Biography
Born in Hartford, CT, Dwonszyk started playing the electric bass at age eleven. His journey into the world of jazz began at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts High School where he began playing the upright bass. He attended the Artists Collective after school program playing in the Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Professor Rene McLean. The Artist Collective, founded by jazz saxophone legend Jackie McLean, propelled Dwonszyk to continue his studies at the The Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at The University of Hartford.
Dwonszyk quickly developed an exceptionally strong rapport with Professor Nat Reeves and Professor Steve Davis. Reeves instilled a strong sense of swing, conviction and vocabulary upon Dwonszyk while Davis would hire Dwonszyk for gigs at local venues around the Hartford area. This schooling inside and outside of the classroom helped Dwonszyk become one of the top call bassist in Connecticut.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Studies in 2013, Dwonszyk went on to obtain a Master’s of Music at SUNY Purchase College in New York where he studied with Professor's Todd Coolman, Doug Weiss, John Faddis and John Abercrombie. With the SUNY Purchase Big Band, Dwonszyk performed at the Blue Note featuring Terell Stafford and at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola featuring Steve Turee. Dwonszyk would soon become a resident of Brooklyn, NY and would start performing in some of New York's top jazz venues including Smalls, Smoke, Minton’s, Zinc Bar, Birdland and the Jazz Standard.
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In 2015, Dwonszyk was accepted into the Bosyie Lowery Jazz Living Residency for his original compositions and was awarded in Down Beat Magazine for his arrangement of the jazz classic, “What A Wonderful World”. In 2018, Dwonszyk went on to record his debut record as a leader, entitled "Wonderful World", featuring the awarded arrangement as well as nine of his original compositions. His second album, "A Year and a Day", was released July 1st, 2022 featuring Dwonszyk’s band, the Dwonztet. He continues to perform and record with his group, the "Dwonztet". In 2023, the Dwonztet performed at the Hartford Baby Grand Jazz Series, The Northampton Jazz Strut, Smalls Jazz Club, The Side Door Jazz Club and the Poli Club. In 2024, the Dwonztet performed at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Hartford Jazz Festival and the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival. He currently plays bass with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead, The Jon Davis Trio, Sarah Hanahan Quartet and the Julieta Eugenio Trio. With the Julieta Eugenio Trio, Dwonszyk won the 2022 DC JazzPrix Competition at the Washington, DC Jazz Festival.
In 2018, Dwonszyk toured through Russia apart of the Rainy Days Jazz Festival and in 2019 he toured through Canada with the Oleg Butman Trio. In 2020 with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead through the West Coast of the U.S. December 2023, Dwonszyk performed in Argentina playing as a side man and leading his own bands. In June of 2024, Dwonszyk toured through Europe with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead performing in Paris France, Muri Switzerland and at London’s illustrious jazz club, Ronnie Scotts. His last tour was through Mexico with the Joe Farnsworth Quartet featuring Emmet Cohen and Sarah Hanahan.
Dwonszyk has performed at many well known festivals including the NYC Winter Jazz Festival, BRIC Jazz festival, Clifford Brown Festival, JVC Jazz Festival, the Jazz & Colors Festival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, D.C Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Saskatoon Jazz Festival, Edmonton Jazz Festival, Litchfield Jazz Festival, Hartford Jazz Festival, Hartford Baby Grand Jazz Series, New Haven Jazz Festival and the Baikal Jazz Festival in Yakutsk, Siberia.
He has performed with numerous contemporaries as well as legendary jazz artists including Harold Mabern, Larry Willis, George Cables, David Hazeltine, Anthony Wonsey, Rick Germanson, Hal Galper, Dave Kikoski, Donald Vega, Jon Davis, Pete Malinverni, Rene McLean, Steve Wilson, Abraham Burton, Javon Jackson, Gary Smulyan, Bill Saxton, Bennie Wallace, Javon Jackson, Craig Handy, Wayne Escoffery, Jimmy Greene, Mike Diruboo, Myron Walden, Walter Smith III, J.D. Allen, John Farnsworth, Steve Davis, Steve Turre, Michael Dease, Joe Farnsworth, Carl Allen, Winard Harper, Herlin Riley, Eric McPherson, Willie Jones III, Joe Strasser, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Joe Magnarelli, Jeremy Pelt, Jumaane Smith, Wallace Roney, Freddie Hendrix and Duane Eubanks.
Since 2019, Dwonszyk has been a faculty member of Manchester Community College and Central Connecticut State College teaching jazz bass and jazz history. He also teaches at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz located at University of Hartford. In the summer, he teaches at Bennie Wallace’s Back Country Jazz Program and Litchfield Jazz Camp.
"It has been my pleasure to work a great deal with Matt over the past few years not only in the classroom, but also on the bandstand with Ed Fast & Conga Bop, with pianist Don DePalma and vocalist Linda Ransom, and with my own quintet playing original compositions as well. Matt certainly has a very bright future. I am excited to hear where he and others of his generation take the music."
-Steve Davis
"It's hard for me to think of very many bass players anywhere whose solos I enjoy as much as Matt's; he has so much language ... You can hear a lot of history in the melodies he plays. You can hear evidence of a lot of listening to musical elders."
-Kris Allen
"He helped me with my own compositions playing through things to see what would work and what wouldn't. He has such good input into what will sound good. We would play his originals as well and I was always blown away at how creative he could be ... Matt is so humble in a real way - not in some fake way."
-Jen Allen
"Laid back, very easy to work with, always ready to embrace a challenge ... Every time I hear him he has some new surprise up his sleeve ... It happens in his solos mainly. He'll play some stuff you don't expect to hear."
-Ben Bilello
"Deep, sincere, a fine musician, hard working ... valuable to know and work with: There is a decency to Matt that is palpable and this comes through in his music."
-Peter McEachern