ABOUT

Matt Niedbalski is a drummer known for bringing musicality and energy to the bandstand. Born and raised in New York’s Capital District, Matt was exposed to music at a very early age. While in high school he took private drum lessons with drummer/author Ted Mackenzie and participated in the Empire State Youth Orchestra as well as the Skidmore Summer Jazz Institute. In 2012, Matt was accepted into the jazz studies program at William Paterson University under the direction of Mulgrew Miller and studied with notable musicians such as Bill Goodwin, Kevin Norton, Steve LaSpina, Bill Charlap and Christian McBride.

Since graduating William Paterson in 2016 Matt has performed at numerous festivals including the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival and Musikfest in Bethlehem PA. Matt has been featured on numerous recordings including “People and Places” by the Sam Javitch Quartet featuring Rich Perry, “What We Learn From the Trees” by the Giroux Brothers and “Tales” by Charles Cornell. “People and Places” release was celebrated with performances in New York City at Joe’s Pub and the Blue Note and received favorable reviews in publications such as the New York City Jazz Record, Textura and UK Vibe. “Tales” by Charles Cornell was released in 2019 and the albums lead single “Rise“ has over 60,000 views on Youtube. Matt self released “Brothers“ a duo recording featuring himself and alto saxophonist Joel Cotton. The album was released on an independent label he founded named “2198 Records”.

In 2020 Matt formed a trio “GNP” which he co-leads with Tyler Giroux and Dylan Perrillo. The group backed legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan for the Quebec Jazz Festival and went on to release their debut album “Codes” on ears&eyes records in 2021 which has received global airplay. Matt has been performing with Charles Cornell for over 10 years. He has been featured on all of his albums and can be seen performing on his youtube channel which has over a million subscribers. He will be featured on a new video series in 2023. Matt is currently endorsed by Bosphorus cymbals and Vater drumsticks.