New Faces of Slovak Jazz

Abstract:

New faces of Slovak jazz is a competition of amateur jazz bands in Slovakia. The competition was formed in 1986 as part of the Slovak Jazz Festival in Žilina, later it has been transferred to Bratislava in 1995. This competition assisted in professionalising young novice jazz musicians. Almost a quarter of the participants of this event has gradually established themselves on the stage and achieved their creative, but also the peak period in their career which included musicians such as Ondrej Krajňák, Klaudius Kováč, Milo Suchomel, Martin Valihora, Hanka Gregušová, Michal Bugala, Štefan Bugala and others. This paper reports a detailed list of personalities who participated in the competition in the period 1986 – 2016. It was reconstructed by historical events through oral tradition, minutes from the archives of Slovak Jazz Society and scattered information in newsletters, newspapers and magazines.