UTHANDO

Uthando means love in the language of the African Zulu nation. It is also the name of a jazz band that is made up of talented young musicians who met during their studies at the jazz departments of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and Higher Vocational School. Five instrumentalists and two female vocalists quickly established themselves on the jazz scene and won the audience and the professional public over with their colourful and imaginative repertoire to which all of them contribute to varying degrees. Their music draws on numerous influences. In 2021, the ensemble won the prestigious Jazzfruit competition and released its first album. The portal Jazzport wrote about it as follows:“Every song gushes almost a gluttony of ideas!(…)  Thirteen compositions share excellent instrumental and vocal performances within a broad emotional range, a strong sense of humour and exaggeration, and a genre range from contemporary chamber music through classical jazz to free jazz and jazz avant-garde.” At its festival debut, Uthando will present the repertoire of its second album, which is scheduled to be released at the end of 2022. Specifically for the audience of the Prague Spring Festival, they will prepare a small surprise.