Kris Allen
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Kris Allen is a saxophonist, composer, bandleader and recording artist, first coming to light as a gifted young protege of musical legend Jackie McLean in the fertile incubator of the Hartford CT scene before making a salient mark in New York City and around the world. His latest release, June, is his third album for the Truth Revolution Recording Collective, praised as a diverse and impassioned album....with subtlety, surprise and a sense of urgency” by Downbeat Magazine.
Kris has performed and/or recorded with Illinois Jacquet, Gerald Wilson, Andy Gonzales, Jimmy Greene, Helen Sung, Winard Harper, Andy Laverne, the Mingus Dynasty, Avery Sharpe, Ike Sturm, Rogerio Boccato, Andy Jaffe, Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Orchestra, Noah Baerman, the Curtis Brothers and Mario Pavone among others. He has collaborated with dancers, poets, and visual artists, as well as musicians from across diverse genres. Kris’s work has been honored with numerous awards and commissions, including a Macdowell Artist’s Colony fellowship and the Connecticut Office of the Arts fellowship. He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Williams College, and tours widely as the leader of his own quartet/quintet and as a member of the collaboratively led “Triangle Offense” trio. Kris is a Vandoren Artist and plays Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures exclusively.
For more information or to purchase recordings please visit www.soundslikekrisallen.com
Matt Dwonszyk is an accomplished bassist, composer, arranger and educator from Rocky Hill, CT. He graduated from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz studying under his mentor and world-renowned bassist, Nat Reeves and then went on to receive his Masters degree from SUNY Purchase College. After living in New York City, Dwonszyk returned back home to Connecticut due to the 2020 pandemic. He still performs frequently in New York, splitting his time between performing and teaching.
Throughout his career, Dwonszyk has performed and recorded with numerous contemporaries as well as legendary jazz artists including Steve Davis, Harold Mabern, Jazzmeia Horn, Bennie Wallace, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Herlin Riley among many others.
In 2019, he toured through Canada with the Oleg Butman Trio and in 2022 with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead through the West Coast of the U.S.. He frequently performs at some of the top jazz clubs in New York City including Smalls Jazz Club, Mezzrow, Ornithology, Dizzy's Coca Cola Club, Smoke and The Blue Note.
Since 2019, Dwonszyk has been a faculty member of Manchester Community College and Central Connecticut State College teaching jazz bass and jazz history. In the summer, he teaches at Bennie Wallace’s Back Country Jazz Program and Litchfield Jazz Camp. In 2022, with the Julieta Eugenio Trio, Dwonszyk helped win the 2022 DC JazzPrix Competition at the Washington, DC Jazz Festival.
Dwonszyk's debut recording, "Wonderful World", was released May of 2019 featuring world-class trombonist Steve Davis. His second album, "A Year and a Day", was released July 1st, 2022 featuring Dwonszyk’s band, the Dwonztet.
Richie Barshay
Richie Barshay began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and continues banging on things worldwide to this day. From his work with Herbie Hancock in the 2000s, to tours and recordings with Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, and Kenny Werner, he's been dubbed "a major rhythm voice on the rise" by Downbeat magazine, and The Guardian (UK) praises "a major innovator who also knows how to have fun." He’s also performed with Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Donald Harrison, Lionel Loueke, Julian Lage, the Curtis Brothers, Gabriel Kahane, Pete Seeger, and the Tony Award winning musical The Band’s Visit on Broadway and national tour.
Since 2004 he’s traveled across 5 continents as an American Musical Envoy with the U.S. State Department. Richie can be heard on over 90 recordings as a sideman, and two albums as a leader: Sanctuary featuring Chick Corea (2014), and Homework featuring Herbie Hancock (2004). Based in Northampton, Massachusetts and New York City, he is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher helping performing artists and others regain more body-mind coordination and ease of movement.
Kris has performed and/or recorded with Illinois Jacquet, Gerald Wilson, Andy Gonzales, Jimmy Greene, Helen Sung, Winard Harper, Andy Laverne, the Mingus Dynasty, Avery Sharpe, Ike Sturm, Rogerio Boccato, Andy Jaffe, Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Orchestra, Noah Baerman, the Curtis Brothers and Mario Pavone among others. He has collaborated with dancers, poets, and visual artists, as well as musicians from across diverse genres. Kris’s work has been honored with numerous awards and commissions, including a Macdowell Artist’s Colony fellowship and the Connecticut Office of the Arts fellowship. He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Williams College, and tours widely as the leader of his own quartet/quintet and as a member of the collaboratively led “Triangle Offense” trio. Kris is a Vandoren Artist and plays Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures exclusively.
For more information or to purchase recordings please visit www.soundslikekrisallen.com
Matt Dwonszyk is an accomplished bassist, composer, arranger and educator from Rocky Hill, CT. He graduated from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz studying under his mentor and world-renowned bassist, Nat Reeves and then went on to receive his Masters degree from SUNY Purchase College. After living in New York City, Dwonszyk returned back home to Connecticut due to the 2020 pandemic. He still performs frequently in New York, splitting his time between performing and teaching.
Throughout his career, Dwonszyk has performed and recorded with numerous contemporaries as well as legendary jazz artists including Steve Davis, Harold Mabern, Jazzmeia Horn, Bennie Wallace, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Herlin Riley among many others.
In 2019, he toured through Canada with the Oleg Butman Trio and in 2022 with Jonathan Barber and Vision Ahead through the West Coast of the U.S.. He frequently performs at some of the top jazz clubs in New York City including Smalls Jazz Club, Mezzrow, Ornithology, Dizzy's Coca Cola Club, Smoke and The Blue Note.
Since 2019, Dwonszyk has been a faculty member of Manchester Community College and Central Connecticut State College teaching jazz bass and jazz history. In the summer, he teaches at Bennie Wallace’s Back Country Jazz Program and Litchfield Jazz Camp. In 2022, with the Julieta Eugenio Trio, Dwonszyk helped win the 2022 DC JazzPrix Competition at the Washington, DC Jazz Festival.
Dwonszyk's debut recording, "Wonderful World", was released May of 2019 featuring world-class trombonist Steve Davis. His second album, "A Year and a Day", was released July 1st, 2022 featuring Dwonszyk’s band, the Dwonztet.
Richie Barshay
Richie Barshay began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and continues banging on things worldwide to this day. From his work with Herbie Hancock in the 2000s, to tours and recordings with Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, and Kenny Werner, he's been dubbed "a major rhythm voice on the rise" by Downbeat magazine, and The Guardian (UK) praises "a major innovator who also knows how to have fun." He’s also performed with Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Donald Harrison, Lionel Loueke, Julian Lage, the Curtis Brothers, Gabriel Kahane, Pete Seeger, and the Tony Award winning musical The Band’s Visit on Broadway and national tour.
Since 2004 he’s traveled across 5 continents as an American Musical Envoy with the U.S. State Department. Richie can be heard on over 90 recordings as a sideman, and two albums as a leader: Sanctuary featuring Chick Corea (2014), and Homework featuring Herbie Hancock (2004). Based in Northampton, Massachusetts and New York City, he is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher helping performing artists and others regain more body-mind coordination and ease of movement.
This program is supported in part by grants from the West Stockbridge, Alford and Egremont Local Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.