Rafał Sarnecki - guitarist, composer, arranger born in 1982 in Warsaw, Poland. In 2005 he left his hometown to study jazz in New York where he spend most of his career. Living in NY he was involved in a variety of New York based groups such as: Lucas Pino No-Net Nonet, Annie Chen Group and David Bertrand Quartet. He also started his own sextet featuring Lucas Pino, Bogna Kicińska, Glenn Zaleski, Rick Rosato and Colin Stranahan. As a leader of his own projects he has performed in North and South Americas, most European countries and did 15 tours in Asia.
Rafal has recorded five CDs as a leader. Three of them: Song From a New Place (2008), Cat's Dream (2014) and A View From The Treetop (2022) 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.
Living in NYC Rafal received his BFA degree from the Jazz & Contemporary Music Program at the New School and his MA in music performance from the graduate jazz program at the CUNY Queens College. In 2015 he received a Ph.D. in composition from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Currently Rafal is living in Warsaw. He is an adjunct profesor at the University of Music in Łódź.