Karel Růžička Quartet - Grace & Gratitude (2018)

Saxophonist and composer KAREL RŮŽIČKA has been living in New York for over twenty years. After having become a young talent in the 90s of the last century, he made a distinctive appearance on the jazz scene in the Czech Republic (his first album "You Know What I Mean", The Four and Spring Rolls Quartet albums and the album "Flight" the same name, the legendary pianist), he moved to the world's jazz metropolis where he built a solid musical career as a sought-after teammate (most recently in Michael Frank's band) and a teacher. Already in New York, Ruzicka's previous album "Brooklyn Moods" (2004) was created, and now, after a long 14 years, Růžička follows up with a novel called GRACE & GRATITUDE.

For the purpose of recording, Ruzicka created a "superpapel" composed of players from the first jazz league - made by bass player JOHN PATITUCCI (bass player) Simon, Norah Jones), pianist JON COWHERD (in the world of jazz he is known primarily as a member of the band Brian Blade Fellowship, otherwise he collaborated with artists so genre different as Iggy Pop, Cassandra Wilson, Lizz Wright or Rosanne Cash) and drummer NATE SMITH he has long been collaborating with Dave Holland and Chris Potter. Růžička baptized her new band KAREL RUZICKA QUARTET and made it inconspicuously clear that she was expecting her longer life, either in the studio or on the concert stages. The affinity of a place where everyone is either living or being born and where the recordings were made gave the name of the first song of the album "Brooklyn Brotherhood" (it is not without interest that the fascination with this New York neighborhood also reflected in the name of the latest Patitucci album "Brooklyn"). The album consists exclusively of Růžička's own compositions created in a rapid sequence before filming directly on the set, and the author devoted it to the memory of the recently deceased members of his family, including the father of Karl, with whom he has collaborated many times. The recordings were made in collaboration with Aaron Nevezio's masterpiece in Brooklyn's Bunker Analogue, Mastering conducted by renowned Tony Cousins ​​at the London Metropolis studio.

The authors of the packaging are graphic artists from Studia Najbrt; Aleš Najbrt's unique approach to album covers is a unifying element of all titles by Animal Music Publishing since 2007. The album was supported by a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and was released in the framework of the year-round Animal Music 2018, supported by a grant from the Prague City Hall.