Programme

One of the main stars of the autumn part of JazzFestBrno has been among the most important jazz—and beyond—instrumentalists, producers, and composers since the 1980s. Major figures like trumpeter Miles Davis and singer Luther Vandross entrusted him with their music.

 

Marcus Miller is one of those musicians blessed with innate musical talent, nurtured from childhood in a musically inclined family. He studied classical clarinet, but over the course of his life, he also mastered keyboards, saxophone, guitar, and of course, his number one instrument: the bass guitar.

For many years, Marcus Miller worked as an acclaimed sideman in New York recording studios, an experience that served as a profound musical education for him as a musician, producer, and composer. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, he was also a member of the house band for Saturday Night Live, America’s most-watched television show. The list of artists he has supported is nothing short of impressive, including Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Eric Clapton, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, and George Benson. He collaborated extensively with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., recording six albums together in the 1980s, and with soul singer Luther Vandross, with whom he recorded no fewer than a dozen albums—many of them produced by Miller and often featuring his songwriting contributions. As a longtime collaborator with saxophonist David Sanborn, Miller helped shape fifteen of Sanborn’s albums during the 1980s and 1990s. A chapter unto itself was his work with Miles Davis: Marcus Miller was instrumental in one of Davis’s major “resurrections,” producing the Tutu album and writing its title track, which has since become a Davis standard. Miller also produced Davis’s subsequent albums Music from Siesta and Amandla, and contributed as an instrumentalist to three Davis albums preceding Tutu.

Given this extensive résumé, it might seem that Marcus Miller sacrificed his own solo career for the benefit of others, but that is not the case. Interestingly, at the beginning of the 1980s, his solo debut was primarily vocal: on his first two albums, he presented himself mainly as a singer and songwriter, and only secondarily as an instrumentalist. This approach, however, was never repeated, and on his later albums, vocals appear only sporadically. It is in instrumental music that Marcus Miller’s true strength lies—a fact confirmed by his Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for M² in 2001. Fourteen years later, his album Afrodeezia was nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Line-up: Marcus Miller – bass, clarinet bass, Donald Hayes – sax, Russell Gunn – trumpet, Xavier Gordon – keyboards, Anwar Marshall – drums

An American drummer of the middle generation, Makaya McCraven is one of those musicians who convincingly shows the world that modern contemporary jazz—especially the kind meant to appeal to a younger audience—cannot exist without hip hop.

 

Although he was born in Paris, he grew up from the age of three in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. With a jazz drummer father and a Hungarian-born singer mother, McCraven inherited strong musical genes, and it’s no surprise that by the age of five he was already playing drums seriously in his father’s percussion ensemble. His path began to shift during high school: on one hand, he and a group of friends formed a band to accompany his mother’s singing, rooted in Hungarian folk traditions; on the other, he initiated the creation of Cold Duck Complex, a band that skillfully blended jazz, hip hop, and politically charged rap lyrics. The group cited activist ensembles like The Roots and Rage Against the Machine as their main influences. During their existence from 2002 to 2009, they released four albums and performed countless gigs, becoming a popular attraction on university campuses.

Makaya McCraven studied at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was a member of the university’s jazz orchestra, but ultimately left school before graduating, as his musical career led him to Chicago. There, he played with various bands and became a sought-after studio musician. In 2012, he made his solo debut with the album Split Decision, but gained wider recognition with its follow-up, In The Moment, which led to an extensive European tour and an invitation to collaborate with one of the most influential contemporary American jazz musicians, Kamasi Washington. McCraven’s profile grew not only among listeners but also among critics—he was named both Best New Producer and Best New Drummer in the 2020 DownBeat Critics Poll.

Today, Makaya McCraven has nothing left to prove. He has firmly established himself in the top league of jazz musicians in their forties, and his latest album, In These Times—a project he worked on for seven years across five different studios—secured him a place among the elite roster of Nonesuch Records, one of the most prestigious labels not only in jazz but in music overall.

Line-up: Makaya McCraven – drums, Matt Gold – guitar, Marquis Hilll – trumpet, Junius Paul – bass

In recent years, Nate Smith has become one of the most closely watched and influential drummers of his generation. This is not only because, alongside his other work, he has focused on creating a series of viral videos that have garnered millions of views. He is simply remarkable in every respect.

