Originally from Warsaw, Poland, Rafał Sarnecki is a jazz guitarist and composer currently living in New York. During his Malaysia tour, Sarnecki's quintet performed at one of the country's bigest jazz festivals – the 12th Penang Island Jazz Festival. The concert took place on 4th December 2016 in Bayview Beach Resort in Batu Ferringhi, Penang. Sarnecki also led a guitar workshop accompanying the festival.
The Rafał Sarnecki Quintet is a Polish/Malaysian collaboration with Julian Chan (saxophone), Piotr Wrombel (piano), Wojciech Pulcyn (double bass) and KJ Wong (drums). Apart from the concert in Penang, the group also performed on 1st December 2016 in the prestigious No Black Tie jazz club in Kuala Lumpur. Concerts were held as part of the Jazz Po Polsku project, and were carried out in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Kuala Lumpur, Plateaux Foundation and Culture.pl.
As a leader of his own projects, Rafał Sarnecki has toured eleven European countries, China, South Korea, Israel as well as the East and West Coast of the US. He has shared the stage with many top names from the US jazz scene, such as Joel Frahm, Ingrid Jensen, Willie Jones III, Gary Thomas to list a few. He has recorded three CDs as a leader. His debut album Song From a New Place (2008) was nominated for the Fryderyk 2009 Award, the Polish equivalent of a Grammy. Rafał's second album, The Madman Rambles Again, was released in 2011 by the Fresh Sound New Talent label. Dave
Sumner from All About Jazz selected the album as one of the twelve most interesting jazz releases of 2011 in the Editor's Choice section. Additionally, Hi – Fi magazine selected The Madman Rambles Again as one of the best jazz albums of 2011. In August 2014, Rafał's third CD Cat’s Dream was released by the Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records.
Jazz Po Polsku is a music label presenting a wide spectrum of young Polish musicians from the jazz/avantgarde scene. It also helps in establishing cultural cooperation and integrates artists from many countries. The project aims at refreshing the image of the Polish jazz music on the international arena. Jazz Po Polsku has been presenting Polish artists in Asia 60 times so far on concerts and music workshops. The label has been founded in 2010 and is coordinated by Jakub Krzeszowski, music promoter and culture marketing manager.