Andrzej Chochół was born in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, in a family with musical traditions. He has begun to consider playing guitar seriously as a teenager and develops his passion to music to this day.

The rise of Stan d’Art

Year 1983 was the year of Stan d’Art.  The band was founded by Andrzej and his university friend Darek Galon. They invited Włodzimierz Kiniorski, Marian Zych and Leszek Dziarek to join them.

In 1985 Stan d’Art received the 1st prize at the Komeda Festival in Warsaw, and a Grand Prix at the International Modern Jazz Festival “Jazz nad Odrą” in 1986.

The band and the band members personally took the highest spots in Jazz Top poll in Jazz Forum magazine. Andrzej Chochół was considered there as one of the top ten Polish jazz guitar players, in the years 1985 to 1987. 1987 brought the first album of Stan d’Art, released by Polskie Nagrania (Polish Records).

At the same time, he developed his career touring and recording with these bands:
Violin Meeting, Space Shuttle, Asocjacja Andrzeja Przybielskiego, Teatr Performer.

He also performed with many famous musicians such as:
Krzysztof Ścierański, Aleksander Korecki, Henryk Gembalski, Janusz Smyk, Jorgos Skolias, Bernard Maseli, Michał Zduniak, Adam Wendt, Janusz Janina Iwański, Ewa Uryga.

Solo career development

At the end of the 80’s, Andrzej was playing mainly jazz-harmolodic, free jazz and fusion.

His musical interests became much wider in the early 90’s, when he focused on his solo career. He then formed a group called Trouble Makers with some young players, mainly his students. He played concerts with them and not much later recorded an album called Andrzej Chochół Cooperation (1998).

A prestigious music magazine called Gitara i Bas (Guitar and Bass) reviewed it very positively in these words:

“This musician shows his knowledge, skills and musical sensitivity (…) serves interestingly arranged, pleasant music somewhere between Stern, Sting, Spyro Gyra and Metheny or Benson (…) Andrzej Chochół Cooperation album is a very interesting music document of a guitarist you should get to know.”

The album received four out of five stars.

At the turn of the 80s and 90s, Andrzej started to promote jazz music in Poland by organizing events that are known to this day. One of them is Zaduszki Jazzowe which is organized year by year in November to celebrate great musicians that have passed away. In 2017 there will be a 29th edition of Zaduszki Jazzowe in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

Thanks to Andrzej’s enthusiasm and persistence, local community of Ostrowiec Św. has been able to listen to live concerts of such musicians as Bob Berg, David Kikoski, Deric James, Rick Hollender and Urszula Dudziak, Hi-Lo group and Patricia Beysens from Sweden, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Krystyna Prońko, Jarosław Śmietana, Wojciech Karolak, Grażyna Łobaszewska, Jorgos Skolias, Globetrotters group, Walk Away, Bill Evans, Zbigniew Namysłowski and many more.

Pedagogical activity

Andrzej has been into pedagogical activities for years. He has directed the development of many now famous musicians.

He helped the youngsters with starting their career, using his knowledge and skills or by inviting them for recordings and concerts.

By Andrzej’s side developed their skills:

• Marek Motylski (drummer) – excellent and very versatile drummer, connected with Andrzej Chochół’s band for years. Ex-band member of MAFIA. He played concerts with K.A.S.A., Big Band Katowice and as a session musician.
• Grzegorz “Ornette” Stępień (bassist) – he played concerts with famous Krystyna Prońko, Aleksander Korecki, K.A.S.A. and a well-known rock band called Oddział Zamknięty.
• Wojtek Kidoń (conga) – cooperated with Enrique Iglesias, Krystyna Prońko, Rafał Brzozowski, Czesław Mozil, Tomek Torres, Bartek Grzanek, Marek Kościkiewicz, Edyta Górniak, Marek Piekarczyk.

His talent and energy have also helped musicians outside of the jazz genre. Andrzej has joined musicians playing pop, blues, alternative and sung poetry.

In 1991, as the main music specialist in MCK Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (City’s Culture Centre), Andrzej received an award from the Kieleckie voivodeship governor for the effort of creating the cultural life of the region. He received a similar award from the president of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in 1999.

Playing in Poland and the rest of the world

Andrzej Chochół played at many important festivals in Poland: Jazz Jamboree, Jazz nad Odrą, Jazz Jantar, Pomorska Jesień Jazzowa, Kieleckie Zaduszki Jazzowe, Tribute to Miles Festival and many others.

Many times he played abroad: France, Ukraine, Russia, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Canada.

He also recorded many music albums, such as:

• Stan d`Art – Undegrajdoł
• Zdu-Bop – Tańce Zdubopskie (M. Zduniak, H. Gembalski)
• Orkiestra Świętokrzyska – Gospodarstwo Artystyczne OŚ (A. Przybielski, R. Nowakowski)
• Orkiestra Dni Naszych – Loveland (J. Kobyliński)
• Canto – Jesteśmy mgłami (R. Góra, K. Jankowska)
• Andrzej Chochół – Piosenki dla niegrzecznych dzieci (“The songs for naughty children”) (M. Ślusarska, J. Motylska, J. Gwardecki)
• Natural Beat Band & Andrzej Chochół
• Studium Instrumentów Etnicznych – 3.5.7 (P. “Stiff” Stefański)
• KGBand – Mira Na Obu Brzegach Tęczy (K.J.Krawczyk, G. Łobaszewska)

After the pop-rock album “Piosenki dla niegrzecznych dzieci”, Andrzej joined Michał Zduniak (drummer) to record something for the jazz connoisseurs. They have known each other very well, so they formed a duo of guitar and drums to play something similar to Pat Metheny’s Song X or Zero Tolerance. This promising album was released in 2008.

In november of 2008 the anniversary edition of Zaduszki Jazzowe coincided with the release and promotion of an album called Here We Go. It’s a smooth-jazz piece of music, featuring musicians of Funk Collective (Bartek Abramowicz, Christian Broniarz, Grzegorz Poliszak, Marek Matwiejczyk and Dorota Broniarz) and a very special guest – Bill Evans (USA). This album’s recognition has shot up shortly after the release.

It is worth mentioning that Andrzej cooperated with Mira Kubasińska, for whom he formed a band and played concerts with her. Mira was a legendary singer of Breakout band, one of the most famous Polish blues rock bands of the 70s.

The setup

Andrzej uses many instruments, however, he’s most recognized for his custom Fender Telecaster. He also plays Gibson ES-335 and Gibson ES-175D. His most trusted amps that create the signature sound are Fender Twin Reverb and Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker.