New Jazz Underground & flui + jam session

There’s no need to look for any deeper connection in their name — not with classic American underground, and certainly not with the Czech “androš.” It’s not a reference to a new jazz movement or a rebellious artistic manifesto. It’s more of a wordplay, spiced with a good dose of irony. And for JazzFestBrno, they return — almost to the day — exactly two years after their hugely successful first appearance.

Twentysomethings Abdias Armenteros (saxophone), Sebastian Rios (bass), and TJ Reddick (drums) met at the renowned Juilliard School and, through Jazz at Lincoln Center, entered the close professional circle of musicians and educators such as Wynton Marsalis (Armenteros became the youngest member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), Victor Lewis, and Eric Lewis, aka ELEW. They couldn’t have chosen a more unusual moment to start a band: the summer of 2020, the height of the global pandemic lockdown. Unable to play in clubs, they returned to the roots of musicianship — performing in the streets and parks — while fully embracing the digital possibilities of their time. In January 2021, they launched a YouTube channel that quickly gained two million views and over one hundred thousand subscribers — an extraordinary achievement in the jazz world, especially for musicians who were essentially “unknowns” at the time. In this sense, they lived up to their name so well that even Czech underground icon Ivan M. Jirous would probably applaud.

Musically, New Jazz Underground build on everything they learned in the foundations of their craft. Their music swings and leans on the blues, but it is shaped by distinctly contemporary improvisation and, above all, energy. And they are anything but brooding introverts — the titles of their tracks, such as “when you a sad boy but you swingin’,” “modern jazz but good,” or “giant steps is not music,” make it clear that along with great music, we can expect a whole lot of fun.

flui

The Flui project was initiated by Jaromír Honzák as a space for a slightly different musical world than the one he inhabits with his quintet. “We want to reach for the music that surrounds us everywhere — lightly and without overthinking,” Honzák says. “With every sound we try to open the channel through which it flows to us.”

The trio is built on three equal voices whose task is not necessarily to remain in constant consonance. Consonance is only one possibility; mindful presence in the moment is far more valuable.

The first side of the triangle is trumpeter, composer, arranger, and conductor Štěpánka Balcarová. Her artistic focus spans chamber projects and modern big-band writing, as well as song-based forms and large-scale compositions blending classical music and jazz. She draws from jazz tradition yet boldly incorporates elements of classical and contemporary music — and even folk influences. As a trumpeter, Balcarová stands out for her distinctive tone and broad expressive range, from lyrical to intensely dynamic.

The second side of the triangle, guitarist Kateřina Hošková, studies at the jazz department of HAMU in Prague. She recently fulfilled one of her dreams by studying jazz guitar at the Conservatoire de Paris. Her early influences include jazz legends such as Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery, while among contemporary musicians she admires Bill Frisell and Tom Ollendorff.
The unshakable base of the triangle is Jaromír Honzák, who began his career on the Prague jazz scene in the 1980s with the group Naima and soon collaborated with Karel Růžička and Emil Viklický. His long-standing collaborations — including work with the Eben Brothers and Iva Bittová — continue to this day. In 1989, he received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, where he studied for three semesters. After returning to Prague, he began shaping his own musical vision and has since recorded eleven albums under his own name. These albums and many individual compositions have received both domestic and international recognition, and five of them have earned the Anděl Award for Best Czech Jazz Album of the Year.