Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Florence, Ben Malynoski is a young up and coming jazz musician currently enrolled at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School in Connecticut. Ben has been in and around the Northampton jazz and music scene since his time at JFK Middle School and Northampton High School, playing and performing in as many ensembles as he could. His training started as a classical trumpet player but throughout high school, transitioned to playing tenor saxophone as his primary instrument.

Ben has studied with local saxophonist Jeff Fennell, as well as his professors at The Hartt School and former Jazz Messengers Javon Jackson and Steve Davis. Currently based out of Hartford, CT, Ben has slowly been making his way into the Connecticut jazz scene, often at jam sessions and shows in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport. His playing has been heavily influenced by jazz legends such as Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Hank Mobley, primarily playing music of the bebop and hard bop genres.