PAWEL SMORAG - musician, saxophonist,
multi-instrumentalist and composer

Was born on January 20th 1977 in Swiebodzice
in Lower Silesia.

In 1996 he graduated with the distinction from
Musical Secondary School in Walbrzych in the class
of saxophone. The recital he played contained the
classical and jazz repertoire.

In 2003, the saxophonist graduated from the Musical
Academy in Katowice at the Jazz and Light Music
Faculty presenting a very original diploma recital.

During the secondary school years, Pawel was Piotr
Baron's saxophone student. Later, he studied at the
Musical Academy under Jerzy Glowczewski's direction.

Pawel Smorag is a talented, versatile and experienced musician instrumentalist. He feels comfortable in every style of modern/contemporary music. Pawel's virtuosity and extraordinary misical technique allow him to fully emphasise his sensitivity, artistic personality and a huge stage temperament. Pawel is a charismatic artist that finds himself in his element on a big stage as well as on a cosy club stage. One of the biggest assets of this excellent young musician is an unusual ability to develop a great contact with the audience.

Pawel's specialisation is an alto saxophone, but he can use all the other types of saxophones and even a flute. The musician has been developing his impressive sound and style for years drawing on the achievements and artistic work of his favourite saxophonists and using the best and well-tried methods of working with an instrument. Through his experience and hard work with the instrument he was able to elaborate his own good and effective work methods and different kinds of exercises for the saxophone. A part of Pawel's conclusions and reflections on this subject is included in his Diploma Thesis entitled "Workshop of a modern saxophonist." An inspiration to his dissertation was provided by the work of the smooth jazz saxophonists such as: Eric Marienthal, Nelson Rangell, Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum.

Pawel Smorag is also a gifted multi-instrumentalist. The rock side of his musical personality is being revealed through a guitar - a second musical love of his. You can call Pawel "a natural born guitarist" because he has a great, natural feeling of the instrument and the stylish sound of his electric guitar delights even the most discriminating listeners. Pawel also plays keyboards and percussion instruments. Furthermore, he proved himself to be an excellent rock vocalist.

In his playing Pawel combines the techniques and melodic patterns characteristic of a saxophone and a guitar in a very free and creative way. The thing that is so fascinating about his playing is probably his intense, dynamic and expressive solo parts which have almost become an identification of the musician.

The musician has been working intensively on his own solo material. He wants to show himself as a composer, arranger and producer. As a result of Pawel's long-standing fascination by many artists, his original compositions combine many different kinds of modern music. His music has a unique character and its sound breaks down many stylistic barriers. His melodies are expressive and full of sophisticated musical taste. After the years of performing somebody else's compositions and countless improvisations, Pawel's musical seeker personality finally finds its way of development into his own creative work.

The saxophonist performs in many diverse musical and artistic configurations. He has on his scorecard numerous concerts in Poland and abroad together with rich experience as a session musician.