Petr Zelenka

Petr Zelenka: Memory Flash

by Douglas Payne
February 13, 2009

Czech guitarist Petr Zelenka brings an edgy warmth to jazz that isn't heard too often these days. There are occasions when the guitarist recalls Jim Hall, whose harmonically advanced yet melodically rooted lines not only quelled the abstractions of Chico Hamilton and Jimmy Giuffre but spiked the pretty sparkles of Paul Desmond and Bill Evans. And yet, Zelenka also brings an unpredictable European sensibility to his music that is reminiscent of many ECM productions--that sense of wandering off from the ...

Take Five With Petr Zelenka

by AAJ Staff
January 13, 2009

Meet Petr Zelenka: He has lived in Prague from 1998 and plays with artists including Najponk, Yvonne Sanchez, Miriam Bayle, Petr Dvorsky, David Dorzka, Vojtich Prochazka, Ondrej Otverarek. He performs at jazz festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad (Novosibirsk, Wroclaw), and has accompanied foreign artists including James Zollar, Piotr Baron, Milosz Rutkowski and Macziej Sikala.

In 1999 he receives the First Prize for the best group on the contest Jazz Junior in Usti nad Labem. ...