Ondrej Pivec / Libor Smoldas - On the Playground

"One of the fastest-rising talents on the Prague jazz scene." The Prague Post "Libor Šmoldas is, together with David Doružka, Petr Zelenka and also Roman Pokorný, among the leading Czech jazz guitar players." Harmonie "His trio plays rhythmical-solid music, which is significant for so called 'new Czech jazz generation', open, fresh, very own and with international qualities" Czech radio "This unique trio has a modern approach of contemporary jazz players but also respects jazz tradition, and that's the way it should be!" NajPonk "While his tone is entirely in keeping with the modern mainstream idiom, he tends to be more rhythmically assertive than a lot of the players he might cite as influences." AllAboutJazz Libor Šmoldas has been one of the busiest jazz guitarists on Prague's scene for last years. He studied at both the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and it's Post-Secondary School. He plays with such legends of Czech jazz as Najponk, Jaromír Honzák, Radek Zapadlo, Yvonne Sanchez, Jirí Slavícek, Petr Dvorský, Josef Feco and David Doružka, and also musicians from abroad (Bob Montgomery, Steve Fishwick, Osian Roberts, Lukasz Zyta, Pavel Wlosok). Libor writes his own music, performing it mainly with his trio (CD On the playground, 2007). He is also a member of Ondrej Pivec's band Organic Quartet, with which he has performed at numerous European festivals (England, Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania...) and recorded albums Never Enough and Don't Get Ideas. The album was awarded the 2006 Andel award for Best Czech Album in the jazz and blues category and was also widely praised in the international press. In 2005 he was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. Šmoldas also teaches jazz guitar at the Post-Secondary School of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory, and occasionally at New York University's Prague campus. Since 2008 he is a member of Czech Jazz Society's managing board. Libor Šmoldas was born on February 17, 1982 in Olomouc, but has lived in Prague since his childhood. He devoted himself to music at an early age, starting with the recorder and trumpet, then beginning to play guitar when he was twelve. After initial forays into rock and blues he began to take an interest in jazz, mainly due to his fascination with the recordings of Charlie Parker. At sixteen he was already appearing in Prague jazz clubs with the blues band of American singer Phil Speat, as well as at Sunday jam sessions at U Malého Glena. He took guitar lessons from Josef Kustka, Luboš Andršt, Zdenek Fišer and Petr Zelenka. After finishing primary school he attended the Evropská High School of Music in Prague before being admitted to the jazz guitar department of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory as a student of Jirí Šindler in 2001. Two years later he transferred into the Conservatory's newly-opened Post-Secondary School, which is directed by Jaromír Honzák. There he studied under Petr Binder, Josef Štepánek and David Doružka; after graduating he himself became a professor of guitar and ensemble performance. In 2005 he went to Freiburg to audition for a scholarship to the prestigious American conservatory, the Berklee School of Music. Although he was awarded a scholarship, he decided to remain in Prague. That same year he played in Brazilian Mood, the band of Polish-Cuban singer Yvonne Sanchez, opening for Billy Cobham on a tour of Turkey and Cyprus. He performs regularly with organist Ondrej Pivec and his Organic Quartet at numerous European festivals, including Cheltenham, Sibiu, Kishinev, Prague Spring, Jazz Brno and the Phillips Jazz Festival Prague (winning the Phillips Festival award in 2005). Together with the quartet, he recorded the albums Never Enough (2007) and Don't Get Ideas (2006), the latter of which won the 2006 Andel award for Best Czech Jazz Album and was widely praised in both the Czech and international press. (AllAboutJazz, Hammondbeat USA, Music Web International, Harmonie, Lidové noviny). With the Libor Šmoldas Trio he performs mostly his own music, although the ensemble also accompanied American trumpeter Bob Montgomery at his 2007 concert in Prague as well as British trumpet player Steve Fishwick. The trio was also chosen to perform at prestigious festival Young Prague in 2007. The first CD of this group will be out in august 2007. Since 2006 he has also been performing with his wife, singer Vendula Šmoldasová, whose repertoire consists primarily of Brazilian bossa nova. Despite his young age, Libor Šmoldas is an inseparable part of the Prague jazz scene, working with the legends of Czech jazz as well as with promising young players. He teaches at the Jaroslav Ježek Post-Secondary School of Jazz and at New York University's Prague campus, composes his own music, and is generally considered one of the best Czech jazz guitarists.