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On the road again

Rudy Linka reprises his jazz festival, with help from his friends
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July 4th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Playing guitar is easy compared with organizing a trans-Atlantic music festival.
Bohemia Jazz Fest

When: July 10 and 11, beginning at 4 p.m.
Where: Old Town Square
Admission: The concerts are free
For a complete schedule, check www.bohemiajazzfest.cz

By Stephanie Linka
For the Post
In just its second year, the Bohemia Jazz Fest is taking major steps forward. The festival, which kicks off on Prague’s Old Town Square July 10, is nearly doubling the number of performances it offered last year. It’s also expanding from three days to five, with a second evening of free music added in Prague and a new city on the tour itinerary, Plzeň.
Last year’s festival, which featured names like Bill Frisell, James Blood Ulmer and the Yellowjackets, attracted a total of 22,000 listeners in three cities (Prague, Prachatice and České Budějovice) and earned a listing in JazzTimes magazine’s directory of the most important jazz festivals around the world. This year, festival director and founder Rudy Linka scored every concert organizer’s dream: a big-name sponsor in Pilsner Urquell.
For Linka, a renowned jazz guitarist who was born in Prague but has lived in New York City for the past 27 years, the festival is a labor of love — with the emphasis on labor.
“The only reason this festival is possible is because everybody I know is involved in it — not just musicians, but businessmen, journalists and friends,” Linka says. He often jokes about how difficult it is to put together a music festival via telephone 4,000 miles away.
Linka will be moving fast in the Czech Republic this year, covering four cities in five days: Prague (July 10 and 11), Plzeň (July 12), Prachatice (July 13) and České Budějovice (July 14). He’s also set the bar higher for the music lineup. “Last year’s program was fantastic; this year’s program is even better,” he says.
Three of the front men in the headline groups played with the great Miles Davis: saxophonist Kenny Garrett, drummer Al Foster and bassist Dave Holland. The rest of the program features American singer Kurt Elling and his quartet; the Havana Street Band from Cuba; Subtone, a jazz/techno band from Berlin; the Clemens Salesny Quartet from Austria; the AMC trio from Slovakia; the Steve Coleman Quartet from the United States; Markovič and Guločar from the Czech Republic; the Nils Berg Quintet from Sweden; and Linka in a duo with bass player Fabricatore. (Not every band is playing every stop on the tour.)
The international flavor of the lineup is no coincidence.  Linka cites the Prague Spring classical music festival as inspiration. “From the very beginning, I wanted to create an international festival that will be for jazz what Prague Spring is for classical music,” he says.
Even if you normally avoid the tourist crowds on Old Town Square this time of the year, the festival is well worth a visit. Kenny Garrett headlines the July 10 show and Dave Holland the following night. And it’s all free.
— Stephanie Linka is Rudy Linka’s daughter and a summer intern at The Prague Post. She can be reached at slinka@praguepost.com.


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