Matthew Kaminski Trio

MATTHEW KAMINSKI is a rare breed. He’s a jazz musician who performs for a crowd of 40,000 people at least 81 times a year. That’s because Kaminski is the Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball) organist and plays all their home games.

Matthew is a versatile musician who’s proficient on the piano and accordion as well as the Hammond B3 organ. He’s been playing for the Braves since the 2009 season. One of his students told him during a lesson that the Braves wanted to hire an organist and asked if Kaminski was interested. The student made a quick phone call, and before the lesson was over, an interview was set up for the following week. The rest is history.

A popular figure in the baseball world, he’s known for entertaining the crowds with funny musical asides when a player from the opposing team is announced. NBC Sports online wrote that “The Braves Organist is the Coolest Guy in the World.” In addition to playing for the Braves, he also plays for roughly 20 college baseball games a year. Matthew has been featured in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Fox 5’s “Good Morning Atlanta” and “Good Day Extra,” NPR’s Weekend Edition, the BBC, and has received positive “on air” reviews from Braves announcers Don Sutton (Hall of Fame pitcher), Chip Carey, Joe Simpson, and Jim Powell.

Kaminski learned to love music from his father, a Polish immigrant who played the accordion and sang Polka tunes around the house. He began studying the organ at the age of five, and continued studying through college, earning a Master of Music degree from Georgia State University. While attending both The University of Arizona and Georgia State University, Matthew was fortunate enough to perform with Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Joe Lovano, Conrad Herwig, Scott Wendholdt, Dave Samuels, Dave Freidman, and other master jazz musicians. Moreover, Kaminski studied the Hammond B3 with Ike Stubblefield, Tony Monaco, and Scott Giddens.