About me

I am a drummer and I mostly play jazz. When I was a little over 50, I fell in love with New Orleans. I experienced the unique atmosphere of the city on the Mississippi and the birthplace of jazz 10 times in total. I have seen excellent local musicians perform and tasted the diverse flavours of the local music.

My passion for jazz and the picturesque multicultural city was soon joined by a love of photography. On each trip, I spent several days running around concerts, sights, making local trips and taking photos, and then I spent many months processing a rich arsenal of photographs.

My photo book "New Orleans in Photography", which I am publishing online in this way, is the result of many years of observing the New Orleans (and not only) jazz scene, stubbornly sitting at the computer and struggling with Corel and Photoshop, and later, when I started filming, with Movie Maker. I must say that I enjoyed it a lot 😊

More about me:

I was born in December 1946. I first studied percussion privately, and then in 1975 I graduated from the "Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory" in Prague. I gained my first practical experience in amateur traditional jazz bands.

In 1977, music became my livelihood. I played almost all kinds of music (from circus to symphony orchestra). However, since about 1990 I have been mainly engaged in jazz again, mostly traditional.

I fell in love with jazz when I was young. My older brother Jiří played the clarinet in the Dixieland band "Dixie M" and their music immediately interested me, without me knowing why. This happened sometime before 1960, when I was about 13 years old. I had only a vague knowledge of New Orleans. I soon started learning to play the drums and collected pieces of information, which was difficult to find in communist Czechoslovakia, about how and where jazz actually originated.

Over the years, I also came across Louis Armstrong's autobiography "Satchmo, my life in New Orleans", which was published in 1968 in a Czech translation. Despite this, I could only imagine the real New Orleans very vaguely and inaccurately.

I first visited New Orleans in 2001, as a member of the band "J.J.Jazzmen" – who were invited to play at the famous "Jazz & Heritage Festival". It was the year that celebrated the centenary of Louis Armstrong's birth. J.J.Jazzmen played music inspired by "Louis Armstrong's All Stars", just as they had played in 1965 during their visit to Prague. Playing at the New Orleans Festival was a huge honour for us and we managed to do it mainly thanks to our bandleader ("J.J.") Jan Jiruch, who sang Armstrong's repertoire wonderfully. (In "The Birmingham Post" GB, they wrote about us in July 2002 "Birmingham festival patrons will be charmed by the band's reinterpretation of the great musical heritage of Louis Armstrong"). This first five-day visit started it all. I couldn't help it anymore.

I then visited New Orleans 9 more times between 2005-2019, always during the French Quarter Festival. In 2008 as a member of the international band "Old Jazz Union Band" and in 2013 and 2015 as a member of the international band "Bernie & The Party Gators". In addition, I had the opportunity to play with amazing local musicians. Some of them then came to Prague to play as guests of our band "J.J.Jazzmen" - (clarinetist Evan Christopher in 2010, trumpeter Mike Fulton in 2013, 2017 and 2022, pianist Tom McDermott in 2015 and 2016, Grammy winner, trumpeter Kevin Ray Clark in 2019, British singer Denise Gordon, who is very frequent in New Orleans in 2012 and 2013, and clarinetist Joe Muranyi, ex Louis Armstrong All Stars, already in 2000).

New Orleans is my favourite place. The multicultural and multiethnic society of New Orleans, its nature, climate, cuisine and special atmosphere must be experienced firsthand. There is something indescribable "hanging" in the air there. I have many friends there. After my ten visits, I hope to be a part of it in some way.

I Left My Heart in New Orleans.