Matthew Rybicki

Jazz bassist and educator Matthew Rybicki has forged an impressive and wide-ranging career since his emergence at the beginning of the millennium. In addition to his long involvement with the Lincoln Center, the New York-based musician is a faculty member at Julliard, the author of several books for Hal Leonard Publications, and a well-traveled performer whose credits include names like Wynton Marsalis, Ernie Watts, and Laurence Hobgood. As a bandleader and composer, Rybicki has released one album, 2009's Driven. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio and educated at both Berklee College of Music and Julliard, Rybicki settled in New York in the early 2000s where he became active in the city's thriving jazz scene. Along with legendary venues like the Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, and the Village Vanguard, he began touring globally, playing festivals and major halls as far away as Taiwan, Italy, and Qatar. Collaborations with musicians like Hilary Cole, Oscar Perez, Ted Rosenthal, and Renee Fleming eventually led to Rybicki's own original project, Driven. Released in 2009, Driven was the bassist's first release as a bandleader and composer and featured a band that included pianist Gerald Clayton and saxophonist Ron Blake. While remaining active as a performer, Rybicki wrote a series of books for Hal Leonard in the 2010s including Ray Brown: Legendary Jazz Bassist and The Hal Leonard Jazz Bass Method. Meanwhile he continued to teach in a variety of roles, developing programs for Jazz at Lincoln Center, leading unique workshops at art museums like the Whitney and the Guggenheim, and joining the staff at his alma mater, Juilliard.
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