Programme > Artists > Ondrej Pivec Quartet (CZ)

Ondrej Pivec Quartet (CZ)

Organic Quartet is a renowned element on Czech jazz scene. The group belongs to the current young jazz wave of superior quality. The band’s enormous potential, musicians’ abilities, ripe repertoire and extraordinary artistic enthusiasm have already stretched far beyond Czech borders.

This is confirmed not just by passionate reviews of foreign critics, but also through wide range of prizes and awards and attendance of many international festivals. For instance, the leader of the band, Ondrej Pivec, was awarded as a Soloist of the year at the Philips International Jazz Festival competition, and a year afterwards he was voted for as the Organist of the month October by the International Archives for the Jazz Organ. The biggest up-to-date success of the band is the Czech Popular Music Academy Award (Andel) in the category of Jazz and Blues of 2006.

The international success of Organic Quartet is visible at recent performances in ORF Radiokulturhaus in Vienna (Austria), Krakow’s club Alchemia (Poland), Parisian club at St. Germain (France), Swinging Hall in Sofia (Bulgaria), Athens International Jazz Festival (Greece) or Cheltenham Jazz Festival (UK). In the summer of 2008 the band was awarded at the International Jazz Festival in Getxo, Spain, by the audience’s prize for the best band, and Ondrej Pivec was awarded as the best soloist. This festival was attended by over 17.000 of spectators.

Ondrej Pivec Organic Quartet performs mainly their own repertoire, inspired not only by jazz artists, but also by important names of other musical genres (funk, blues, rock). Their music respects the traditional jazz roots but at the same time they are not afraid to pop in modern components. Soundwise, the band consists of very alluring composition: the leader is just a 24-year-old hammond organist, composer, aranger and singer Ondrej Pivec. His quartet is formed by three outstanding performers, constantly in demand: guitarist Libor Smoldas, saxophonist Jakub Dolezal and drummer Tomas Hobzek. Noticeably, there is no bass in the band – however, it is supplemented by Ondrej Pivec on the hammond organ, as he plays the bass lines with his left hand and also bass pedals. Since its beginnings in 2005, the band has performed at over 350 concerts both in Czech Republic and internationally, both in clubs at at various festivals. The group has riped into one of the best and most impressive Czech jazz formations.

Ondrej Pivec started off as a classical pianist, but soon he turned to jazz. Just before he was twenty, he started playing on the hammond organ. His jazz heroes were artists such as Sam Yahel, Larry Goldings, Jimmy Smith, Larry Young and others. Ondrej’s teachers were such aces as for example the famous British hammond organist Mike Carr, Italian virtuoso Alberto Marsico, and most recently, after Ondrej’s return from New York, also Sam Yahel and Joey DeFrancesco.

Both Czech and international critics cannot help praising Ondrej’s buyoant bass lines played with his left hand and by feet on the hammond pedals, as well as beautiful acommpanying style and virtuosity of the right-hand solos. Ondrej took part in over 600 concerts between 2003 and 2008 – both as a leader and as a sideman, both in Czech Republic and internationally. Today, Ondrej is regarded as one of the most original and masterly artists of Czech jazz and fusion scene.