Drummer and percussionist, born on 4 January 1973 in Sosnowiec.
Bartłomiej "Brat" Oleś is a graduate of Music School in Sosnowiec and Łódź in the percussion class. In 1991 he made his first records with the Blustro Blues Band. He took part in the last rock music festival in Jarocin, in 1997 he recorded music to the performance Fin by Antonin Artaud together with Andrzej Przybielski and Bogdan Mizer.
In 1998 he founded with his brother Marcin the band Custom Quartet(then Custom Trio) with whom he recorded albums Mr. Nobody and Back Point. In 2000 the Custom Trio and avant-garde trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski recorded CD Free Bop. In 2001 he worked with Adam Pierończyk on the CD Gray Days.
The Trio Bartłomiej Oleś / Marcin Oleś / Mikołaj Trzaska was one of the most creative bands in recent history of Polish jazz. He and his brother took part in the project of "Era Jazzu" on the basis of the repertoire of Polish contemporary composers.
Bartłomiej Oleś worked with many excellent musicians: Theo Jorgensmann, David Murray, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Andrzej Przybielski and Ken Vandermark. He also took part in many festivals: New Sound in Kijów, Jazz Meets World in Praga, Pepsi Siget Festival in Budapeszt, Jeunesses Musicales in Bukareszt, AlbaImpro in Szekesfehervar, Era Jazzu in Cracow and Warsaw, Gdynia Summer Jazz Days, Jazz Nad Odrą in Wrocław, Jazz Jantar in Gdańsk and Jazz Juniors in Cracow.
Projects:
- Blustro Blues Band
- Andrzej Przybielski and Bogdan Mizerski
- Custom Quartet
- Custom Trio (Marcin Oleś - bass, Krzysztof Kapel - tenor and soprano saxophone)
- Oleś / Trzaska / Oleś
Selected discography:
- Custom Trio "Mr. Nobody" (Accord, 1999)
- Custom Trio "Back Point" (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)
- FreeDrum Suite (Not Two, 2004)
- 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