J.J. Johnson once said “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will.” That’s a quality jazz has in common with travelers, so why not combine the two and travel for jazz? Though the U.S. is the place for great jazz, there is nothing like the Bohemia Jazz Fest, where musicians from all over the world play on stages set against historic sites throughout the Czech Republic. The nature of the festival fits the genre. Jazz is largely improvised, like the free open air event that’s something people don’t have to plan ahead for and a good portion of the audience may have just stumbled upon it. This makes for great original music and a very good music festival.
The Bohemia Jazz fest was first imagined and organized by the Czech expat and jazz guitarist, Rudy Linka in 2005. Linka is a Prague native that has settled in the states in pursuit of his jazz career. He got the idea for the festival while in the Czech Republic for the summer. He realized that while the Czechs are famously friendly and there are great tourist spots, the country lacked a really good popular music scene. Now in its 9th year, the festival has become a sensation. It’s one of Europe’s most popular summer music festivals, and was named one of the most important cultural events in the world by Downbeat magazine.
The festival tours various cities in the Czech Republic throughout July. This year it will play in 9 historic town squares, including Prague, Brno, and Prachatice and will be streamed to over 500,000 TV viewers. The concerts draw about 80,000 audience members and this year is expecting to draw more. This year’s lineup is yet to be released, but we can expect only the best. Past performers included great artists like Roy Haynes, Kenny Garrett, and McCoy Tyner. This year’s audience will not only enjoy jazz, but also blues, funk, and other world music. “With world class jazz for free, great beer for half-price and beautiful historical sites — is there a reason not to come?” asks Rudy Linka.
2014 Tour Dates:
July 15-17 Prague
July 18 Domažlice
July 20 Tábor
July 21 Plzeň
July 22 Liberec
July 23 Zlín
July 24 Brno
July 25 Pisek
July 26 Prachatice
Learn more: www.bohemiajazzfest.cz/
http://www.stories.czechtourism.com
https://travelsquire.com/ts/czech-republic/stories/