Tomáš Hobzek (CZ)
drums
Tomáš Hobzek began studying percussion instruments at the Pilsen Conservatory. During his studies, he became a member of the Pilsen Theater Orchestra, where he gained experience in classical music and was also active in various student bands.
In 2004, he entered the College of Music at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague and gradually began to penetrate the Prague jazz scene. He became a member of the David Dorůžka Trio, the Organic Quartet, the Vojtěch Procházka Trio, both bands of Roman Pokorný and the trio of the German guitarist Christian Rover, with whom he accompanied Hammond player Rhoda Scott at the festival in Homburg, Germany, in the summer of 2006. As a member of the David Dorůžka Trio, he first participated in an international competition in Getx, Spain (2005) and in the same year, with the Organic Quartet, he won the competition at the Phillips International Jazz Festival. A year later, with the same band, he won the Academy of Popular Music (Anděl) award in the Jazz and Blues category for 2006.
In the fall of 2007, Tomáš went to New York, where he gained further experience in private lessons with Kendrick Scott and, together with organist Ondřej Pivec, recorded the album "Overseason", which also features guitarist Jake Langley and saxophonist Joel Frahm.
In 2008, Tomáš and the Organic Quartet were invited to two prestigious international festivals: the first took place in Athens, where the Organic Quartet was the only representative of the Czech music scene, and the second in Getx, Spain, where they were awarded the audience award as the best band. In the spring of the same year, Tomáš founded his own quartet, in which he also promotes himself as a composer. He recorded his first album, “Stick It Out”, with guest New York pianist Dan Tepfer and Dutch saxophonist Cyril Oswald in 2010.
In the summer of 2009, he won first prize again at the Getx jazz band competition with the band Points and subsequently participated in festivals in Ibiza, Bilbao and Elorio. He ended the successful year at the competition in Hoeilaart, Belgium, where he took second place with the same band. Between 2010 and 2013, Tomáš lived in Berlin, where he established contact with many musicians and became part of several projects that significantly influenced his musical career to date. After returning, he continued on the Prague scene. Together with guitarist Libor Šmoldas and American organist Brian Charette, he founded the Trio Soulmates. In 2016, the first joint album was released, and in 2019, after a Czech-Polish tour, the second album of the Soulmates trio.
Over the years, he has recorded more than 30 albums, two of which under his own name. He is a member of the bands Petr Kalfus Trio, Ondřej Pivec Organic Quartet, Marek Novotný Quartet and Crossover Sextet, Jan Andr "The Track Inspection", Points Quartet, Trio Soulmates, Hetty Kate quintet, Vilém Veverka Trio+, Veronika Vítová Band, Epydemye.
