About Jacek Kochan
Jacek Kochan is a composer, arranger, producer, and drummer recognized for his innovative approach to jazz and contemporary music. Leading multiple projects featuring his own compositions, he has collaborated and recorded with renowned artists including John Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Seamus Blake, and many others. With 26 albums as a leader and numerous additional recordings as a co-leader and sideman, Kochan has performed at major festivals and venues across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Africa.
Jacek's Career
Jacek Kochan is a composer, arranger, producer, and percussionist. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in KrakΓ³w (Masterβs degree), he also studied percussion and vibraphone at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Canada.
In the early 1980s, he moved to New York City, where he studied with legendary musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Mike Clark, and Robbie Gonzales. By the mid-1980s, Jacek relocated to Montreal, further expanding his musical vocabulary to include writing for choir and orchestra (with Ensemble Vocal Tudor and Repercussion), as well as performing and recording ethnic music (Latin, African, and Balkan traditions). During this period, he collaborated with Michel Donato, Karen Young, Andrew Leroux, Yannick Rieu, Oliver Jones, Jean-Pierre Zanella, Michel Cusson, Helmut Lipsky, Lazaro Saucedo, Geoff Lapp, Johnny Scott, and many othersβperforming at clubs and jazz festivals throughout Canada.
In 1990, after moving to Toronto, Jacek began working as both a leader and sideman in numerous live and recording projects with artists such as John Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi, Pat LaBarbera, Kenny Wheeler, Don Thompson, Mike Murley, Neil Swainson, Reg Schwager, Lorne Lofsky, Bernie Senensky, John MacLeod, Dave Restivo, and Brian Dickinson.
In 1995, he returned to Europe, where he continues to compose, perform, tour, and record. He leads and performs with a variety of ensembles, including Jacek Kochan & Co., musiConspiracy, N.A.K. Trio, AJEE, Paansori Project, MuSaDru, Alsamples, Papersonus, Third of Three, and One Eyed Horse.
Jacek has performed at major jazz, improvised, and contemporary music festivals across Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia, including Internationales Musikinstitut (IMD) Darmstadt, International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn, Musica Electronica Nova, Music Polonica Nova, International Drum Festival Drumblys, Festival of Jazz Pianists in Kalisz, Avant Art WrocΕaw, Sibiu Jazz Festival, New New Yorkers Festival, Cracow Audio Art, Warsaw Audio Art, Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Edmonton Jazz Festival, Kaunas Jazz Festival, New Music Festival Tokyo, Palm Jazz Festival, RARA Festival Siracusa, Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, and Slow Music Festival Ballarat, among many others.
He has performed and recorded with an extensive list of internationally acclaimed artists, including Dave Liebman, John Abercrombie, Joey Calderazzo, Aaron Parks, Uri Caine, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Seamus Blake, Gary Thomas, Greg Osby, Marc Copland, Miroslav VitouΕ‘, Michael Furmanek, Palle Mikkelborg, Jon Balke, Eddie Henderson, Nguyen LΓͺ, Dave Tronzo, Eivind Aarset, Dave Fiuczynski, Briggan Krauss, Iva BittovΓ‘, Cuong Vu, Franz Hautzinger, FranΓ§ois Corneloup, Eric Vloeimans, Bo Stief, Lars Danielsson, Phil Minton, Christian Spering, Furio Di Castri, Michel Benita, Paul Hanson, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Jakob Dinesen, Uwe Oberg, Adam Simmons, Tellef Γgrim, Mats Eilertsen, Klaus Dickbauer, Axel DΓΆrner, Skerik, Tomasz StaΕko, Zbigniew NamysΕowski, Leszek MoΕΌdΕΌer, Jasper Somsen, Mauro Schiavone, Gianni Gebbia, Joe Fonda, Eddie Schuller, and many others.
In 2006, during the International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn, Jacek presented his 30-minute composition Alsamples for small wind ensemble, quarter-tone trumpet, electronics, live electronics, percussion, trash percussion, and small choir. Later that year, he premiered Paansori for solo percussion, trash percussion, and electronics, followed by a composition for trumpet, drums, and live electronics. By the end of 2006, he composed the score for the AKT movement theater production Garden of Pleasures and the music for the Italian silent film Railways.
Subsequent works include compositions for contemporary dance productions Niewidzialna, Surogaci, and Sulla Via dellβImmortalitΓ . During the third edition of Musica Electronica Nova, he presented his project Papersonus, featuring the unique instrument Papersonix alongside electronics and two pianos.
Jacek has also appeared as a performer in contemporary opera, including Cezary Duchnowskiβs Martaβs Garden (world premiere, 2010, Warsaw Autumn Festival) and Monada 5. He has been featured as a soloist with the Radio Symphonic Orchestra in Warsaw and the MOM Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra in New York, performing Course J by BogusΕaw Schaeffer and Lipps by Krzysztof Knittel.
In the Chopin Around Ensemble Project, he contributed six variations on Chopinβs preludes, and in the LutosΕ Project, he wrote eight variations on works by Witold LutosΕawski.
To date, Jacek Kochan has released 26 albums as a leader, including Visitor (feat. Pat LaBarbera), Corporate Highlanders, Gray Angel, Standard Transmission (feat. John Abercrombie), Tomorrowβs Dreams, Alberta (feat. Kenny Wheeler), Our Standards (feat. Joey Calderazzo), Plastinated Black Sheep (feat. Adam PieroΕczyk, Eddie Schuller), Monorain (feat. AndrΓ© Leroux, Jean-Pierre Zanella), Double Life of a Chair (feat. Palle Mikkelborg, Dave Tronzo), Another Blowfish (feat. Michel Donato, Piotr Wojtasik, Eric Vloeimans), New Expensive Head (feat. Cuong Vu, Eivind Aarset, Skerik), One Eyed Horse (feat. Greg Osby, Franz Hautzinger), Yearning (feat. Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Franz Hautzinger, FranΓ§ois Corneloup, Adam Simmons, SΕawek JaskuΕke), Man of No Words (feat. Gary Thomas), Filing the Profile (feat. George Garzone), Three Point Shot (feat. Jerry Bergonzi), Third of Three (feat. Mauro Schiavone), The Other Side of If, Ambush (with N.A.K. Trio), Parentes, Occupational Hazard, Let Them Find, and an upcoming album with musiConspiracy scheduled for release in 2026.
He has also recorded numerous albums as a sideman, collaborating with Eddie Henderson, Tomasz StaΕko, Eddie Schuller, Zbigniew NamysΕowski, Piotr LemaΕczyk, Seamus Blake, Helmut Lipsky, Michel Donato, and Karen Young.
"They make great cymbals, they have very different and unique sound and blend beautifully with the other instruments. My personal favourite is Dark Matter line."
Jacek's Dream Setup
