Culture is big in Prague. There are huge cultural events, and smaller, more intimate occasions. Modern jazz is generally something of a shrinking violet, but in Prague there is a flourishing, fascinating and superb jazz scene. There is also an impressive number of jazz clubs, with something on offer seven days a week. This is almost unparalleled in Europe, or even in the USA. And now, for the very first time, a team of authors has attempted a two-pronged approach to the jazz phenomenon. On the one hand, there are interviews held with the musicians in their mother tongues, with particular emphasis on incisive and in-depth questions and answers. Meanwhile, the photographs, true portraits in the classical sense, are an attempt to capture and convey the personalities of their subjects. So most of them were taken immediately before, during and after the conversations. This is why there is almost a relationship between the texts and the photographs, between the two languages: that of the word and that of the image. And by embarking on this interplay between word and image, we can discover certain nuances hidden between the lines and behind the photos. In a nutshell, this book aims to offer insights and instants: insights into life and jazz via conversation, and instants in the truest sense of the word, captured through photography.

Featuring portraits of: František Uhlíř (bass), Milan Svoboda (piano), Jana Koubková (vocals), Jiří Stivín (flutes, saxophone), Michal Gera (trumpet), Emil Viklický (piano), Laco Tropp (drums), Michal Hejna (drums), Jaroslav Šindler (guitar), František Kop (saxophone), Robert Balzar (bass), Karel Růžička sen. (piano), Jan Knop/alias Najponk (piano), Yvonne Sanchez (vocals).