The Jazz Organ Scene

Czechy

October 2006 click here to read his story!

Ondřej Pivec Ondřej was born in 1984 in Brno (south Moravia). His first musical studies were in classical piano, at the basic music school. He attended the school for seven years before moving to Praha in 1999. At that time, a friend recommended that he should take part in the summer jazz workshop, which is organized by the Czech Jazz Society. It was here that he was introduced to jazz music and in that context, many great Czech and Polish musicians were his mentors. He was so amazed by this musical discovery, that he took part in two more jazz workshops and formed his first jazz quintet. It was called "Mantis" and they performed occasionally in Praha and around the Czech republic.   The first real engagement came in 2002. By that time Ondřej had joined the jazz trio of the prominent Czech jazz guitarist Roman Pokorný. He had also switched from piano to the Hammond organ and learned to play the bass with the left hand. Through working with this trio he slowly gained the experience of being a professional sideman. In 2003, after his graduation he also joined Roman's blues project - Blues Box Heroes and gradually became a more experienced professional player. Ondřej then started performing with a Polish-Cuban singer, Yvonne Sanchez, in her project called "Brazilian Groove". In 2004 he played over 130 gigs with these three bands, performing not only in Praha and across the Czech Republic but also internationally. Engagements included Semper Oper and Bluenote in Dresden, a Romanian tour with Yvonne, a tour in Turkey with a band supporting Billy Cobham's Culture Mix, FIAP Jean Monnet Paris, Jazz Club St. Germain Paris, Kunstfabrik Schlott Berlin and many more.   At this time Ondřej met the Italian organ virtuoso, Alberto Marsico, and whilst in London he also had the chance to meet legendary British organist Mike Carr. Both these distinguished players offered him some coaching. In 2005, Ondřej left Roman Pokorny’s two bands and he set off in his own direction. He started his own band called "ORGANIC quartet", and most of the members are fellow students from the Jazz College, where he has studied since 2004.   Ondřej was awarded first place in the "soloist of the year" category, in the talent competition held within the 2005 Philips International Jazz Festival. The ORGANIC quartet was also elected "band of the year" at the same festival. Ondřej Pivec nowadays occasionally works with the renowned German guitar player Christian Rover.   The debut album of the ORGANIC quartet was released in 2005, by the Czech-British label Cube-Metier. Both national and international critics hailed the album, which is entitled "Don’t Get Ideas". The year after the recording, Pivec was elected "Organist of the Month" for October 2006 by the International Archives for the Jazz Organ. The most important success so far is a Music academy award, that Ondřej Pivec Organic quartet received for the debut CD. Today Ondřej Pivec is respected as one of the most remarkable musician on the Czech jazz and fusion scene.

contact:	ondrej@ondrejmusic.com
homepage:	www.ondrejmusic.com
	Click on the logo to see Ondřej's tour dates.

