About festival JazzFest...

More concerts spread over a larger time span will offer thirty-third annual international jazz festival which has been organized for the seventeenth by the Association Jazz circle headed by a director and also an active participant in the events - saxophonist Milan Krajíc. The festival is traditionally held with the support of town Karlovy Vary and Karlovy Vary region. The Mayor of Karlovy Vary Ing. Petr Kulhánek and Governor of the Karlovy Vary region JUDr. Martin Havel provided the auspices for the Jazzfest.

Musical dramaturgy continues to focus primarily on modern jazz and its fusion with other musical genres including symphonic music with the participation of top musicians from around the world. Besides listeners - jazz specialists and those who are open to all genres of jazz, Jazzfest remembers also on the young listeners who are stil looking the way to jazz.



Foretaste of the main festival events will be the concert at Slash bar on 17 th September. Household formation M. K. Collective led by Milan Krajíc will launch the concert. The original songs by Milan Krajíc and pianist Frantisek Nedvěd, almost no genre restrictions, with interesting modern arrangements of jazz standards and contemporary jazz icons of world. Then will perform an excellent English blues rock guitarist Will Johns with his Blues Band. One of the most distinctive and intriguing artists on the contemporary British blues scene helped in dealing with the guitar his uncle - the legendary Eric Clapton.

The main festival concerts

On 12 th October at the Municipal Theatre Sokolov will perform phenomenal American trumpeter Laco Deczi (local origin) with his band Celula New York. Deczi retracts into the Czech Republic on a regular basis so the local audience is well acquainted with his music.

The first major festival concert will take place on 14 th October at the National House of Grand Hotel Ambassador. At the Orpheum theater will perform Milan Svoboda at first who is a leader of Milan Svoboda Quartet, pianist of world renown. He has featured the festival with several different formations in the past.

After the handover The prices of Baron Schoeneck which is a recognition and appreciation of important personalities associated with music in Karlovy Vary, Milan Svoboda Quartet will perform together with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra his Suite for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra under the baton of Jiři Štrunc. Then the action moves to the Music Bar Kakadu where household Vocal Band Quartet & Henry Volf Band christen the new CD.

The second major concert will take place on 22th October at the Hotel Imperial. There will perform The Trio (Kevin Hays, Marián Ševčík, Tomáš Baroš). Hays, the leader of this band, is one of the best contemporary jazz pianists. Hays worked with world-renowned names such as Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter, Brian Blade, Al Foster and others. With Hays will perform excellent rhythm section - Tomáš Baroš bassist and Marián Ševčík drummer. Both of them were playing at the Jazzfest last year as a band of the saxophonist Bob Mintzer.

After that will perform Chuck Wansley Band led by an excellent singer originally from New York, who plays with various formations including R & B bands or his own big band. Chuck Wansley will be accompanied by pianist Stanislav Mácha, bassist Josef Fečo and drummer Martin Šulc.

The third major festival chamber concert will be held on 23th October at the Art Gallery. At first will perform the quartet Invisible World Quartet led by bassist Tomáš Liška. To collaborate he invited Turkish violinist Efe Turumtay, accordionist Serbian Nikola Zarić and Moravian drummer Václav Pálka. The result is a mature original music blending elements of jazz, chamber music and world music which is based on strong melodies and leaves much space for improvisation.

Doug Hammond Trio will perform after that. An american drummer, composer and poet Doug Hammond attends Karlovy Vary regularly. He presented himself solo and trio projects at JazzFest in the past. In his extensive career he collaborated with world jazz names including for example Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Nina Simone, Earl Hooker, James Blood Ulmer and many many others. This time he teamed up with bassist Nikola Matosić, Slovenia and trumpeter Mirko Cisilino, Italia.

„Afterparty“ concert

The final dot for the 33th JazzFest will be concert of young American singer Pam Steebler on 5 th November at music club Crux. In her music can be heard links Joni Mitchell and Alanis Morissette which she morphed into the her own original sound. Talented singer, graduate of famous Boston's Berklee College of Music will present her songs from rock swing and jazz in the guise of four accompanying Czech group led by Czech jazz pianist Marek Novotný.