 

The now 50-year-old Virginia native started playing drums at the age of eleven, initially drawn to rock and funk. A turning point came at sixteen, when he heard Album of the Year, the famous 1981 recording by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He began to take jazz drumming seriously, though he also studied design and other artistic disciplines. His first major opportunity came when he performed with Betty Carter at the legendary Blue Note club in New York. This launched a remarkable era of collaborations with top-tier artists, through which he built a portfolio many would envy.

In 2003, the renowned bassist Dave Holland invited Nate Smith to join his quintet, and as a member he recorded two albums: Critical Mass (2005) and Pathways (2009). Around the same time, he began working closely with saxophonist Chris Potter, recording four albums with him between 2006 and 2015. His discography also includes individual recordings with stars such as Patricia Barber, Randy Brecker, Takuya Kuroda, and even Czech musician Karel Růžička Jr., with whom he recorded the album Grace & Gratitude for Animal Music.

Nate Smith never confined himself strictly to jazz boundaries, and the more experienced he became, the more he expanded his scope. That’s why his name can be found on albums by Paul Simon, Brittany Howard (lead singer of Alabama Shakes), and genre-less José James. Interestingly, one of his major non-jazz credits predates his professional drumming career: in 2001, he co-wrote and co-produced Michael Jackson’s song Heaven Can Wait, released on the Invincible album—one of the singer’s slowest tracks ever.

Nate Smith’s solo career also unfolds in this genre-blending, style-crossing spirit. His debut, KINFOLK: Postcards from Everywhere, earned two Grammy nominations. Speaking about his vision for the album, Smith said: “My goal was to start with the simplest elements—singable melodies with familiar harmonies—and use them to weave stories that felt nostalgic without being overly sentimental.” He received the same number of nominations for his follow-up project, Kinfolk 2: See The Birds. In addition to these well-known albums, he has released three more titles, all marked by a distinctive compositional and instrumental contribution.

At his JazzFestBrno concert, Nate Smith will perform in a trio with James Francies, a keyboardist signed to the prestigious Blue Note label, for which he has recorded two solo albums, and bassist Michael League, the driving force behind the highly successful and popular group Snarky Puppy.

Line-up: Nate Smith – drums, Josh Johnson – sax, James Francies – keys. Michael League – bass

One of the greatest living legends of jazz—and one of the most important and influential saxophonists in the history of the genre—celebrated his eighty-seventh birthday this March. Charles Lloyd has, over the course of his career, traversed virtually the entire history of jazz, beginning in the early 1950s when he first stepped onto the professional scene.

 

The Memphis native’s bloodline is a mix of African, Native American, Mongolian, and Irish heritage. However, it was the African American roots that prevailed, and Charles Lloyd began his musical journey with the best foundation: the blues. And not just any blues—early in his career, he accompanied such legendary blues singers as Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, and Bobby “Blue” Bland. In 1956, he moved to Los Angeles, where he absorbed the art of musicianship and “the jazz life” from figures like Ornette Coleman, Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, and Eric Dolphy.

In the mid-1960s, he formed his famous quartet featuring Keith Jarrett (piano), Cecil McBee (double bass), and Jack DeJohnette (drums), and found success with the album Dream Weaver. The real breakthrough came with the release of Forest Flower: Live at Monterey (1966), an album considered one of the most significant jazz recordings of the decade. It was among the first jazz albums to sell over a million copies and to be played on mainstream radio stations. Charles Lloyd became, in effect, a pop star of the “Summer of Love,” sharing stages with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Cream, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane. In 1967, he even toured behind the Iron Curtain, performing at Prague’s Lucerna Hall. Reflecting on that concert, Charles Lloyd later said:
“I remember that time as an incredibly fragile balance between the people and the ruling powers. Music was like a magnet, a signal calling for freedom. It was, in a way, an expression of a claim to freedom. I think because we ourselves head toward freedom each night on our explorations into the world of music, people feel it directly, heart to heart.”

At the peak of his career in the early 1970s, however, Charles Lloyd disbanded his group and withdrew from the wild lifestyle of the music industry to settle in Big Sur, California. He ventured out only occasionally for guest recordings, including contributing to four late-period albums by the rock group The Beach Boys. Lloyd fully returned to the scene more than a decade later with a new group featuring the young, soon-to-be-famous French pianist Michel Petrucciani. After two live albums and one cassette, Lloyd once again retreated to Big Sur, devoting his time to meditation and the study of Indian philosophy. His music has always reflected a leaning toward Eastern musical thinking, deeply connected to his spiritual orientation—often noted as a continuation of the path set by another jazz giant, John Coltrane.

