DAVID DORŮŽKA – HIDDEN PATHS

CD PRESS RELEASE

“Few Czech jazz musicians attract so much attention” His Voice

“…[Dorůžka] surely makes great music” UMG jazz bulletin

“one of the top jazz guitarists” Večerník Praha

“His fellow musicians were often astounded by his abilities” Harmonie

Audiences, musicians and critics alike have long been aware of the musical presence of David Dorůžka, a guitarist and composer from Prague, Czech Republic. In spite of his young age, David has already proved to possess a very strong voice among today’s young generation of jazz musicians both in his country and abroad. David started performing around Prague jazz clubs at the age of fourteen, one year later received the “Talent of the Year” award from the Czech Jazz Society, and at 19 went to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. In June 2003 he took his trio in a studio in Brooklyn, NY to record his debut album for the Czech/British label Cube-Metier. The new record consists mostly of David’s original music and features two other young musicians, who are attracting attention on the international jazz scene – bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Kendrick Scott.

Biography

(Photo: David Dorůžka, Massimo Biolcati, Kendrick Scott)

David Dorůžka was born in 1980 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He took up the guitar at the age of ten and from the age of fourteen started performing with leading musicians on the Czech jazz scene. In 1995 he received the “Talent of the Year” award from the Czech Jazz Society. He played on award-winning recordings of Karel Růžička Jr. (You Know What I Mean, 1997) and Jaromír Honzák (Earth Life, featuring Jorge Rossy, 1998).  From 1999 until 2002 Dorůžka lived in Boston in the USA and studied composition and improvisation at Berklee College of Music. Among his teachers were Joe Lovano, Mick Goodrick and George Garzone and besides being awarded a full scholarship, Dorůžka received several prizes from the college, for example the Wayne Shorter Award and the Jimi Hendrix Award. Dorůžka was chosen by Pat Metheny to participate as the only guitarist in the Aspen Snowmass Jazz Colony in Colorado in summer 2000. In this full-scholarship jazz program, organized by the Thelonious Monk Institute, Dorůžka studied with Christian McBride, Herbie Hancock, Brian Blade, Joshua Redman, Russell Malone, Benny Green and others. In the summer 2002 Dorůžka took part in a tour with the “Swinging Europe” project led by British pianist and composer Django Bates. After graduating from Berklee Dorůžka relocated to New York City where he performed with musicians such as Rodney Green and Orrin Evans.

Dorůžka has appeared at important festivals in the US (Monterey, Cleveland and others), Canada (Montreal), and in many European countries (festivals in Vienne, Copenhagen, Warszaw and others). Countries where he has performed also include Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The list of musicians he has worked with includes names such as Christian McBride, Jorge Rossy, Django Bates, Tiger Okoshi, Kenwood Dennard, Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins and Don Grusin. Besides performing and recording, Dorůžka also dedicates much of his time to composing and teaching.

David’s debut album, Hidden Paths, was recorded in New York in June 2003. It features Massimo Biolcati on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums (both currently members of Terence Blanchard’s band), musicians who David has been playing with for more than three years since their time at Berklee. Hidden Paths features seven of David’s originals, most of them written during the last two years, two jazz standards in new arrangements and a song from the Lars Von Trier movie Dancer in the Dark, written by Björk.

David has also remained in close contact with his former musical colleagues from Prague and he frequently revives his trio with bassist Jaromír Honzák and drummer Jiří Slavíček. Following the release of Hidden Paths, David is going to play a series of gigs and engagements with his Czech trio to promote the CD, performing music from the record as well as new material. The official CD release party is going to take place on March 23^rd, 2004 at Švandovo divadlo in Prague. For a complete list of appearances, see the concert schedule.

About the musicians on Hidden Paths:

Massimo Biolcati was born in 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden, and grew up in Sweden and Italy. He studied at the Royal Music Academy of Stockholm and from 1996 at Berklee College of Music in Boston. From 2001 to 2003 Massimo was a student at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California. His teachers there included Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, Mark Turner and many others. He has performed or recorded with Kenny Barron, Jerry Bergonzi, Ravi Coltrane, George Garzone, Joanne Brackeen, Eddie Daniels, Kenwood Dennard, Mick Goodrick, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Currently he lives in New York City and tours with Terence Blanchard’s band.

Kendrick Scott was born in Houston, Texas in 1980. He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where he studied with Dr. Robert Morgan. From 1998 to 2003 he studied at Berklee College of Music. His formal and informal instructors included Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Eric Harland, Ralph Peterson and Greg Hutchinson. Kendrick has performed with Joe Lovano, Mark Turner, Stefon Harris, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett, Pat Metheny and the Crusaders and has appeared at festivals in Japan, Greece, Spain, Germany and the USA. He is featured on the debut album of the band Kalifactors.