Robert Balzar Trio + Matej Benko Quintet

Although the music of the Robert Balzar Trio changes over time and certainly also depending on its members, the basis remains Robert Balzar, after whom the band is named.

Contrabassist and bassist Robert Balzar, a very distinctive successor the so-called Czech double bass school, has been active on the Czech music scene since the second half of the eighties. He was never a strict and dogmatic follower of one musical style. He accompanied pop singers, for over twenty years he formed the backbone of the backing band of chansonist Hana Hegerová, and since 1998 he has been a member of the funk band J.A.R. and in 2000 he co-founded the fusion project Illustratosphere with Dan Bárta.

For Robert Balzar, however, the most intimate genre he works on is jazz. During his career, he had the honor of standing behind such personalities as Kurt Elling, John Abercrombie, Raul Midon, Benny Golson, Arturo Sandoval and others. He founded the Robert Balzar Trio in 1996, toured half the world with him (USA, Great Britain, Turkey, Sweden, Hungary, Cyprus, Israel, etc.) and recorded nine albums. The latter was released at the very end of last year under the name Conversation. Most of the trio's repertoire consists of their own compositions or adaptations of not only jazz standards. The trio's side project is dedicated to them in particular, when it works in collaboration with Dan Bárta, who reveals his improvisational and jazz skills here even more than in the Illustratosphere.

The current members of the Robert Balzar Trio are, in addition to band leader, pianist Vít Křišťan and drummer Kamil Slezák, both exceptionally experienced musicians with an extensive international musical education and a large portfolio of contemporary musicianship.