Charles Lloyd’s lasting return to music came in 1988 with a new quartet featuring the gifted Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson. Signing with the iconic Munich label ECM, Lloyd remained loyal to it until 2013. Two years later, he joined the equally prestigious Blue Note label, producing a series of fascinating projects—such as The Marvels featuring country singer Lucinda Williams, offering a unique vision of modern Americana, and a trilogy of trio recordings, each with a different star-studded lineup (including Bill Frisell, Gerald Clayton, and Julian Lage).

His most recent album, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, was released in March last year, recorded with an all-star quartet featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. The album received an extraordinary score of 95 out of 100 on Metacritic, a site that aggregates reviews from critics—an excellent invitation to his upcoming concert in Brno. And indeed, Lloyd will appear in a very similar lineup at JazzFestBrno, with one change: behind the drums, the equally brilliant Eric Harland will take the place of Brian Blade.

Charles Lloyd – tenor saxophone, Jason Moran – piano, Larry Grenadier – bass, Kweku Sumbry – drums

One of the most beautiful voices on the Czech music scene. But not only that. There are many singers who are brilliant performers, for whom vocal mastery is the alpha and omega of everything they do. But Marie Puttnerová is a completely different case. She has something to say—and she says something important through her singing.

 

She began in the children’s choir Skřivánek, continued with the ensemble Ondráš, but her true career really started when she became a member of the genre-defying group Jablkoň, with whom she had already performed as part of Skřivánek. Over time, together with Michal Němec, Jablkoň’s frontman, she formed the duo Půljablkoň, and soon other artists began to take notice—mostly those who created anything but background music for relaxation. Among them was Jakub König, who invited her to join his project Kittchen as a guest and later as a full-fledged member of the “alternative big band” Zvíře jménem Podzim. She also collaborated with singer-songwriters such as Cermaque, Petr Linhart, and Mirek Kemel. Still, she was waiting for the opportunity to show, through a solo project, what she truly had inside.

That moment came in 2023, when she released her debut album Lajla Tov. Deep, introspective songs, created in collaboration with guitarists Martin Novák and Petr Uvira, and brilliantly produced by renowned Brit Eddie Stevens, became one of the highlights of the season. It’s no wonder the album won the Anděl Award in the folk category—even though its sound was far removed from traditional Czech perceptions of the genre. The album and its corresponding live program include not only Puttnerová’s own lyrics, but also musical settings of poetry by two writers: Vlastimil Třešňák and Jan Zahradníček, the latter a political prisoner under communism, whose testimony Puttnerová imbued with striking depth and tenderness.

Marie Puttnerová further cemented her place on the Czech music scene in 2024 with the album Zelená oblaka, růžové stromy (Green Clouds, Pink Trees), on which she sang songs by Zuzana Navarová—a legendary Czech songwriter—together with some of the finest musicians on the scene, under the production of Petr Ostrouchov. This was no easy feat—few would dare take on such a task. The overwhelmingly positive response confirmed that this bold move had been the right one.

Line-up: Marie Puttnerová – vocals, Petr Uvira – guitar, Martin Brunner – piano, Martin Novák – drums

If you have the chance to see a duo on stage who have collaborated on just three albums—two of which won Grammy Awards—there’s hardly a better recommendation for attending such an extraordinary soirée.

 

Taylor Eigsti was considered a child prodigy by the age of four. He quickly began showcasing his piano skills in live concerts, smoothly advanced through his musical education, and eventually left university during his second year to pursue a flourishing professional career. The list of artists he has performed or recorded with reads like a jazz encyclopedia: Dave Brubeck, Joshua Redman, Sting, John Mayer, Esperanza Spalding, Chick Corea, Snarky Puppy, McCoy Tyner, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Terence Blanchard, and Julian Lage, to name just a few.

And that doesn’t even include the symphony orchestras with which Eigsti regularly collaborates, walking a parallel path in the world of classical music—both as a performer and a composer.

He recorded his first solo album, Tay’s Groove, in the classic piano trio format at the age of 14. His major-label debut, Lucky To Be Me, was released by Concord Records in 2006 and featured an all-star lineup including guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Lewis Nash. The album earned Eigsti his first two Grammy nominations.

