This new band will present a project at the intersection of jazz, poetry and the singer-songwriter genre.
The music and the poetry for this project- and for an album forthcoming in the spring of 2026- has been almost entirely written by Robert Świstelnicki. Swistelnicki is a poet, songwriter, composer and philosopher from Poland, who moved to Chicago for his PhD Studies. His previous project (in a rough translation from Polish) was called ‘Love Songs of Early Post-Communism and Late Capitalism’ (SJ Records 23’). That project has been, among others, chosen as the Album of the Year (Editor’s Choice) by “Polish Jazz”; and in reviews it was called: “one of the biggest sensations in Polish jazz in recent years” (M. Nowotny), “the best Polish album of ALL TIME [in its category’” (prof. M. Lewenstein), a “visionary album” (T. Janas) and a “new point of reference” (M. Płudowski).
For his current project Świstelnicki has invited the pearls of the Chicago jazz scene.
ROBERT ŚWISTELNICKI 6tet feat. MARK FELDMAN & ANA EVERLING
Ana Everling- voice
Mark Feldman- violin
Dave Miller- guitar
Matt Ulery- bass
Robert Świstelnicki- compositions, poetry, piano
Quin Kirchner- drums
MARK FELDMAN is a legendary violinist, composer and bandleader from Chicago (who also lived for many years in NYC and Nashville). He has recorded and collaborated with such giants as Michael Brecker, Kronos Quartet, Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, John Zorn, Placido Domingo, Dave Douglas, but also Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. He features on hundreds of records. His own album “What Exit”, recorded for ECM, counts among classics of contemporary improvised music and jazz.
ANA EVERLING is a Moldovan-American vocalist and storyteller who fuses the Romanian and Moldovan folk tradition with contemporary music, with particular focus on jazz. She has been honored as the “Artist Emerit” by the President of Moldova. She collaborates with many leading Chicago-based jazz artists, such as Hunter Diamond, Alfons Ponticelli or Kenny Reichert. She leads her own quartet and she has recently released an album for a small folk orchestra.
MATT ULERY is a prominent jazz composer and one of the most in-demand bassists in Chicago (playing brass and string basses). His music is located at the intersection of jazz, classical music, rock, pop and folk. He composes for a broad range of ensembles- from small jazz combos to large orchestras. He has worked, as a composer, with, among others: Miami String Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Miami String Quartet, New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, Axiom Brass, Wild Belle, Guimaraes (Portugal) Jazz Festival, Projeto Arcomusical. He also leads and composes all the music for several of his own ensembles, including but not limited to Sifting Stars Orchestra (orchestral art songs), Loom Large (jazz big band), Loom (jazz quintet), Delicate Charms (jazz quintet), Pollinator (jazz brass band), By a Little Light Ensemble (chamber jazz nonet), Mannerist (chamber undectet), and his latest high energy, punk/free jazz inspired band, Mother Harp. The Polish audience may best know him as a frequent and year-long collaborator of Grażyna Auguścik.
DAVE MILLER is a guitarist and composer who has worked with Jeff “Tain” Watts, Algernon, Greg Ward’s Rogue Parade, Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Scientist, Patricia Barber, Joe Policastro Trio etc. He has been a prominent fixture in the Chicago creative music scene for nearly two decades. During this time period, Miller has embarked on numerous tours stateside and abroad, and has released nine albums of original music under his own name or various pseudonyms. Grammy-award-winning music journalist Neil Tesser cites Miller “among [his] favorite modern guitarists” while the widely celebrated guitar trailblazer and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, Mary Halvorson, gushes: “Dave Miller has a penchant for melodies that stick with you, in a good way (…) his bad ass guitar playing- through a myriad of unexpected shifts- reveals a brilliant sonic universe”. Recently he held down the guitar chair for Terence Blanchard’s masterful opera, Fire Shut Up In My Bones at the Lyric Opera.
QUIN KIRCHNER– a jazz drummer and a DJ who learned from Jason and Ellis Marsalis, Johnny Vidacovich, Terrence Blanchard etc.- is an extremely popular sideman, performing with such musicians as: Rob Mazurek, Jeb Bishop, Jeff Parker, Grazyna Auguscik, Greg Ward, Bobby Broom, Dave Rempis, Mars Williams, Nick Mazzarella, Christian Dillingham, Jason Stein, Rob Clearfield, Matt Ulery, Patricia Barber and Dee Alexander, to name a few. He has toured, performed and recorded with many different groups including Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards & Rogue Parade, Matt Ulery’s Delicate Charms, Pollinator & On Broilers, The Nate Lepine Quartet, The Nick Mazzarella Quintet, The Tim Stine Quartet, Bill MacKay’s Darts & Arrows, Paul Giallorenzo’s GitGo, Minor Moon, Yr Knives and The Lucky 7s, among others. His musical talents have been showcased on stages all across North America and in over 20 countries around the world in various venues.