Chris Mondak Band w/ special guest Pavel Wlosok

Bassist and composer Chris Mondak has lived in Nashville since 2020. Chris studied with bass legends Cecil McBee and Dave Holland at the New England Conservatory (B.M., 2020). Prior to that, Chris was active in the Champaign Central HS music program, where he was a three-time Illinois all-state musician, receiving commendations from Essentially Ellington, Music for All, the Brubeck Institute, YoungArts, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Chris has played with Wycliffe Gordon, Dave Douglas, Wayne Escoffery, Melanie Charles, Shelly Berg, Marvin Stamm, Jesus Molina, Jeff Hamilton, and Matt Savage. Chris has toured in the U.S., and has played in Australia, Mexico and Panama, and toured twice in China. Chris has performed at venues such as Birdland, Bop Stop, Jazz at Lincoln Center-Shanghai, Carnegie Hall, Rudy's, and Breezy's.
In 2023, Chris released his 3rd CD, Blank with Colour(Summit Records), a lively collection of jazz-funk tunes including eight of Chris's original compositions plus covers of the classics songs "Cruel to Be Kind" (Nick Lowe) and "Affirmation" (composed by Jose Feliciano and made famous by George Benson).
Chris has received international composition and performance awards from the Italian organization 7 International Jazz Club (2023, for "Begetting," a semi-finalist in the under 25 category), and the Hengqin Cup Jazz Competition in Zhuhai, China (2019, 1st place for "Always Smiling" as the festival's top original composition).
Pavel Wlosok is a Czech-born American pianist, composer, arranger, educator, mixing and mastering engineer, and photographer. He received his classical education in piano performance and contemporary composition at the Janacek Conservatory of Music in Ostrava and Janacek Academy in Brno, and obtained his bachelor and master degrees in jazz studies at the University of North Texas (aka UNT) in Denton. Since August 2002, he has been the full time instructor of the Jazz and Commercial Music and Audio Production program at Western Carolina University, in Cullowhee, NC. In 2016, he was awarded a full professorship by the University of North Carolina board of trustees.
While at UNT, he served as pianist-arranger for the One O'clock Lab Band (4 CDs, including one featuring Kenny Wheeler as soloist); as solo pianist for the UNT Wind Symphony (CD “Luminaries”); and frequently tours both Europe and North America. In June of 2007 WCU’s Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet performed Pavel’s original commissioned piece “Five Miniatures for Brass Quintet” at Carnegie Hall, New York. Pavel is the recipient of the IAJE Gil Evans Commission in jazz arranging and composition for the year 2000.
Since 2012, Pavel has released ten jazz CD albums as a leader featuring worldclass musicians including tenor saxophonists Bob Sheppard, Rick Margitza, Joel Frahm, drummer Ed Soph, guitarist Paul Bollenback, and Grammy-Awardwinning saxophonist Donny McCaslin and drummer John Riley, and since 2006 has led the Wlosok/McGuirk/Riley jazz trio whose double-CD album “Never Too Old For Love” featuring vocalist Carly Johnson came out in 2020 on Prague’s LH Promotion label. Since Fall of 2023, he has also been the pianist and choir director at Maggie Valley United Methodist Church in Western North Carolina.
In addition, Pavel is known for his audio recording, mixing, and mastering skills combining technologies of analog reel-to-reel tape and outboard gear with the industry standard Avid ProTools HD system. On occasion, he also enjoys shooting portraits and landscapes with his Nikon-based photography equipment.
Pavel maintains a busy international performing schedule and enjoys living in Western North Carolina near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with his wife Andrea, three daughters Victoria, Natalia, Karolina, and King Charles Cavalier dog Charlie. For more info, feel free to visit his website at pavelwlosok.com

This show is 21 and over only. All sales are final and we unfortunately cannot offer any refunds. Additional tickets may be available at the door on the day of the show even if it is sold out online.

Please try to arrive 15 minutes prior to the show start time. If you do not arrive within 45 minutes after the show start time on your ticket your seat may be resold to other patrons at the door. If you arrive after 45 minutes from the start time of the show and your ticket has been resold, although we cannot guarantee it, we will try our best to make space for you to attend the show.

Host or Publisher Rudy's Jazz Room