On his seventh album, Daylight at Midnight (2010), Eigsti invited vocalist Becca Stevens to join him. After more than a decade-long hiatus from recording, he returned to the studio to create Tree Falls, again featuring Becca Stevens. Three years later, they reunited for his most recent release, Plot Armor. Both albums won Grammy Awards. While they triumphed in the category of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, there’s no doubt that Stevens’ vocal contributions left a lasting impression on the Grammy voting committee.

Becca Stevens has, for over a decade, ranked among the most beloved artists working at the intersection of jazz, pop, indie rock, and folk. Her distinctive voice and singular style have captivated not only Taylor Eigsti but also legendary figures such as David Crosby, pianist Brad Mehldau, and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier—with each of whom she has recorded multiple albums. She has also collaborated with major names like Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, José James, and Snarky Puppy, all while developing a rich solo career, which has seen her release nearly ten albums of original material to the delight of her devoted fan base.

Line-up: Taylor Eigsti – piano, Becca Stevens – vocals, Reggie McNeill – keys, Marta Bagratuni – cello, Jonathan Maron – bass, Zack Grooves – drums

The eccentric flutist in a beanie has, for decades—and still today at eighty-two years old—been a kind of visual “logo,” the embodiment of Czech jazz. And that’s despite the fact that Jiří Stivín has spent most of his life crossing and transcending that narrow category in every imaginable direction. One such direction is his lifelong passion for photography, which will be showcased in a retrospective exhibition as part of JazzFestBrno.

 

It all began with the fact that he didn’t originally study music at all—he studied cinematography at FAMU. No surprise there: his mother, Eva Svobodová, was a prominent Czech film actress. His first noteworthy band, where he played the saxophone, was the rock’n’roll group Sputnici, but his serious journey into jazz began in 1964, when he co-founded the group Jazz Q with pianist Martin Kratochvíl. After a few years, he left the group and began focusing on various projects under his own name. His first major international success came with his unique duo with guitarist Rudolf Dašek, known as System Tandem. The duo’s live album recorded in Lublin, Poland, was also highly successful.

Jiří Stivín absorbed a wide range of musical influences—from early music, through various developmental phases of jazz and rock, to avant-garde and contemporary classical music—and transformed them into something uniquely his own in both recordings and live performances. Some of his most notable albums include the genre-defying Zvěrokruh (Zodiac), the free-jazz collaboration Výlety (Excursions) with percussionist Pierre Favre, the minimalist Zrcadlení (Reflections) with vocalist Mirka Křivánková, and Status Quo Vadis, where he shared the spotlight with rock guitarist Michal Pavlíček. Unlike the carefully crafted studio projects of the 1970s and 1980s, most of Stivín’s discography since the 1990s consists of live concert recordings. That’s because a key element of Jiří Stivín’s artistry—alongside his ever-present wit and virtuosity—has always been his relentless passion for improvisation. There were times when attending a Stivín concert meant being prepared for anything: you never knew what lineup he’d appear with, what style he’d explore, or what kind of show he’d put on. And Jiří Stivín remains faithful to his reputation as a dynamic live performer to this day.

A pianist and composer regarded as one of the greatest jazz talents in the United Kingdom—a claim that is not just a wishful boast, but a logical consequence of his accomplishments so far.

 

Ashley Henry studied at the Royal Academy of Music. After graduating in 2016, he performed with artists such as Jason Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Jean Toussaint, and at the International Piano Trio Festival with Robert Glasper. He was also a finalist in the Unisa International Piano Competition in South Africa.

Henry’s debut album, Beautiful Vinyl Hunter, was released in 2020 and received significant critical acclaim. BBC 6, for example, nominated it for Album of the Year, making it only the second jazz album ever to achieve such recognition. That same year, Ashley Henry was named New Jazz Artist of the Year by France Jazz Magazine.

Ashley Henry’s sound reflects both his London upbringing and his Caribbean heritage. While grounded in his classical music education, he is unafraid to stray from formal training whenever his distinctive music demands it. His intellectual and musical inspirations include James Baldwin and Angela Davis, as well as Ahmad Jamal, George Benson, Geri Allen, and Aretha Franklin.

In 2023, Ashley Henry founded his own label, Royal Raw Music, with the aim of continually advancing and expanding the boundaries of artistic expression and collaboration. The following year, he released his second and most recent studio album, Who We Are. The answer to that question will surely resonate during his November concert at JazzFestBrno.

John Medeski feels equally at home behind a Steinway piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, or any other vintage keyboard instrument. He is a highly sought-after improviser, a creative composer, and the driving force behind numerous unique projects.

