A symbol calculus for the smallest Banach subalgebra A [SO,P C] n×n means the C * -algebra generated by all slowly oscillating (SO) and all piecewise continuous (P C) n × n matrix functions, and [SOp, P Cp] n×n is a Fourier multiplier analogue of [SO, P C] n×n on Lp(R). As a result, a Fredholm criterion for the operators A ∈ A [SO,P C] is established. The study is based on the compactness of the commutators AW a,b − W a,b A where A ∈ A [SO,P C] , a ∈ SO, and b ∈ SOp, on the Allan-Douglas local principle, and on the two projections theorem.