MIKOLAJ TRZASKA, a saxophonist and bass clarinetist, is also a composer and one of the founding members of the “yass” scene in Poland. Yass is a mixture of free jazz, new wave, modern rock and poetry. In 1987, he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. He met Ryszard Tymon Timanski at that time and was invited to join the Milosc (Love) group. He was fascinated by John Coltrane’s music and life, so he began learning the saxophone. He still plays it to this day. After two years of studying, Milosc was so absorbed that he quit the Academy. He founded Loskot (Clatter) in 1993, which made its debut at the Gdynia Summer Jazz Days Festival. He formed Maslo (Butter) with Tymanski the following year. He left Milosc in 2001 to concentrate on solo projects and Loskot work. Oles/Trzaska/Oles was also his trio, which included Marcin Oles (double bass) and Bartlomiej Oles (percussion). Trzaska has worked with Lester Bowie and Peter Broetzmann as well as John Tchikai and Tomasz Stanko. Trzaska has recorded over 30 albums, half of which he composed himself. He is a jazz musician who is widely known throughout Europe. He has also been writing theatre music in recent years, but he focuses on his solo projects. He and Ola run Kilogram Records, an independent recording studio since 2001. from www.polishculture-nyc.org
