The renowned Czech jazz singer Martina BARTA put together for this occasion a special concert program with a title “You Taught My Heart To Sing” featuring excellent American jazz musicians – Joe BLOCK (piano), John WEBBER (bass), Joe FARNSWORTH (drums) and Stacy DILLARD (tenor saxophone).

Join us for an amazing night filled with wonderful music of the highest quality you should not miss… The concert will be followed by the meet the artists glass of wine (Czech beer Pilsner and Moravian Slivovitz will be served for free after the event).

***

Martina Barta – voice

Joe Block – piano

John Webber – bass

Joe Farnsworth – drums

Stacy Dillard – tenor saxophone

Supporting musicians:

Max Bessesen – alto saxophone

Ian Cleaver – trumpet

***

The event is organized by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York with support of the KBC Bank and Rudolf Jelínek, Czech Distillery. Admission to the concert is free, but seating is limited so be sure to RSVP as soon as possible.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

MARTINA BARTA is a multitalented Czech jazz singer and musician born in Prague, based in Berlin, regularly performing at national and international music festivals and venues (Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall). Martina started her music education at the age of 4 in her hometown Prague, where she took flute, violin and piano lessons during her elementary school years, later at the Music College of the City of Prague she took French horn classes. In 2008-2011 she studied at the Prague Conservatory and took vocal lessons from prof. N.Wepperová. In 2016 received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Jazz Institute Berlin of the Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin). In 2017 Martina represented her home country, the Czech Republic, with the song “My Turn” at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. Martina regularly collaborates with Big Band der Deutschen Oper Berlin and Big Band of Felix Slováček in her home country. In 2019 started to perform in a duo with the legendary American jazz vibraphonist David Friedman. She also regularly performs with her older sister, Kristina Barta, a renowned Czech jazz pianist and composer.

In 2016 the sisters won 1st prize for the best jazz song of the year (“Find Peace of Mind”) at the Bohemia Jazzfest Music Festival. In 2020 the sisters worked together on the album “Love and Passion” (Alessa Records) on which they present their original music.

In September 2021 Martina started as a prestigious DAAD / German Academic Exchange Service scholarship and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic scholarship recipient at the Manhattan School of Music in New York (MSM NYC), where she takes classes in the Jazz Arts Masters Program (prof. Theo Bleckmann, prof. Buster Williams) and expects to complete her degree (Master of Music) in May 2023.

Martina Barta lives currently between Prague, Berlin and New York.

JOE BLOCK – a pianist, composer, arranger, educator, musical director, and bandleader based in NYC. Joe has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Leslie Odom Jr., Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Victor Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers”, Joe has written or arranged music for the JALC Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, saxophonist Grace Kelly, baritone Kenneth Overton, and of course his own group, the Joe Block Quintet. He appears on the 2020 Grammy-nominated album “The Intangible Between” by Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, and has studied under many esteemed pianists, including Ted Rosenthal, Marc Cary, Geoffrey Keezer, Bruce Barth, and the late, great Frank Kimbrough.

JOHN WEBBER – double bass, began playing the electric bass by the age of ten years old and by fifteen, during his High School years and having started playing in clubs, he had added double bass to his musical skills. He attended Northern Illinois University and Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he worked with Von Freeman and Brad Goode. John sas been in the bands of Horace Silver, Johnny Griffin, George Coleman, Jimmy Cobb, Junior Cook, Lou Donaldson, Diana Krall, Etta Jones, Eric Alexander and Peter Bernstein, to name a few. He released a CD “Down for the count” which features George Coleman, Harold Mabern and Joe Farnsworth. As G. Coleman said: “He is one of the best bass players I ever heard, an all-around musician.” Regularly appears at Smoke Jazz Club, Smalls, Village Vanguard, Dizzy’s Jazz Club, etc. Has performed at prestigious festivals, throughout the world, USA, Canada, South America, Japan and Europe. As well as one of the most in demand bassists John Webber doubles on the guitar.

JOE FARNSWORTH – drums, was born to a musical family of four brother and his Music teacher father. Joe Met Max Roach in 1980 and went to study with the Great Alan Dawson. After four years at William Paterson college, Joe moved to NYC, met and studied with the great Art Taylor. In 1991 he started playing every weekend at the upper westside club Augies bringing in stars like Jr cook, Cecil Payne, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson. He made his first recording with the great Jr Cook, and has since recorded over 200 albums. Since then, he has toured and recorded with Cedar Walton, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Diana Krall, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders and Curtis Fuller. He is the 90th recorded drummer of all time. With 10 CDs as a leader and his latest three on smoke sessions label.

STACY DILLARD – tenor saxophone, started playing the saxophone at a rather late age. He attended college at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio to study with Dr. William Denza, Jim Smith, Chris Berg, and Lenard Moses. Very quickly, Dillard acquired the necessary knowledge that would soon put his name out on the local scene. It was a run-in with Wynton Marsalis in Dayton, Ohio that would turn his attention to the New York Scene. After graduation, Stacy took the act to Cincinnati, where he stayed for a short time and made his first recording appearance with Mike Wade on trumpet, drummer Melvin Broach and pianist William Menefield. Maturation was very rapid, finally leading the way to New York. He has played with Winard Harper, Cindy Blackmon, Lenny White, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Lacy, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Roy Hargrove, Stephon Harris, Ernestine Anderson, Terrell Stafford, the Mingus Big Band, and a host of others in different genres of music, including Shirley Ceasar, U2, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, and several others.

SUPPORTING ARTISTS:

IAN CLEAVER – trumpet, is one of the most versatile players from Europe’s new generation of jazz musicians. Born and raised in Amsterdam. Working professionally since the age of 16, he performed with various music groups around the continent and renowned artists such as Ben van Gelder, Jesse van Ruller, George Coleman, John Engels, Dick Oatts, Jason Marsalis a.o. Graduating cum laude from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, he went on to study in Jazz Arts Master Program at Manhattan School of Music. There he studied with Jon Faddis and Buster Williams and is going to graduate in May 2023.

MAX BESSESEN – saxophone, NYC Woodwind artist and composer Max Bessesen creates music that “pushes boundaries without being abstruse and is stirringly emotive while eschewing melodrama.” (Jazziz Magazine) His “saxophone virtuosity” (Downbeat Magazine) has also earned him opportunities to perform alongside artists like Mark Gross, Mimi Jones, and Bobby Broom. He has performed at jazz festivals across the United States, the Netherlands, and in Jordan. He plays at prominent NYC clubs like Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room, and Nublu, among other venues. Max’s first recording Trouble (2020) was well reviewed and earned him an ASCAP young jazz composer award. He has also received awards from Luminarts, Pathways to Jazz, and The Beebe Fund. As a 2016-17 Beebe Fellow, Max spent a year studying music in India, Ghana and Cuba.