 

Medeski has become one of the most influential figures at the crossroads of modern jazz, funk, and avant-garde music. His name is inseparably linked with the legendary trio Medeski Martin & Wood, with which he defined a unique sound and attracted an entirely new generation of listeners to instrumental music. At the same time, he is not afraid to venture into completely uncharted territories, where he enjoys blending different musical worlds—whether on a purely improvisational basis or through carefully pre-prepared concepts.

Born in 1965 in Louisville, Kentucky, Medeski was regarded from an early age as a child prodigy blessed with extraordinary musical talent and devoted himself to the piano. He studied at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, focusing on classical music while also immersing himself in jazz. In the late 1980s, he moved to New York and became part of the city’s dynamic, progressive jazz scene, where he began experimenting with various sounds and genres. It was during this period that he met bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin, with whom he soon joined forces in a groundbreaking project.

In 1991 they formed the trio Medeski Martin & Wood, a group that disrupted traditional jazz formats. Although they were initially associated with the acid jazz movement, their music quickly evolved into something entirely original. The band built a strong reputation thanks to their live performances, always full of energy and surprising musical turns. It is said that no two of their concerts were ever alike—and this reputation for uniqueness made them a cult legend.

Alongside Medeski Martin & Wood, the now sixty-year-old John Medeski has pursued a rich solo career and a long list of collaborations that showcase his versatility. Together with his core trio, he worked repeatedly in the studio and on stage with the phenomenal guitarist John Scofield.

He was also a member of The Word, a band featuring steel guitar virtuoso Robert Randolph and members of the renowned blues group North Mississippi Allstars. Medeski has collaborated extensively on albums and concerts with saxophonist, composer, and key figure of New York’s avant-garde John Zorn. He has also recorded with Iggy Pop, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, and many others. Medeski’s most recent major side project was the band MadSkillet, which included, among others, a sousaphone player. The group performed at the Blues Alive festival in 2017 and released its debut album the following year.

John Medeski also devotes himself to solo piano projects. His first such recording, A Different Time, was released in 2013. At his solo concerts, Medeski reveals his classical roots and improvisational mastery—scaling back his experimental tendencies while letting his sense of melody, a touch of melancholy, and, not least, his ability to connect the music with the intimate settings he often chooses for these performances shine through. For that reason, Medeski’s concert at Villa Tugendhat can be expected to rank among the season’s most significant events.

One of the most acclaimed British bands, GoGo Penguin freely blend jazz with a wide range of other genres – and their audience reflects that diversity. Few acts can so effortlessly bring together a die-hard jazz fan, an electronic partygoer, and a rocker.

 

This British instrumental trio quickly earned global recognition with their very first album Fanfares in 2012, thanks to their unique and innovative sound. Often described as “acoustic electronica,” their music resists simple categorization. While rooted in jazz, from the beginning they have infused their work with elements of trip-hop, breakbeat, minimalism, and progressive rock.

The true strength of GoGo Penguin lies in their hypnotic and emotionally charged compositions. They create the impression of intricate electronic music while relying solely on acoustic instruments – piano, double bass, and drums. Drummer Jon Scott plays with a precision reminiscent of drum machines, yet always with the creativity of a live musician. His pulsing, complex beats provide the solid foundation for the band’s sound. Pianist Chris Illingworth crafts minimalist, melancholic, and energetic motifs that layer and evolve like a cinematic soundtrack. And double bassist Nick Blacka anchors rhythm and harmony, serving as the vital link between piano and drums with his dynamic playing.

After their debut Fanfares, the band released v2.0 (2014), which marked their breakthrough far beyond the jazz world and earned them a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize. Their next album, Man Made Object (2016), was their first on the legendary Blue Note Records, confirming their position on the international jazz scene. Two more Blue Note albums followed – A Humdrum Star (2018) and the self-titled GoGo Penguin (2020).

In 2023, the trio signed with XXIM Records, releasing Everything Is Going to Be OK and, this June, their latest work Necessary Fictions. The musicians themselves describe the album as an attempt to capture “what we believe to be our essential, authentic qualities in this moment.” It is their boldest record to date, with a heightened focus on electronics, including modular synthesizers. Yet they have by no means abandoned the acoustic approach that earned them worldwide acclaim. On Necessary Fictions, GoGo Penguin are at their very best – and that is exactly how they will appear at JazzFestBrno.