‘A Portrait of Gavin Skeggs, The Prague Session’
The Gavin Skeggs Quintet.
Featuring:
Osian Roberts (Saxophone) Tomáš Jochmann (Piano)
Jaromír Honzák (Double Bass) Jesse Simpson (Drums)
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New Album Out Now! Available to Download & Stream – Released late 2025
‘A Portrait of Gavin Skeggs, The Prague Session’ is London born Skeggs’ first straight-ahead jazz album, a singer with a deep, warm and rich baritone whose velvety delivery evokes memories of the great male vocalists of yesteryear. He is joined on the album by an international group of renowned Czech-based musicians.
The selected recordings are a compilation of standards from the Great American Songbook; he hopes listeners will be familiar and comfortable with the material. The band take a straight-forward approach to the form of the music, with Skeggs delivering a smoky or swinging vocal, followed by an array of exceptional instrumental solos. There is little vocal improvisation, but Skeggs subtly manipulates the phrasing of these well-known songs, pushing gently at their edges, rhythmically, melodically and with assuredness. With limited studio time, due to schedules, the album was recorded live, in under two days: a testament to this quintet’s musicianship.
Other than Skeggs, who remains based in the UK, the quintet album features some of the finest jazz musicians the Czech capital has to offer. In 2014 Skeggs visited Prague to teach on the well-respected Czech Jazz Workshop and has returned many times both as a mentor and performer; building relationships with many of the exceptional players on the Czech jazz scene.
On the recording Skeggs is joined by Czech-based Welsh tenor saxophonist Osian Roberts, who after studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, established himself on the UK jazz scene and has collaborated with many artists, including Cedar Walton and Peter King. A composer and arranger known for his hard bop style, he has also co-founded the Hard Bop Records label with drummer Matt Fishwick and trumpeter Steve Fishwick. Roberts has performed across Europe, the USA and Asia.
On Piano, studio engineering and mastering is Tomáš Jochmann one of the best jazz pianists working in the Czech Republic today. Many jazz superstars rank among his teachers: Kenny Barron, Barry Harris, Aaron Parks, Dave Kikoski, Dado Moroni and Antonio Ciacca. Jochmann has become one of the most distinguished and sought-after accompanists for singers in jazz as well as other genres. He has also performed throughout Europe and in Egypt, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Štěpán Gudev, producer on the project, introduced Skeggs to Czech Bass legend Jaromír Honzák in the lead up to the session. Honzák co-founded the group Naima, which fast became one of the most significant Czech jazz groups of the 1980s. Throughout the years he has appeared with international artists such as Art Farmer, Phil Wilson, Don Friedman, Alan Praskin, Giovanni Basso, Amina Claudine Myers and Victor Lewis. He has performed at a number of international festivals including Sea Jazz Helsinki, Ingolstadter Jazztage, Leverkusener Jazztage, the Jazz Jamboree Warsaw, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
The rhythm section is completed with drums provided by Jesse Simpson. Simpson is a drummer and pianist from Graton, CA (USA). He grew up performing around the San Francisco Bay area, studying with legendary drummer Donald “Duck” Bailey, he moved to New York in 2007 to attend the Manhattan School of Music, graduating in 2010. Since that time, Jesse has performed alongside Louie Bellson, backed comedians Fred Armisen and Janeane Garafalo and played with Marc Copland, Kevin Hays, Joe Lovano, John Abercrombie, Chris Cheek and many more. In 2022, Jesse moved to the Czech Republic where he continues performing around Europe.