Programme

Mike Stern Band featuring Dennis Chambers, Leni Stern, Chris Minh Doky & Bob Franceschini (USA)
Mike Stern – electric guitar, vocals; Leni Stern – electric guitar, n’goni, vocals; Bob Franceschini – saxophone; Chris Minh Doky – electric bass, double bass; Dennis Chambers – drums

František Kop Quartet (CZ)
František Kop – saxophones; Petr Malásek – keyboards; Jan Jakubec – bass guitar; Pavel “Bady” Zbořil – drums

Mike Stern, one of the greatest jazz guitarists of his generation, will perform in Karlovy Vary with the Mike Stern Band featuring Dennis Chambers, Leni Stern, Chris Minh Doky & Bob Franceschini.

The band’s full name alone makes it clear that every member ranks among the world’s finest jazz musicians. Each has played alongside numerous jazz icons. Stern’s playing has been strongly influenced by his admiration for the legendary guitarists Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix, as well as blues guitarists Albert King and B. B. King. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1975 to 1977, Stern worked with drummer Billy Cobham and subsequently with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983, returning to collaborate with him in 1985. He then launched a solo career and has released more than twenty albums. He has received numerous awards and several Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with the Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius, Steps Ahead, David Sanborn, Joe Henderson and the all-star band Four Generations of Miles.

Saxophonist František Kop is one of the leading figures in Czech jazz, a prolific composer whose distinctive works defy easy categorisation, and a respected bandleader. Since the early 1980s, he has worked with leading jazz ensembles and co-founded Naima, which won the award for the best Czech jazz band of the year three times in a row between 1987 and 1989. He has performed with the Emil Viklický Quartet and in the backing bands of Hana Hegerová, Marta Kubišová and Lucie Bílá, and was a long-standing member of J.A.R. He has also been active in music education throughout his career.