Mat Walerian

Mat Walerian is a jazz saxophonist and woodwind player, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his work in avant-garde jazz and improvisational music. His most frequent collaborators are drummer Hamid Drake, pianist Matthew Shipp, and bassist William Parker. Born Mateusz Jan Walerian in 1984, he took his first piano lessons at age six. Deeply interested in blues and boogie-woogie, he discovered the music of John Coltrane at ten. He picked up the saxophone at 16, and started his journey as a self-taught player. He showed enough proficiency after a month to join his scho...