The Noble-Slavík-Clarvis Trio presents the Czech double bassist Jiří Slavík in collaboration with two English musicians, namely the exceptional jazz pianist Liam Noble and the court drummer from Abbey Road Studios Paul Clarvis. The joint recordings of this acclaimed tandem had a major influence on Slavík at the time he got to know them as a student at London’s Royal Academy of Music.
The first joint album of this trio, called Nostalgia, which was released back in the spring of 2022 by Bivak Records, is therefore a kind of partial return to the past – which is why, in addition to original music, it also contains arrangements of compositions by George Gershwin and Charles Mingus or unexpected cover versions of the world-famous songs It’s a Long Way To Tipperary or Škoda lásky.
Together, the trio plays purely acoustic music, which is deeply rooted in the jazz tradition and in the ways of playing from the past. However, they creatively transforms them into their current form and at the same time points to the possible future development of this genre.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Jiří Slavík studied jazz composition and classical double bass at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. After his studies, he spent seven years in Paris as a freelance musician. Since October 2014, he has been living back in the Czech Republic and works here as a teacher of the jazz departments of Prague’s HAMU and Brno’s JAMU. During his career so far, he has played his own music on five continents and released seven original records. His compositions were played on TV Arte, Czech Television, on radio waves such as France Culture, BBC Radio 3 or Czech Radio and released by Supraphon, Deutsche Grammophon, Animal Music and Bivak Records. He is the winner of the Anděl 2016 award for the album Mateřština. For his solo double bass concerts, he uses an exceptional five-string instrument bequeathed to him by the legendary American double bassist Barre Phillips.
One of the most sought-after musicians on the European jazz scene, Liam Noble has played with countless musicians at home and abroad. His solo CD “A Room Somewhere” reflects both a wide range of interests and a sense of nuance and detail – from Elgar to the electric Miles. In addition to his own recordings such as “Close Your Eyes”, “In The Meantime”, “Romance Among The Fishes”, “Brubeck”, Liam also collaborates with Mark Lockheart’s band Malija, Chris Batchelor in the band Pigfoot, and the improvisational trio Ingrid Laubrock in the group “Sleepthief”. Other collaborators include Lionel Loueke, Eric Harland, Drew Gress, Larry Grenadier or the duo with Dave Liebman.
It wouldn’t be out of place to say that drummer and percussionist Paul Clarvis has played with everyone you know and on just about everything you love. Clarvis was the legendary Leonard Bernstein’s favorite London percussionist and performed alongside Underworld’s Rick Smith on drums at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. His filmography is similarly impressive, including such memorable films as Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, Skyfall, Spectre, Tron, Grande Budapest Hotel, Shrek and The Hobbit. In addition to his steady work as a studio player, Clarvis is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.
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