Rafał Sarnecki | Guitar

Rafał Sarnecki - Originally from Warsaw, Poland, Rafał Sarnecki is a jazz guitarist and composer currently living in New York. In the thirteen years that Rafal spent living in the Big Apple he has become one of the most sought after jazz composers of his generation. As a leader of his own projects Rafal has toured China, South Korea, Malaysia, Chile, Israel, the East and West Coast of the US and many European countries. He has shared the stage with many top names from the US jazz scene including: Ben Wendel, Ingrid Jensen, Alex Sipiagin, Joel Frahm and Gary Thomas to list a few.

Rafal has recorded four CDs as a leader. Two of them: Song From a New Place (2008, ARMS Records) and Cat's Dream (2014, BJURecords) were nominated for the Fryderyk award, the Polish equivalent of a Grammy. The Madman Rambles Again (2011, Fresh Sound) was selected as among the best jazz albums of 2011 by Hi – Fi magazine and All About Jazz (Dave Sumner's Best Releases of 2011). Besides being active as a bandleader Rafal is also involved in a variety of New York based groups such as: Lucas Pino No-Net Nonet, Annie Chen Group and David Bertrand Quartet.

Living in NYC Rafal received his BFA degree from the prestigious Jazz & Contemporary Music Program at the New School and his MA in music performance from the graduate jazz program at the CUNY Queens College. While staying in the US in 2015 he received a Ph.D. in composition from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

Rafal's newest album Climbing Trees is now available on Spotify and Amazon!