Welcome to Ondrej Pivec`s page [ Česká verze ]
Paintings - select gallery please: summer-2009 spring-2010-prague opening-20081111 october_2008 november_2008 february-2010 2008 2007 2006
Money collected so far: 347.000 CZK
What happens when you buy one of Láďa’s paintings?
The money yielded from the sales of paintings is forwarded to young jazz musician, Ondrej Pivec, and it will be used to pay for his studies at New York music school (New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, major BFA for Jazz Performance. In the following text you will learn whom you might help by purchasing Láďa’s paintings; therefore, I kindly ask you to spend a few minutes reading it.
Who is Ondrej Pivec?
Ondrej Pivec (born 1984) is a professional jazz musician living in Prague, Czech Republic. At present he is known as one of the leading musicians of Czech jazz scene, and at the same time he is famous for playing quite an unusual instrument: the hammond organ. He started playing classical piano, but when he was 18, he began performing with Roman Pokorny band, where he played the hammond organ for the first time.
Besides playing with Pokorny’s band, he went on gathering experiences for example with Yvonne Sanchez or Billy Cobbham. In 2005 he and his three friends from Prague Jazz College established a band named Ondrej Pivec ORGANIC Quartet. Organic Quartet is often heard in various Prague jazz clubs, such as at Agharta, at Maly Glen or U Stare Pani. Ondrej often appears with other musicians, for example in Libor Smoldas Trio, Jakub Dolezal Quintet, Filip Gondolan Band, Infinite Quintet, Vertigo Quintet and many others.
Organic Quartet does not play strictly only in Czech Republic: recently the band played at the 32nd International Jazz Festival in Getxo. Here, Ondrej was awarded by the audiences as The best soloist and the band earned prize for The best band (over 17.000 visitors came to listen to this festival). The band was selected through a competition out of other 50 bands: the final evening consisted only of the selected four bands, and Organic Quartet was there. In May 2008, Organic appeared as a sole representative of Czech musical scene at the 8th international jazz festival in Athens, Greece. Previously, the band toured international stages in Germany, Finland, France, Slovakia, Turkey, Romania, Moldavia, USA, among others.
Except for continuing hammond-performance, singing and composing, Ondrej steadily educates himself by attending various workshops – the last one was with Joey DeFrancesco, a famous Italian organist. Ondrej is also a teacher – he teaches at Jan Hanus Primary School of Music in Prague, and also at Prague Jazz Workshops.
Extraordinary hammonds
The hammonds were primarily meant as a smaller and cheaper version of the church organ; however, soon they found their way to gospel and jazz music. Through its distinct and unusual sound they perfectly accompany both traditional jazz and its modern offshoots. Let’s just name a few musicians who play or played the hammond organ: they are for example Jimmy Smith, Alberto Marsico, Joey DeFrancesco, Sam Yahel, Jimmy McGriff, Larry Goldings, Count Basie, James Brown, Pete Benson, Mike Carr, Jack McDuff, and many others. The hammonds have many variations – one instrument is never like the other. Ondrej plays the most hammond Clavia Nord C1, KeyB duo and B3 – but there are more of them. The fact that Ondrej plays for two people (with his right hand, he plays the hammonds as such, and with his left hand and his feet he supplements the bass lines) is simply astounding. Imagine, Ondrej also sings to this!
Education
Ondrej took part in several years of Prague Jazz Workshops, where different lecturers teach – both Czech and international aces. In 2008, Ondrej entered these workshops for the first time as a lecturer, too.
Ondrej graduated from Prague Jazz College of Jaroslav Jezek (major Jazz). He spent many hours studying privately with the big hammond aces – last year in New York those were private sessions with Sam Yahel, but Ondrej studied also under Mike Carr, Alberto Marsico and Joey DeFrancesco. The next logical step is to attend a university with a jazz major (preferably hammond-oriented). This is exactly what New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music offers – and it is such an opportunity which Ondrej simply cannot get from local Czech universities. At present Ondrej has already been offered a place at William Patterson school in New Jersey, which, however, offers only classical piano major.