2 Faces Arta Records F1 0127 recorded 2003 in Kozomin/Czechy	Roman Pokorný, guitar Ondřej Pivec, organ, piano Tonny Smrčka, bass Josef Cigánek, drums Jamie Marshall, vocal Rodek Zapadlo, sax
Don't Get Ideas Cube-Metier MUCD 2630 recorded October 2005 in Praha/Czechy	Ondřej Pivec, Hammond organ Libor Šmoldas, guitar Jakub Doležal, tenor sax Tomáš Hobzek, drums
Never Enough Animal Music ANI003-2 recorded December 2006 in Plzeň/Czechy	Ondřej Pivec, Hammond organ, vocals Libor Šmoldas, guitar Jakub Doležal, tenor sax Tomáš Hobzek, drums Luboš Soukup, tenor sax Miroslav Hloucal,trumpet
Overseason Animal Music ANI006-2 recorded 2008 in New York/USA	Ondřej Pivec, Hammond B-3 organ Jake Langley, guitar Joel Frahm, tenor sax Tomáš Hobzek, drums
I Wish You Love Cube-Metier MJCD 2944 recorded in London/Great Britain	Betty Lee, vocals Jake Langley, guitar Ondřej Pivec, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3 organ, vocals Ross Pederson, drums Ken Wallace, percussion
It's About Time Animal Music ANI 024-2 recorded in New York City/USA	Najponk, Fender Rhodes Ondřej Pivec, Hammond B-3 organ Gregory Hutchinson, drums
Live! no label; online version only recorded July 2009 in Praha/Czechy	Ondřej Pivec, Hammond B-3 organ Libor Šmoldas, guitar Kuba Doležal, tenor sax Tomáš Hobzek, drums
Jazz Na Hradě Multisonic recorded 2012 live at Pražský hrad (Praha Castle)	Ondřej Pivec, Hammond B-3 organ Jason Marshall, baritone sax Paul Bollenback, guitar Rusell Carter, drums
Sign The Book TuneCore recorded 2012	Jason Marshall, baritone sax Ondřej Pivec, Hammond organ Rusell Carter, drums
The Green Card Album Animal Music ANI 040-2 recorded October/November 2013 in Booklyn, NY and Long Island, NY/USA	Ondřej Pivec, organ, piano, synthesizer Karel Růžička, alto sax, tenor sax Matthew Hartnett, trombone Freddie Hendrix, trumpet Jordan Peters, guitar Paul Bollenback, guitar Dmitry Gorodetsky, bass Adam Jackson, drums Cheryl Pepsii Riley, vocals Djoré Nance, vocals Rasul A-Salaam, vocals
Still Rising - The Collection Blue Note 3866069 compilation	Gregory Porter, vocals Ralph Carmichael, conductor Hans Ek, conductor Richard Hein, conductor Sally Herbert, conductor Vince Mendoza, conductor James Morgan, conductor, piano Everton Nelson, conductor Joseph Trapanese, conductor Jason White, conductor Metropole Orkest Orchestra Silkroad Ensemble Tivon Pennicott, soprano sax, tenor sax, flute Andrew Ross, alto sax, baritone sax Yosuke Sato, alto sax James Gardiner-Bateman, tenor sax Jim Hunt, tenor sax Marius Neset, tenor sax Graeme Blevins, baritone sax Scott Gilman, sax James King, sax Mike Davis, horn Chris Storr, horn, trumpet Nichol Thompson, horn, trombone Tom Walsh, horn Trevor Mires, trombone Neil Sidwell, trombone Robert Stringer, trombone Kafele Bandele, trumpet Terence Blanchard, trumpet Keyon Harrold, trumpet Mike Lovett, trumpet Percy Pursglove, trumpet Tom Rees-Roberts, trumpet Fulvio Sigurta, trumpet Curtis Taylor, trumpet Melvin Vines, trumpet James Allsopp, reeds Tom Richards, reeds Howard McGill, clarinet Darrell Crooks, guitar Ivor Goldberg, guitar Buddy Holly, guitar, vocals Johan Lindström, pedal steel Troy Miller, guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer, bass, drums, percussion Moby, guitar, synthesizer, bass John Parricelli, guitar Dean Parks, guitar Saul Rubin, guitar John Storie, guitar Rob Updegraff, guitar Joe Bagg, Hammond organ Kenny Banks, Wurlitzer piano Shelly Berg, piano Jon Cohen, piano Chip Crawford, Fender Rhodes Jamie Cullum, Farfisa organ, vocals Robert Elovsson, keyboards Jeff Goldblum, piano Jim Hoke, celeste Larry Klein, keyboards Pete Kuzma, Hammond B-3 organ Glenn Patscha, Hammond organ Ondrej Pivec, Hammond organ, piano Christian Sands, piano Ross Stanley, piano string section Yo-Yo Ma, cello Dan Berglund, bass Peter Donovan, bass Alex Frank, bass Chris Hill, bass Aaron James, bass Jan Kusovsky, bass Patrick Laurence, bass Dan Lutz, bass José Moreira, bass Jahmal Nichols, bass Colin Paris, bass Slamenka Pavel, bass Steve Pearce, bass Don Richardson, bass Reuben Rogers, bass Frazer Snell, bass Riaan Vosloo, bass Tripp Beam, drums Vinnie Colaiuta, drums Kenny Elliott, drums Tim Giles, drums Emanuel Harrold, drums Charlie Kenny, drums Magnus Öström, drums Ulysses Owens jr., drums Dave Ratajczak, drums Steven Vintner, drums Neal Wilkinson, drums Alex Acuña, percussion Pete Korpela, percussion Nat King Cole, vocals Phebe Edwards, vocals Jaz Ellington, vocals Paloma Faith, vocals Lisa Fischer, vocals Ella Fitzgerald, vocals Renée Fleming, vocals Jeffrey Foskett, vocals Ladonna Harley Peters, vocals Lalah Hathaway, vocals Sharlene Hector, vocals Priscilla Jones, vocals Amythyst Kiah, vocals Julie London, vocals Philly Lopez, vocals Vula Malinga, vocals Teyana Miller, vocals Laura Mvula, vocals
Kate's Soulfood Love Productions Records recorded August 2020 in Teaneck, NJ/USA	Allan Harris, guitar, voice Alex Budman, alto sax Keith Fiddmont, tenor sax Curtis Taylor, trumpet Tonga Ross-Ma'u, guitar Ondřej Pivec, organ Arcoiris Sandoval, piano Grégoire Maret, harmonica Nimrod Speaks, bass Shirazette Tinnin, drums David Castañeda, percussion Children's Choir

	"Pantheola", from the album "Don't Get Ideas" 004:43 - 4,422kB
	"Live At USP Jazzlounge" recorded in May 2006 at USP Jazzlounge, Praha/Czechy [as MP4, size: 32,331 kB]

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