Wojtek Mazolewski is a Polish jazz bassist and double bassist from Gdańsk, born in 1976. He is one of the co-creators of yass, a Polish jazz-related style that develops from his early interest in punk and his later move into jazz. He is known as a leader of Pink Freud, Bassisters Orchestra and the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet.

Career

Mazolewski begins performing on stage at the age of 10, appearing with Ivan the Terrible, the group led by his brother Jerzy Mazzolla. His early musical background includes punk, and he later combines that influence with jazz in work associated with the development of yass. Over his career he plays in baaba, Tymański Yass Ensemble, Paralaksa, Oczi Cziorne and Jazzombie. The verified membership list also includes Me and That Man and Music for Peace.

Other work and activity

In 2016, a concert takes place at Warsaw’s Studio Theatre to mark 30 years of his stage activity. That same year he makes his acting debut with an episodic role as a jazz musician in the film Excentrics, or on the sunny side of the street. In 2017, he composes a piece for the 800th anniversary of the foundation of Opole.

Broadcasting and journalism

From January 2019, Mazolewski hosts the Jazz Fajny jest programme on Polish Radio Three. In 2020, he leaves Trójka in protest against censorship of the Third Programme Charts. From September 2020 to March 2022, he works as a journalist for the online station newonce.radio, where he presents the same programme.

Personal life

Mazolewski has a brother, Jerzy, who is seven years older and works as a jazz clarinetist, and a younger brother, Łukasz, who is a hairdresser. He grows up in Gdańsk but spends much of his childhood on his grandparents’ farm on Lake Mamry. He has a son, Stanisław, born in 2006. He is Buddhist.