Shortly after arrival to NY, Ondrej will begin playing at New York clubs and will be able to make some small profits; however, it is impossible to pay all the academic outgoings (especially tuition fees, accommodation fees, insurances and private learning sessions). Should you decide to support Ondrej in his studies, you will help a young, promising musician in reaching his dreams – and you will also have a nice painting. Without your help, Ondrej wouldn’t be able to study in US at all. A similar situation actually already happened, because just after graduation from high school, Ondrej was offered a place at a University in Netherlands. However, his dream was not fulfilled, because there was no sponsor. We believe that such a situation would not repeat itself – and we kindly thank everyone, who will decide to support Ondrej in any way.
Should you be interested in any other information about Ondrej, his band, his personal life or his works, you can download his resume, visit the official site of the band (www.ondrejpivec.com) or contact manager of his band (Dominika Janigova, booking@ondrejpivec.com), or Ondrej himself (ondrej@ondrejpivec.com).
Records, Awards and Luck
During a short time of his jazz life, Ondrej managed to take part in many recordings – altogether in 10. He performs at three of them as a leader: CDs Don’t Get Ideas (Cube-Metier, 2006; awarded by the Czech Musical Academy Award Andel 2006/7 as the best CD of the year in the category of jazz and blues), and Never Enough (Animal Music, 2007; which introduces Ondrej as a singer) were recorded with Ondrej’s Organic Quartet. The most recent record, Overseason, was born last year during Ondrej’s visit in New York, together with Tomas Hobzek (the drummer of Ondrej’s Organic band), guitarist Jake Langley and saxophonist Joel Frahm (both well-known NY jazz musicians). This record came to existence mostly by a lucky chance and the goodwill of people, and it was recorded just during one day. Both Czech and international critics are praising the record very much (Czech critics as Ondrej Bezr, Lubomir Doruzka, Vladimir Kouril, Daniel Konrad, or international critics John Barron, Steve Arloff, allaboutjazz portal, hammondbeat portal and others). More information about the birth of Overseason can be found at the official website here (Press Release of Animal Music). The record was released in March 2008 and had its debut on April 18 at Jazz Lounge U Stare Pani.
We would like to thank everyone who will support Ondrej in his studies by presenting them with this CD – Overseason.
The exceptionality of Ondrej and his band is confirmed by many awards from international competitions and festivals. The band was awarded as The best band in 2005, Ondrej as The best soloist, also 2005, at Philips International Jazz Festival. The band received the Czech Musical Academy Award Andel for the best jazz & blues CD of the year in 2006/7. Ondrej was also awarded by the International Archives for the Jazz Organ as the Organist of the month in October 2006. The two most recent awards are prizes of the audiences from Getxo International Jazz Festival (The best band, The best soloist, 2008).
Thanks
We would like to thank those who already purchased some of the paintings, and those who plan to buy some – because through this step, they will help Ondrej very much – and they might take part in the evolution of Czech jazz.
A special thanks goes to Mr. Petr Marek, who covers the expenses of the hammond organ directly in the US.
Whether you decide to support Ondrej in his studies or not, we would like to thank you for your time and interest. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the manager (booking@ondrejpivec.com) or Ondrej (ondrej@ondrejpivec.com). We will be happy to answer all your questions!
Useful Links
Official Website of the band:
www.ondrejpivec.com
Other profiles:
www.allaboutjazz.com/ondrejpivec
www.myspace.com/ondrejpivecorganicquartet
www.bandzone.cz/ondrejpivecorganicquartet
www.stage.cz/ondrej-pivec-organic-quartet
Booking / management:
Dominika Janigová
booking@ondrejpivec.com
tel.: +420 602 210 674
+420 776 368 137
skype: domisek_j
Media
Prague Post: www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/06/11/a-passion-for-hammonds.php
MF Dnes: kultura.idnes.cz/jak-cesky-ondrej-v-new-yorku-k-desce-prisel-fjl-/hudba.asp?c=A080605_120143_hudba_ob
Hospodarske Noviny: kultura.ihned.cz/c4-10136710-26105560-005000_d-svezi-jazzovy-dech-pivcova-vyletu-za-ocean
Denik.cz: www.denik.cz/hudba/jazz20080611.html
CV / resume Ondřeje Pivce
