Dan Chmielinski, also known as "Chimy" (''shim'-ee''), (born December 28, 1993) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

, synthesist and composer.

Biography

Early life

Raised in

Glenview, Illinois Glenview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop. Per the 2020 census, the population was 48,705. The Village of Glenview is governed by New Trier and Northfield townships. According ...

, Chmielinski began playing bass at age three, initially utilizing a toddler-sized

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar an ...

his parents created using a half-size

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

with bass

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

strings. He attended

Glenbrook South High School Glenbrook South High School, or GBS, is a public four-year high school located in Glenview, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Northfield Township High School District, which also includes Glenbrook North H ...

. He completed both undergraduate and graduate studies in music at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York City.

Musical career

He has worked extensively as a member of pianist

Joey Alexander Josiah Alexander Sila (born 25 June 2003), known professionally as Joey Alexander, is an Indonesian jazz pianist. He became the first Indonesian musician to perform on the Grammy Awards as well as to chart on Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 wh ...

's trio alongside drummer

Ulysses Owens Ulysses Owens Jr. (born December 6, 1982) is an American drummer and percussionist. He was the drummer on vocalist Kurt Elling's Grammy-winning album '' Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman'', and on bassist Chr ...

and was featured on Alexander's second album ''Countdown'', released in September 2016. He has performed as a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, and has also worked with artists including

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, touring and recording while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's quar ...

Chase Baird David "Chase" Baird (born March 18, 1988) is an American saxophonist, guitarist, wind synthesist, composer, songwriter and music educator. Biography Early life Baird was born in Seattle, Washington. He was introduced to music at an early age ...

Eric Harland Eric Harland (born November 8, 1976, in Houston, Texas) is an American jazz drummer. In addition to leading his own group, Harland is a member of Charles Lloyd's Quartet, Dave Holland's Prism, James Farm with Joshua Redman, and Taylor Eigsti ...

, Antonio Sánchez, Nir Felder,

Jeff "Tain" Watts Jeff "Tain" Watts (born January 20, 1960) is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Betty Carter, Michael Brecker, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, and others. Biography Watts got the nickname "Tain" ...

, Mark Sherman,

Dan Tepfer Dan Tepfer (born 1982 in Paris, France) is a French-American jazz pianist and composer. He is best known for his 2011 album ''Goldberg Variations/Variations'' and his 2019 multimedia project ''Natural Machines''. Biography Dan Tepfer grew up in ...

Steve Lyman Stephen Richard Lyman (born January 22, 1982) is an American jazz drummer, composer and educator. Biography Early life Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Lyman was exposed to music at an early age by his father, a classical guitarist. Lyman be ...

, Sammy Miller,

Bryan Carter Bryan Carter (born July 11, 1990, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and bandleader. In 2023, he and Charlie Rosen won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for ''Some Like It Hot''. In 2 ...

and others. His initial work as a bandleader focused on the ensemble ''Four by Four'', which featured combined jazz quartet and string quartet. In mid-2018, Chmielinski formed the electro-acoustic band ''

Circuit Kisser Circuit may refer to: Science and technology Electrical engineering * Electrical circuit, a complete electrical network with a closed-loop giving a return path for current ** Analog circuit, uses continuous signal levels ** Balanced circui ...

'', featuring Electronic Wind Instrumentalist

, keyboardist

Mathis Picard Mathis is a name of French and German origin. It is common as a surname and is also a masculine given name. People with the surname *Buster Mathis (1943–1995), American heavyweight boxer * Buster Mathis Jr. (born 1970), American heavyweight b ...

and drummer Diego Ramirez. In December 2019, Chmielinski collaborated with vocalist

Martina DaSilva Martina DaSilva is a jazz vocalist, composer, and arranger. In addition to being a leading member of the band '' The Ladybugs'', DaSilva has worked with Jon Batiste, Postmodern Jukebox, Gunhild Carling and Bria Skonberg. Early life Raised ...

to release the winter holiday-inspired album ''A Very ChimyTina Christmas''. While the album primarily featured Chmielinski and DaSilva in a duo format, several tracks incorporate individual guest artists including saxophonist

Lucas Pino Lucas Pino García (born 30 October 2005) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Uruguayan Primera División club Montevideo City Torque. Club career Pino played ''baby fútbol'' for Nueva Unión and Or ...

, guitarist Gabe Schnider, vibraphonist

Joel Ross Joel Ross may refer to: *Joel Ross (DJ) Joel Ross (born Joel Hogg 31 May 1977) is a British radio DJ and television presenter. He has worked with a co-host Jason King (Presenter), Jason King (known on-air as JK). He now presents ''The Hits Radi ...

and bassist

Ben Wolfe Benjamin Jonah Wolfe is an American jazz bassist who has performed in groups with Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Diana Krall. He is currently on the teaching faculty at The Juilliard School Jazz Division. Career Wolfe was born in Baltimo ...

. The album encompassed ten classic standards including

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

's "Last Christmas" and " When You Wish Upon a Star" as well as the original composition "Diamonds and Pearls". Chmielinski has composed music for film, including the 2016 documentary ''Sacred'' by director

Thomas Lennon Thomas Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!'', Andrei Novak on '' Santa Clarita Diet'' and Felix Unger on '' The Odd Couple''. He is the screenw ...

. He also composed for director Connor Smith's 2015 film ''Smoke in the Air'' and 2016 documentary ''Shakespeare at the Point.'' In 2017, Dan was one of 8 composers selected to participate in BMI's, “Composing for the Screen” film scoring mentorship, under the guidance of acclaimed media composer Rick Baitz. Chmielinski plays and endorses Pirastro Eudoxa strings.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chmielinski, Dan 1993 births Living people American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists American jazz composers Juilliard School alumni 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians