On her fifth album, pianist and composer Beata Hlavenkova appears as singer for the first time. Her main musical partner on this album is Oskar T�r�k who has contributed not only in his traditional role as trumpetist but also as drummer, percussionist and singer. The title SNE is a shortcut for everything that the album contains: poems (baSNE), songs (p�SNE) and dreams (SNEn�). Beata has chosen poems by her favorite authors, Petr Borkovec and Bohuslav Reynek, and set them to music. Two of the sons are based on her own texts and two others musicalize lyrics by Dorota Barova and Martin Vedej. In foregrounding the song form on this album, Beata removes her music further away from the limits of jazz within which she used to operate and brings it forward in the direction of contemporary cross-genre songwriting. Her unique style, however, is still very much recognizable.

The present release is the second album of Tom� Hobzek, a leading Czech jazz drummer and composer whose name is associated not least with Organic Quartet which he co-founded with the world-renowned organist Ondrej Pivec. The album features original modern-jazz compositions performed in collaboration with other foremost players on the local jazz scene: saxophonist Marcel B�rta, pianist V�t Kri�tan, and double bassist Tom� Li�ka. The perfectly coordinated formation with ample concert experience as a quartet brings a unique and authentic performance based on a shared sense of improvisation, energy, and atmosphere.

SAKOBI is a new project of the Vilem Spilka Quartet. The band consists of Radek Zapadlo on saxophone, Vilem Spilka on double bass and Martin Kleibl on drums. Since they have been together for a long time in other ensembles, they are closely connected musically. Radek Zapadlo has been successfully active on the Czech jazz scene for two dozen years, most recently alongside Matej Benko, Ondrej Ruml, playing in the Cotatcha Orchestra, his own Four in Blue formation and the aforementioned Vilem Spilka Quartet. Martin Kleibl, after an eight-year stint with the Brno Philharmonic, oscillates in genre from classical to pop, plays in the OK Percussion duo with European-class marimbist Martin Oprsal, accompanies singer Petr Bende and is the driving force behind the Vilem Spilka Quartet. For the SAKOBI project, Vilem Spilka replaced his main instrument, the guitar, with the double bass, which he began to play during the pandemic of the cover band. The trio's debut recording is released by Bivak Records. All members contributed to the album not only as players but also as composers. Zapadlo contributed the melancholic dirgeCesta za modr�m sluncem (Journey to the Blue Sun), while Martin Kleibl's Na ceste (On theRoad) is typical uplifting Latin jazz. Vilem Spilka added the rest of the repertoire, his individual opuses revealing a variety of musical and non-musical inspirations-from his native Brno to Japan, to which the cryptogram in the band's name refers. In the spirit of Japanese realities, the debut album is titled Banzai!, something like a shout of Hurrra or Yeehaw! Stylistically, the album is more or less unclassifiable, drawing on the traditions of jazz and other African-American styles, as well as folk music from Moravia and beyond.

Cellist Jiri Barta and pianist Terezie Fialova dedicate their new album to the legacy of Leos Janacek. The album features three pieces written originally for violin and piano: the well-known Sonata that had been, nonetheless, neglected at the time of it's origin, Dumka, and Romance. The violin parts of the three compositions have been arranged for the cello by Jiri Barta and are released in a world premiere in this form. Janacek composed Dumka and Romance during his studies in Leipzig, an unhappy period when he tortured himself with doubts about his talent. They both show traces of classicist and romantic style and Barta �s cello recording even more pronounces the wistfully elegiac disposition of the piece. Cello adaptation of the Sonata is based on Janacek �s version from 1922, retaining the key and the having piano part unaltered, while the violin part has mostly been transposed an octave lower. The album also also includes the only two compositions by Janacek intended for cello and piano, Pohadka (Fairy Tale), with a fourth movement that had been part of one of the working versions of the work but discarded later by Janacek, and the short Presto, originally probably intended as one the movements for Pohadka - which also went through diverse stages of germination just as Sonata did, and it's last version was published in 1924. Inspiration by the tragic story of the Tale of Tsar Berendey and his child reflects Janacek �s own experience. "Like most of Janacek's chamber works, Pohadka provides a fascinating insight into the composer's soul," says Jiri Barta and describes his memories of his first encounter of Janacek �s music: "I'm listening to the strangely beautiful music, so different from anything I'd have encountered as a child. Harrowing, yet tender, sad, but in a different way, moving, yet devoid of whining and false tears. (...)In his almost despondent genuineness, he will not forgive any mannerism or insincerity, making it hard for the performer to decipher him. Even at moments of greatest anguish, he is faithful to the principles of beauty and truth." The catalogue of Animal Music features as well a recording of the two artists' performance of Beethoven's Sonatas for piano and cello (2021), and Jiri Barta's solo recording of complete Bach's cello suites (2018).

Cellist Jir?i� Ba�rta and pianist Terezie Fialova� dedicate their new album to the legacy of Leos? Jana�c?ek. The album features three pieces written originally for violin and piano: the well-known Sonata that had been, nonetheless, neglected at the time of it's origin, Dumka, and Romance. The violin parts of the three compositions have been arranged for the cello by Jir?i� Ba�rta and are released in a world premiere in this form. Jana�c?ek composed Dumka and Romance during his studies in Leipzig, an unhappy period when he tortured himself with doubts about his talent. They both show traces of classicist and romantic style and Barta �s cello recording even more pronounces the wistfully elegiac disposition of the piece. Cello adaptation of the Sonata is based on Janacek �s version from 1922, retaining the key and the having piano part unaltered, while the violin part has mostly been transposed an octave lower. The album also also includes the only two compositions by Jana�c?ek intended for cello and piano, Poha�dka (Fairy Tale), with a fourth movement that had been part of one of the working versions of the work but discarded later by Jana�c?ek, and the short Presto, originally probably intended as one the movements for Poha�dka - which also went through diverse stages of germination just as Sonata did, and it's last version was published in 1924. Inspiration by the tragic story of the Tale of Tsar Berendey and his child reflects Jana�c?ek �s own experience. "Like most of Jana�c?ek's chamber works, Poha�dka provides a fascinating insight into the composer's soul," says Jir?i� Ba�rta and describes his memories of his first encounter of Janacek �s music: "I'm listening to the strangely beautiful music, so different from anything I'd have encountered as a child. Harrowing, yet tender, sad, but in a different way, moving, yet devoid of whining and false tears. (...)In his almost despondent genuineness, he will not forgive any mannerism or insincerity, making it hard for the performer to decipher him. Even at moments of greatest anguish, he is faithful to the principles of beauty and truth." The catalogue of Animal Music features as well a recording of the two artists' performance of Beethoven's Sonatas for piano and cello (2021), and Jir?i� Ba�rta's solo recording of complete Bach's cello suites (2018).

The album “Britten”, released by Animal Music, comprises three essential choral works by one of the most distinguished 20th-century composers, Benjamin Britten, in new recordings by the Czech vocal ensemble Martinu Voices conducted by its founding artistic director Lukáš Vasilek and featuring soloists Katerina Englichová (harp) and Daniela Valtová Kosinová (organ). Te Deum in C, A Ceremony of Carols and Hymn to St. Cecilia occupy a special place in Britten’s oeuvre. Writing music for choirs of all shapes and sizes enabled Britten to carry out his long-term goal, i.e. to create music that would be “useful” or, in other words, that could serve his community and fulfil the democratic potential of choral singing. Each of the three works was intended for different forces: one for choir and organ, one for choir and harp, and one for unaccompanied choir. The compositions very well illustrate Britten’s ability to create an entirely different world with each new composition. All three works come from an in-between stage in his life and career. Te Deum in C originated in 1934 when Britten’s personal and professional life had temporarily come to a standstill, the other two compositions were written, in part, during an Atlantic crossing when Britten and his partner Peter Pearse were returning from the US to Britain in 1942, having spent three years in America. The most popular of the three pieces is A Ceremony of Carols which has become a stock piece on the repertoire of school choirs, choir associations as well as professional ensembles and is regularly performed to this day. With “Britten”, Martinu Voices add another recording to their string of profile albums dedicated to diverse masters of choral composition – having previously released albums with music by Bohuslav Martinu (2018) and Jan Novák (2014). Lukáš Vasilek is one of the foremost Czech choir conductors. Apart from being the artistic director of Martinu Voices he is the chief conductor of Prague Philharmonic Choir and has collaborated, among others, with Jirí Belohlávek, Simon Rattle, Semjon Byckov, Manfred Honeck, Gianandrea Noseda, and world-renowned orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Symphonic Orchestra. In 2023, he conducted a remarkable concert performance of Britten’s War Requiem in which he combined the forces of the Prague Philharmonic Choir with those of three orchestras and three international soloists. On the cover, a portrait of Benjamin Britten by the famous photographer Cecil Beaton has been used. It was taken in 1942, around the time the composer was working on some of these pieces. The liner notes include a text on Benjamin Britten and his choral works by the British musicologist Dr. Lucy Walker.

Jazz Dock Orchestra, whose career was established by their first gig in January 2018, is a “house bigband” for Jazz Dock, the renowned Prague jazz club, a magic and favourite place on the riverside, where top players form the Czech jazz scene and from abroad meet and play. The Orchestra consists of some of the best Czech and Slovak musicians, helmed by the English saxophonist and composer, Andy Schofield. So far the Jazz Dock Orchestra has welcomed several legendary guests at its gigs, among them Kurt Elling, Richard Bona, Ben Wendel and Niels Klein, and has played compositions and arrangements by the classics like Duke Elligton, Bob Brookmeyer, Charles Mingus or Gil Evans. Nevertheless, on this album, released to celebrate the band's 5th anniversary, the musicians present the compositions by their own co-leaders – Andy Schofield and Jan Jirucha. The album was recorded live to capture the inimitable atmosphere and the unique energy often returned to the players by their fantastic audience at the Orchestra's regular monthly gigs at Jazz Dock.

Grammy-winning producer and musician Ondrej Pivec is coming back to his homeland after years overseas with the project""Greatest Hits 4000." It blends elements of genres like jazz, funk, gospel, hip-hop, and soul in the tradition of American music with a fresh twist. Accompanying the Czech jazz icon on the album are talented musicians - Jan Steinsdörfer, the keyboardist of the Czech music group Chinaski, Jan Jakubec, a bassist whose resume includes names like Lenka Dusilová and Raduza, and Filip Ernst, the drummer of Top Dream Company and DYK band. The album is based on Pivec's live performance at JazzFestBrno in the studios of Czech Television.

Often lauded as one of the leading figures of the Czech jazz scene, David Doružka has been active as a professional musician from the age of 14, having played concerts all over the world, collaborated with many of today’s leading musicians, and having spent extensive periods in the cities of New York and Paris. After recent collaborations with jazz icons Lizz Wright, Jeff Ballard or Hilmar Jensson, Doružka teamed up with flutist Robert Fischmann and drummer Martin Novák to explore a sound which is less jazz-centered and more world-oriented. The core of this unusually sounding ensemble is the legacy of Jewish music with its many facets that have evolved on various continents over the centuries.

However the trio takes great liberties in incorporating all of these elements and so it easily happens that traditional Chassidic chants are followed by metalcore passages and melodies from Medieval Spain are heard next to sounds inspired by the contemporary New York downtown scene. Their present debut album is entitled Gilgul, meaning "cycle" in Hebrew. Jewish music is nothing new to members of the band as they have previously collaborated with Israeli musician Yair Dalal and American multi-instrumentalist Alan Bern among others and Doružka’s earlier CD Autumn Tales (2016, Animal Music) awarded the Czech Music Academy Angel Award for the best jazz album of the year bears influences of both Ashkenazi and Middle-Eastern music.

The album of the talented drummer and composer contains Nohavica's own compositions; influenced by African rhythms or Nordic jazz; capturing the joys and moments of life and trying to honestly tell a story that is hard to describe in words. David Doružka; Jaromír Honzák; Jirí Levícek and Cyrille Oswald contributed to the creation of the album and its final form. "When selecting my bandmates; I tried to find the ideal combination of their playing style and the character of the album; so that the story and atmosphere of the individual songs would stand out as much as possible," Nohavica explains. "I think that was successful. Despite the fact that some of the compositions can be challenging for players; we managed to create an interesting musical world full of discovery; joy and many other feelings." The guest vocalist on Glance is Allison Wheeler; an accomplished vocalist; lyricist and Nohavic's life partner. "Sharing a musical life with a partner is an extremely interesting thing; especially when we share it in a small musical community like the jazz community," says Nohavica. "I think on the one hand; we motivate each other; discover new things and learn together every day; but on the other hand; over time; our views on music; our bandmates and our musical development start to merge and it becomes harder and harder to say where the original boundaries of each of us actually are."

Pianist Tomáš Sýkora releases a new album based on an original sound concept mixing traditional jazz trio with electronics. Sýkora’s current band (Tomáš Sýkora – piano, TomášLiška – baskytara, Roman Vícha – bicí) is joined by a distinguished specialist from the sphere of electronic music, Ondrej Mikula alias Aid Kid, who has greatly contributed to its novel sound, making it both original and homogeneous. Together, the musicians have created a dynamic and highly original fusion of jazz and modern electronic music. The music has been enthusiastically received by audiences during a mini-tour undertaken by the band earlier thisspring, before they embarked on recording the project at the Sono Doupe Records studio.Among the hallmarks of Tomáš Sýkora’s new band count the employment of synthesizer as a counterpoint to acoustic piano, the infectious grooves of the rhythm section, improvised passages, the varied timbre and mood of individual compositions, sophisticated musical structures and a novel deployment of live electronics.

The Jungle Book is a studio recording of music by Marko Ivanovic, created for a theatrical music-and-dance project on which the composer and conductor collaborated with the Forman Brothers’ Theatre, Dekkadancers, the Czech Philharmonic, and Jatka78 Theatre. The world premiere of the project, based on Rudyard Kipling’s eponymous novel took place in Azyl78 in Prague in June 2022 and was followed by nearly two dozen performances in the following month, all completely sold out.

On this new album, Ivanovic has been joined by an orchestra composed of members of the Czech Philharmonic. Its release marks this year’s block of performances of The Jungle Book which will take place between 28 May and 18 June 2023, again on the scene of Azyl78. Marko Ivanovic has not only authored the music but has also co-authored the script and conducts the fifteen member orchestra during the performances. The Jungle Book is, in his words, his first attempt at a form in which music and dance, rather than words, narrate the story and carry its meaning. He adds: “For me, as a former boy scout, Kipling's book and its message and atmosphere have always held a strong appeal. And the opportunity to try and emulate in music the world of wild and seemingly chaotic nature, where a deep, unchanging order reigns has been a wonderfully inspiring experience.”

Marko Ivanovic is currently the chief conductor of the Janácek Theatre in Brno. He is also a dedicatedpromoter of contemporary music and has contributed to many first Czech performances of major foreign works. Together with Petr Kadlec, he has established a series of educational programmes ofclassical and contemporary music for young audiences. His previous successful collaborations with Forman Brothers’ Theatre include music for the opera “Carokraj” (2012) and his instrumentation of the score of Jirí Suchý and Jirí Šlitr’s jazz opera “Dobre placená procházka” for a new production at the National Theatre in Prague in 2007 (directed by Miloš and Petr Forman).el deployment of live electronics.

Water Lost And Returned is an original soundtrack from the documentary film by Radek Plihal about the restoration of the unique landscape of Sumava wetlands and mires. Film is a visual and sonic meditation on the beauty of the Southern Bohemia nature (Sumava National Park), it observes the fascinating return of water into the landscape and contains a number of breathtaking shots of wild animals and places that are not usually accessible. The music was composed in collaboration of the singer and multiple Czech Music Academy Award (Angel award) holder Lenka Dusilova and composer Petr Ostrouchov who also produced Lenka Dusilova’s last album Reka (River, 2020) awarded with three Angels and is author of film and TV scores (collaborating with Ondrej Trojan, Jan Hrebejk or Viktor Tauš among others), nominated for the Czech Lion award eight times. Together, they acoompanied the film with a single continuous flow of ambient music and sounds that tell the story of water lost and found again. The soundtrack is now being released in its original uninterrupted form, both on CD and as digital download.

The Noble-Slavík-Clarvis Trio plays purely acoustic music that draws deeply from the jazz tradition and playing styles of the past. However, it creatively transforms them into a contemporary form and at the same time points to the possible future development of this genre. The trio brings together the Czech double bassist Jirí Slavík and two musicians from the UK, both a generation older than him, the leading English jazz pianist Liam Noble and Abbey Road percussionist Paul Clarvis. The collaborative recordings of this acclaimed duo have been a major influence on Slavík since he first met them as a student at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Noble and Clarvis have played together in various formations and are also very fond of meeting as a duo to sail through pop, classical and jazz repertoire together with an easy, detached view and grace. Both musicians always manage to play with dynamics and enjoy making music together.

Recently discovered and to date unreleased recordings represent the last major project of Musica Antiqua Praha, which was during the fifteen years of its existence (1982–1997) the most eminent Czech early music ensemble focused above all on the performance of early and middle Baroque music. The album comprises compositions that were part of the archives of the Prague Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, recorded by Musica Antiqua in 1996 in a world premiere. The Order’s heritage includes more than three centuries of musical tradition, documented by a rarely preserved music archive. The album features music by four composers from the 17th and 18th century. Pavel Klikar, the founder and artistic director of Musica Antiqua Praha, is the major figure inextricably associated with the ensemble, whose inspirational leadership helped to create an important seedbed which brought forth a whole generation of early music performers. From among these recruited the founders and members of the new ensembles that originated in the Czech Republic during the 1990s, as well as number of foremost Czech vocalists, among them Anna Hlavenková, Irena Troupová, Magdalena Kožená and Michael Pospíšil. From the late 1980s, Musica Antiqua Praha was recognized as one of the top European ensembles specializing in historically-informed interpretation. It was recognized for its exceptionally broad repertoire and conceptual programmes, specific performance style and astonishing spiritual intensity. The ensemble was a regular guest at many prestigious festivals abroad (the UK, Belgium, Germany, France and Spain), where it met with great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Musica Antiqua Praha released five albums during the 1990s. The release of this album thus symbolically reconfirms the lasting influence of this exceptional music ensemble that laid the basis of authentic interpretation of early music in modern Czechia.