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
on tour Click on the logo to see Ondřej's tour dates.

 

Discography
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
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
Spotify
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

 
Videos
Live At USP Jazzlounge
recorded May 2006 at USP Jazzlounge, Praha/Czechy
Ondra Pivec, organ
Libor Smoldas, guitar
Kuba Dolezal, sax
Martin Novak, drums

 
Sound Samples
MP3 "Pantheola", from the album "Don't Get Ideas"
004:43 - 4,422kB
Video "Live At USP Jazzlounge" recorded in May 2006 at USP Jazzlounge, Praha/Czechy [as MP4, size: 32,331 kB]

 
YouTube videos
For more videos search YouTube

 
 

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