ARTA jazz

1. Call for Police 6:48
2. Paddle Steamer 7:25
3. Towards the End of August 4:36
4. Favorite Colours 7:10
5. Three O'Clock Morning Blues 6:06
6. Curiosity Killed a Cat 6:34
7. Rememberance of Last Summer 6:57
8. On Frontier 4:34
9. Fat Choco Dancing Girl 7:16
10. One Mysterious Dream 1:52

The age of 33 in Czech is often called "Christ's years". It can be an important milestone, up to this time a young man has gathered enough knowledge and experience to know what he is heading for. Roman Pokorny (born 1966) has learned his lesson. A plasterer by profession, he grew up in Brno, the second most important centre of jazz activities in the Czech Republic, he was a member of the Chamber Jazz Trio of Jaromir Hnilicka, one of the great personalities of Czech jazz. He imbibed in the atmosphere of Brno jazz clubs, prospering with the participation of the members of the Gustav Brom Big Band. Likewise he was a member of Tutu, an Ostrava - Brno ensemble which ventured towards funk-jazz, and he has led his own quartet trio. Today he presents himself as the leader of a septet project, in which he - as a bandleader - has under his command musicians considerably older than himself.

From Slovakia, which not even a new state frontier did succeed to separate from Czech jazz, he invited the Hammond organist Gabriel Jonas (1948) and trumpet master Juraj Bartos (1967), whose counterparts he would probably hardly find in the Czech Republic. From Prague he took one of the best and most experienced jazz soloists, trombonist Svatopluk Kosvanec (1936) and a representative of still another generation, tenor and soprano saxophone player Stepan Markovic (1958). In Prague he also found two of his contemporaries with whom he has worked in his quartet and trio formations: bassist Petr Dvorsky (1966) and drummer Jiri Slavicek (1969).

In this album Roman Pokorny passes his A-level exam as a bandleader and composer. There are not many jazzmen who could select ten original songs for a CD without leaving the listener yearn for a familiar standard title. Pokorny's pieces have clear melodic themes as well as different atmospheres and moods, they don`t need to borrow from well known standards. As a bandleader, Pokorny knows exactly what he needs when solo voices come out perfectly in place. No musician's has the feeling of frustration and the result speaks for itself. At Christ's years, a new personality appears on the stage. Thank God there's no crucifixion imminent but perhaps something you might call eternal life. (Lubomir Doruzka)