Marcin Olak

Guitarist, composer, improvising and experimenting musician. He is one of the few who can play modern jazz on classical and acoustic guitars, using the specific sound and articulation possibilities of those instruments, he also plays electric guitars. Usually, guitar in jazz guitar is treated linearly. Most guitarists play with a pick and are thus able to play a single note melody or chords. Marcin Olak – with his classical guitarist background – plays differently. He creates multilevel, complex textures, using the specific sound and articulation possibilities of his guitars, as it is in the European guitar tradition.

Olak moves between various styles: jazz, classical and contemporary pieces, from fully composed pieces to improvised music. Marcin Olak performs solo and with various bands: from free-jazz combos, through classical guitar ensembles, to the symphony orchestra. Marcin is also appreciated as an arranger and composer: he writes chamber music and concertos, jazz themes, and songs.

Marcin Olak played at some of the most important guitar and jazz festivals, such as Jazz Jamboree, Bridges, Ad Libitum, Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, Warsaw Autumn, JazzArt and more.