Dan Bárta and Robert Balzar Trio.

A mild late summer evening on September 19, 2018. Janáček Embankment and on it a cosy and welcoming jazz and blues club with the aptly named Jazz Dock. The club is accessed by stairs from the waterfront through a small park. Magical views of the Vltava River with outdoor seating for coffee or a couple of wines. At 10pm there is a concert by Dan Bárta and the Robert Balzar Trio. There's a telling sign on the door saying "Sold Out". The interior has an essentially jazzy layout, with tables, chairs, space for standing spectators, a well-stocked, subtly lit bar, unobtrusive service, and a special gin list in addition to a reasonable selection of drinks and small plates. The band is jamming long before 8pm, but technical problems arise just before 10pm, and so the show itself starts, in the words of the protagonist, with an "academic sixteen-minute delay". Jazz, itself, is a civil way of transferring the elevated mood that comes from the active practice of music to a cultivated audience, with the musical genre itself participating in the cultivation.

The concert lasts about an hour and a half with a small encore. Dan Bárta is a witty and nonchalant presenter, but above all an excellent performer with excellent vocal technique. He alternates between two microphones, each with a different reverberation effect. He usually uses cues for each song in the form of lyrics spread out on the floor and recharges his energy with an energy drink. His intonation and phrasing is precise and in perfect tact with the band. In addition to the jazz compositions, a version of a song by Cult will be performed during the evening, albeit in a jazz arrangement. The band also successfully tackles an arrangement of the song No Quarter by Jones, Page and Plant, which originally appeared on Led Zeppelin's fifth studio album and earned the nickname "hallucinogenic." Bárta handles it brilliantly thanks to the use of a harmoniser. The pleasant I've got you under my skin (Cole Porter) exists in dozens of different versions, including the basic swing version. The band plays with verve and engages the audience, who gradually applaud some of the solos. The outstanding performances of double bassist Robert Balzar and drummer Kamil Slezák form a pedaling background for the creative piano of Jiří Levíček. Slezák's experiments with various scratchy and tinkling sounds, whether on cymbals or with the help of tiny bells, not to mention playing with his bare hands, are refreshing. But the main focus is on Dan Bárta. Confidence in exalted positions, an inner experience expressed through natural movement, and harmony with the individual musicians are the distinctive attributes of his expression.

Robert Balzar's trio, along with frontman Dan Barta, form a truly extraordinary musical formation that should easily sell out much larger venues.

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