Matei Predescu is a Romanian-American pianist, keyboardist, composer, and improviser whose omnivorous musical pursuits range from their modern jazz and creative music project “Basme/Fictions” to experimental noise and electronic ambient projects.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Matei’s original music explores themes of cultural memory, generational trauma, and Romanian American identity through the intersection of Black American music, Eastern European folk music traditions, and experimental music. In the Bay Area, Matei has performed at festivals such as San Jose Jazz Festival, Stanford Jazz Festival, Next Generation Jazz Festival, and at venues like Mr Tipples Jazz Club, Café Stritch, Club Deluxe, and SFJazz.

Now based in Brooklyn, Matei has performed their original music as a bandleader across the city at venues such as the Lower East Side’s Close Up as well as experimental performance spaces like Brothers Wash & Dry. Their arrangements for large ensemble through their collaboration with Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson’s Big Band has been performed at Roulette Intermedium. Predescu also hosts and curates the long-running Monday night live music series at Filthy Diamond in Bushwick which doubles as an incubatory workshop for new projects and also as community jam session.

Matei studied jazz piano and improvised music at Oberlin Conservatory with Dan Wall and Dana Jessen, and received tutelage from luminary musicians like Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, as well as interdisciplinary mentorship from mixed media artist Johnny Coleman. Matei’s work is also deeply rooted in interdisciplinary collaboration with filmmakers and visual artists, including forays into film scoring and improvised dance accompaniment.

As a composer, Predescu’s music explores the extremes between density and negative space. Complex metric structures and poignant lyricism are woven together to create engaging narratives that unfurl in unexpected directions. Predescu’s improvisatory approach finds common ground between the distinct styles of McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor, Geri Allen and Fred Hersch, while staying firmly rooted in the blues aesthetics of Thelonious Monk. Above all, Predescu seeks creative inspiration from the classic Romanian concept of “haz de necaz”, or laughing in the face of misfortune with a sense of irreverence, wit, and steadfastness.

Matei’s forthcoming debut album “Basme”, featuring trumpeter Robert Vega, guitarist Robert Papacica, bassist Paul Pandit, and drummer Chase Elodia, will be released in November 2025 on Endectomorph records.