Double bass player, born on January 4, 1973, in Sosnowiec.
Marcin Oleś attended music school where he studied piano, accordion and double bass, graduating from the music department at the Higher Pedagogical School in Częstochowa. While studying, he also played with his school band and local jazz groups. In 1998 he became the leader of the Music School Orchestra in Sosnowiec. He founded the Custom Quartet along with his brother, Bartłomiej, a group which later became the Custom Trio. In 1999 the Custom Trio recorded its debut album, Mr. Nobody.
In 1999 Oleś won recognition as the best double bass player at the international Jazz nad Odrą competition in Wrocław. In the same year he won an individual award at the international Jazz Juniors competition in Cracow, where the Custom Trio was awarded the prize for second place in the band category. He worked with the trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski, with whom he recorded the acclaimed album Free Bop. In 2001 he recorded his own album, Gray Days (with Adam Pierończyk on saxophone and Bartłomiej Oleś on drums), and began to collaborate with the saxophone player Mikołaj Trzaska. Together, they recorded Mikro Muzik, La Sketch Up and Danziger Strassenmusik.
In 2002 Oleś recorded the solo album Ornette on Bass, and took part in the Contemporary Quartet project dedicated to contemporary Polish composers. He worked with excellent musicians, including Theo Jorgensmann, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, David Murray, Andrzej Przybielski and Ken Vandermark. His album Alchemia was produced by the prestigious Swiss label Hat Hut Records.
Projects:
- Custom Quartet
- Custom Trio (Bartłomiej "Brat" Oleś - drums, percussion; Krzysztof Kapel - tenor and soprano saxophone)
- Contemporary Quartet
- Oleś / Trzaska / Oleś
- Andrzej Przybielski Trio
Selected discography:
- Custom Trio "Mr. Nobody" (Accord, 1999)
- Custom Trio "Back Point" (Not Two, 2002)
- Contemporary Quartet "Oleś, Mahall, Tiberian, Oleś" (Not Two, 2002)
- Oleś / Trzaska / Oleś "Mikro Muzik" (Kilogram Records, 2002)
- Oleś / Trzaska / Oleś "La Sketch Up" (Kilogram Records, 2003)
- Oleś / Trzaska / Oleś & Jean Luc-Cappozzo "Suite For Trio +" (Fenommedia, 2005)
- Przybielski feat. Oleś & Oleś "Abstract" (Not Two, 2005)
- Theo Jörgensmann / Marcin Oleś / Bartłomiej Brat Oleś "Live in Poznań 2006" (Fenommedia, 2007)
Author: Marek Romański, January 2009