MUSIC is what I do for living. I'm currently employed as a full time tenured jazz faculty at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Located about an hour West of Asheville, this area is my opportunity to explore my other skills and hobbies, such as photography, recording and mixing.
I'm a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator born in the Czech Republic, but for past fifteen years have claimed residency in the USA. I have played music for over 30 years now. I make a living by teaching music full time at a state university as well as at European summer jazz camps. I also perform at various jazz festivals and jazz clubs both in the USA and Europe as well as I give clinics and masterclasses.
So, here you will find quite a few MP3s excerpts as well as complete selections of my original compositions and/or performances of so called classical and jazz music. And because I'm also involved in Classical Meets Jazz series with my wife Andrea, I gladly introduce some selections of her performances to you as well. She just finished a beautiful album of 20th century music featuring Leos Janacek, Lubos Fiser, and Alberto Chinastera, which I'm proud to be mixing and mastering soon. It turned out great, so I plan to put some samples from this session here as well.
Projects
My latest project, which I'm happy to share with you in the MP3 AUDIO section is a live performance my trio gave just this past October 2009 for Asheville's WCQS 88.1FM radio station. Dick Kowal, our host and recording engineer, was kind enough to invite my all time favorite area musicians Mr. Eliot Wadopian on bass, and Mr. Byron Hedgepeth on drums for an afternoon of live chat and music. Your truly played on the fender rhodes, which Wayne DeLano bought for me some fifteen years ago back in Dallas, TX. My trio played much more than we talked, but I'm including the whole show just for you in its unchanged format. That way you can learn more about all three of us and feel like you are listening a real radio broadcast.
In April of 2006 (the time truly flies) I had the privilege to share the stage with two wonderful musicians from New York City and perform a 60-minute long jazz program, which featured all my original compositions, including "Jubilee Suite" in four parts. This live performance from the Grey Eagle music club in Asheville, NC features outstanding musicianship of Mr. John Riley on drums (member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) and my old friend from North Texas years Mr. Mike McGuirk on acoustic bass (Brooklyn based world-class musician). So, make sure to check it out in the MP3 AUDIO section as well. Honestly, it is one of the most exciting live performances I have given in the past few years and my music was composed specifically for this occasion. There has even been written article in Czech "Harmonie" about the potential release of this album. As soon as I find a sponsor, I will have this one released. For now you can listen to it for free.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that each summer I travel to Europe and perform and teach jazz as much as I can. It helps me recharge, interact with musicians again on a high level, and inspires me to write more music. Since 2001 I have been teaching at international summer jazz camp in Prague, Czech Republic and for past few years I have received an invitation to teach both in Slovakia and Poland. Next summer of 2010 I'll spend performing with world-class trumpeter of polish origin Piotr Wojtasik as well as with my long time friends Ondrej Stveracek on saxophone, Majo Sevcik on drums, and Tomas Baros on bass among others.
Philosophy
By no means I'm a prodigy (thanks God for that one) and therefore everything I have learned has been earned by hard work and desire to create free, independent, and improvised music where one can express inner feelings, which are hard to describe by other means. Music is simply a part of my daily life, and for that I feel truly blessed and very fortunate.
Yes, it's true that being a musician -- a "true creative artist" -- can be rather difficult, but there are huge rewards. I enjoy performing for the public, and I love to feel the exchange of energy between the audience and myself. It's an extraordinary feeling, one which no money can buy.
If you enjoy listening to music and want to experience something more than just background muzak or the repetitive popular cliches continually replayed on nearly every radio and TV station, you might like my compositions and styles I'm learning to master.
Feel free to contact me with your comments or any questions you might have. I wish you all the best!
Pavel Wlosok, December 2009
I'm a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator born in the Czech Republic, but for past fifteen years have claimed residency in the USA. I have played music for over 30 years now. I make a living by teaching music full time at a state university as well as at European summer jazz camps. I also perform at various jazz festivals and jazz clubs both in the USA and Europe as well as I give clinics and masterclasses.
So, here you will find quite a few MP3s excerpts as well as complete selections of my original compositions and/or performances of so called classical and jazz music. And because I'm also involved in Classical Meets Jazz series with my wife Andrea, I gladly introduce some selections of her performances to you as well. She just finished a beautiful album of 20th century music featuring Leos Janacek, Lubos Fiser, and Alberto Chinastera, which I'm proud to be mixing and mastering soon. It turned out great, so I plan to put some samples from this session here as well.
Projects
My latest project, which I'm happy to share with you in the MP3 AUDIO section is a live performance my trio gave just this past October 2009 for Asheville's WCQS 88.1FM radio station. Dick Kowal, our host and recording engineer, was kind enough to invite my all time favorite area musicians Mr. Eliot Wadopian on bass, and Mr. Byron Hedgepeth on drums for an afternoon of live chat and music. Your truly played on the fender rhodes, which Wayne DeLano bought for me some fifteen years ago back in Dallas, TX. My trio played much more than we talked, but I'm including the whole show just for you in its unchanged format. That way you can learn more about all three of us and feel like you are listening a real radio broadcast.
In April of 2006 (the time truly flies) I had the privilege to share the stage with two wonderful musicians from New York City and perform a 60-minute long jazz program, which featured all my original compositions, including "Jubilee Suite" in four parts. This live performance from the Grey Eagle music club in Asheville, NC features outstanding musicianship of Mr. John Riley on drums (member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) and my old friend from North Texas years Mr. Mike McGuirk on acoustic bass (Brooklyn based world-class musician). So, make sure to check it out in the MP3 AUDIO section as well. Honestly, it is one of the most exciting live performances I have given in the past few years and my music was composed specifically for this occasion. There has even been written article in Czech "Harmonie" about the potential release of this album. As soon as I find a sponsor, I will have this one released. For now you can listen to it for free.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that each summer I travel to Europe and perform and teach jazz as much as I can. It helps me recharge, interact with musicians again on a high level, and inspires me to write more music. Since 2001 I have been teaching at international summer jazz camp in Prague, Czech Republic and for past few years I have received an invitation to teach both in Slovakia and Poland. Next summer of 2010 I'll spend performing with world-class trumpeter of polish origin Piotr Wojtasik as well as with my long time friends Ondrej Stveracek on saxophone, Majo Sevcik on drums, and Tomas Baros on bass among others.
Philosophy
By no means I'm a prodigy (thanks God for that one) and therefore everything I have learned has been earned by hard work and desire to create free, independent, and improvised music where one can express inner feelings, which are hard to describe by other means. Music is simply a part of my daily life, and for that I feel truly blessed and very fortunate.
Yes, it's true that being a musician -- a "true creative artist" -- can be rather difficult, but there are huge rewards. I enjoy performing for the public, and I love to feel the exchange of energy between the audience and myself. It's an extraordinary feeling, one which no money can buy.
If you enjoy listening to music and want to experience something more than just background muzak or the repetitive popular cliches continually replayed on nearly every radio and TV station, you might like my compositions and styles I'm learning to master.
Feel free to contact me with your comments or any questions you might have. I wish you all the best!
Pavel Wlosok, December 2009