Dmitri Kolesnik

Dmitri Kolesnik, born in Leningrad (now St.Petersburg), left his first job in engineering to study music at the Mussorgsky College of Music and graduated in 1985. Two years before he had already been voted Discovery of the Year by the Soviet Jazz Federation, and consecutively played at international festivals with giants as Dave Brubeck, Billy Taylor, Jon Faddis and Pat Metheny. After two years in Germany, he moved to New York in 1991 to study with Ron Carter. He put together an invaluable teaching guide on Carter, featuring transcriptions of 19 bass solos, which was published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. More recently, Kolesnik has become a busy bassist on the scene, appearing at such clubs as Birdland, Iridium, and Knitting Factory.
As talented composer he combines singable melodies with the energy of Afro-American rhythms and describes his compositions as “dushevnaya musika” (=Russian soul music - Russians refer to things that are deeply moving as “dushevny” = soulful).
As a bass player, Kolesnik believes in providing the best support for musicians in the group so the band sounds good, rather than displaying virtuoso ability on the instrument as a goal. In that, he follows the tradition of his favorite bassist Ron Carter.