David Dorůžka, Robert Fischmann, Martin Novák

12. 11. 2023, 17:00

Synagoga Čáslav (Masarykova 111, Čáslav)

Málaga Robert Fischmann
Shir Le'ilanot David Dorůžka
Sikele Abraham Reisen
Lecha Dodi trad., Robert Fischmann
Mizmor Shir trad., Robert Fischmann
Magen Avot trad., Robert Fischmann
Adon Olam tradRobert Fischmann
Mi Zot Ola Robert Fischmann
Shekhora Ani Robert Fischmann
Kamavet Ahava Robert Fischmann
Badekn di kale trad.Robert Fischmann
L'olam Va Ed David Dorůžka
Shir HaMidbar David Dorůžka
Liebeslied Kurt Weill
Unter dayne vayse shter'n Avraham Sutzkever/Avrom Brudno
Sh'chav Beni Emanuel Harussi/Shalom Kharitonov

The order of the songs will be announced during the concert

The trio played online for our festival during the pandemic, you can watch the whole concert anytime on our youtube channel under the name Festival Eternal Hope: Dorůžka, Fischmann and Novák present unrecognized songs by Jewish composers.

The response from our subscribers encouraged us to repeat the concert to great success. This time we will offer our listeners a concert by four-time Anděl Award winner David Dorůžka in the newly renovated synagogue in Čáslav. The trio of guitarist David Dorůžka, flutist and singer Robert Fischmann and percussionist Martin Novák will perform their own original pieces as well as compositions celebrating Jewish holidays throughout the year. With this concert we will begin our collaboration with synagogues outside of Prague. We are delighted that our out-of-Prague premiere can take place in the recently renovated synagogue in Čáslav.

In September, the trio released the album "Gilgul" (the Hebrew word for cycle or cycle), featuring music at the intersection of world music and jazz that draws on the rich legacy of Jewish musical traditions. The musicians have partly followed up on David Dorůžka's Autumn Tales (2016, Animal Music), which won the Anděl Award for the best jazz album of the year and also the Czech Radio Jazz poll. The trio was formed in late 2020 with the aim of creating new music that would develop the various Jewish musical traditions that have evolved over many centuries in different regions of Europe and the Middle East. However, all three musicians have been involved in Jewish music before, for example in collaboration with the Israeli musician Yair Dalal or the American multi-instrumentalist Alan Bern. The new group, however, stands out for its unusually original concept and sound, based on both unusual instrumentation and the fact that the players work with even more traditional-sounding material with unusual freedom.

And so it's easy to find liturgical Hasidic melodies from Eastern Europe meeting melodies from medieval Spain, and Ashkenazi Yiddish songs can be heard side by side with inspirations from New York's downtown scene. Saxophonists Marcel Bárta and Luboš Soukup and trombonist Štěpán Janoušek round out the trio in several pieces. "The noun gilgul is usually understood in Hebrew as gilgul neshamot, or the migration of souls. This idea, slightly controversial in Judaism, comes from Kabbalah. According to the tradition, souls travel from body to body to fulfill their role in tikkun olam, the repair of the world. Indeed, one of the common meanings of the word gilgul is "cycle." Whether we are believers or not, we interpret and measure our lives through cycles, whether natural or artificial. The Hebrew calendar, based on the lunisolar cycle, describes the circle that circumscribes the contents of our record. Its imaginary centre of gravity is what was called Mitteleuropa in our country, more precisely the local tradition of synagogue music, or Central European nusach", explains Robert Fischmann about the inspiration of the Jewish tradition and the conceptual framework of the album.

David Dorůžka - guitar

Often referred to as one of the leading figures of the Czech jazz scene, he has been an active professional musician since the age of fourteen and has performed all over the world, collaborating with many international names and spending long stays in the metropolises of New York and Paris. David Dorůžka will release his latest original CD, Andromeda's Mystery, in June 2022 with Polish pianist Piotr Wylezole and American drumming legend Jeff Ballard. In addition, he has participated in many other international projects, tours and recordings in recent years, including Sara with Aga Zaryan and Szymon Mika, The Multiverse: Knowing with Scott McLemore, Komeda Unknown 1967 with Piotr Schmidt, Homeland with Piotr Budniak, and guest appearances with American vocal star Lizz Wright.

Dorůžka, 33, began working on the Czech jazz scene as a teenager. He then studied composition and improvisation at Berklee College of Music in Boston and also had the opportunity to study with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Brian Blade and others. He is the recipient of three Angel Awards for Jazz Album of the Year (Autumn Tales, 2016, Silently Dawning, 2008, Hidden Paths, 2004); he also received the same award in 2012 for his CD Light Year in collaboration with the quintet Inner Spaces. Dorůžka has performed at countless prestigious festivals and clubs around the world and has contributed to dozens of recordings.

Robert Fischmann - flute, vocal, effects

Flautist and multi-instrumentalist Robert Fischmann graduated from the Prague Conservatory in the class of Prof. F. Malotín. While studying English and General Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, he began to devote himself to jazz improvisation. He gained experience in such diverse bands as Taliesyn, Baroque Jazz Quintet, Irish Dew, C&K Vocal and Linha Singers. He has also performed regularly with pop artists such as Lenka Filipová and Marie Rottrová. In jazz music he has collaborated with the Concept Art Orchestra, Jazz Dock Orchestra, Gustav Brom Orchestra, Brian Charette and Lionel Loueke. He is also a member of the Czech-Polish sextet of Štěpánka Balcarová and Małgorzata Hutek as a vocalist in the world-music group Bran, as a flutist he is a member of the Czech-Polish sextet Štěpánka Balcarová and Małgorzata Hutek, as a percussionist he co-leads the nine-member brass band TooT Ensemble, and last but not least, as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist he is active in the band Nerez & Lucia.

Martin Novák - drums

Martin Novák was born in 1983 in Ostrava and grew up in Chrudim, he has been involved in music since early childhood. He has played several musical instruments, but since the age of twelve he has been devoted mainly to percussion instruments. He studied with players such as Tom Bancroft, Martin Šulc and Jiří Slavíček and later graduated from the prestigious Jazz Institute Berlin. Since 2002, Martin Novák has been an integral part of the Czech music scene, collaborating with musicians such as Beata Hlavenková, Ondřej Pivec, Steve Walsh, Yvonne Sanchez, Jaromír Honzák and Najponk, and was a member of the bands Jan Kořínek & Groove and Infinite Quintet. However, he has equally extensive experience in performing with artists from genres outside jazz music, having repeatedly performed and recorded with Lenka Dusilova, Vladimir Misik, Jana Kirschner and the band Lanugo. He also regularly performs with Robert Křesťan and Druha Tráva. Martin Novák has recorded more than thirty CDs, several of which have won the Anděl Award.