Żądło and Janusz Muniak.
