About

It is often written about musical projects that they are exceptional, unique and one of a kind. But with the HLASkontraBAS octet, this is true to the last note – you won’t find anything like it anywhere else in the world. The HLASkontraBAS octet consists of four female singers, their voices and four double basses. All top musicians who live and work in Prague, the musical heart of the Czech Republic. At the Reykjavík Jazz Festival 2023, they will premiere a brand new programme of compositions written directly for the HLASkontraBAS Octet by leading contemporary composers from Norway (Mats Eilertsen, Nils Økland), Iceland (Ragnheiður Gröndal, Guðmundur Pétursson, Pétur Ben), Israel (Adam Ben Ezra) and the Czech Republic (Petr Wajsar, Beata Hlavenková). There will also be compositions by the founders and core members of the HLASkontraBAS octet Ridina Ahmedová and Petr Tichý.

Look forward to an exceptional musical experience, to a unique harmony of four voices and four double basses, to musical journeys through mysterious, fragile, wild and beautifully melancholic landscapes.

HLASkontraBAS Octet was formed in 2019 as an extension of the original two-member project HLASkontraBAS, founded by Czech vocalist, composer and performer Ridina Ahmedová and double bassist and composer Petr Tichý. At the very beginning of the expansion to four voices and four double basses was the idea to replace the looper, which Ridina and Petr used in concerts to layer tracks over each other, with live musicians who bring their own interpretive soul to the songs. But it turned out that writing songs directly for the octet offered the opportunity to arrange and think musically differently. And the octet began to live its own musical life. A vibrant, unique and inspiring life!

Cast:

Vocals : Ridina Ahmedová, Alice Bauer, Mirka Novak, Markéta Zdeňková
Double bass : Petr Tichý, Tomáš Liška, Ondřej Štajnochr / Ondřej Komárek, Petr Mikeš

Ridina Ahmedová

Czech singer, voice teacher and composer. She is the founder of the vocal project Hlasohled (Voicescope), which organizes a variety of activities for the public (lectures, workshops, seminars, conferences, etc.). She has written and co-written music for several theatre performances. She has recorded music for several films and collaborated with other well-known musicians. In 2008 she sang a joint improvisation with Bobby McFerrin at his Prague concert. Her solo project, Voicescape, combining a screening and a live concert, won the Next Wave Award for Discovery of the Year in 2003. Together with Petr Tichý, Ridina Ahmedová founded the duo HLASkontraBAS. Their album was nominated for an Angel Award in 2016. She also works on audio documentaries.

Petr Tichy

Czech double bassist and composer. He studied at the jazz department of the HAMU in Prague and at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory. His main projects include the duo HLASkontraBAS with Ridina Ahmedová, and NTS with Michal Nejtek and Štěpán Smetáček. He has collaborated with Floex, Orchestr Berg, Continuo Theatre, Marek Novotny, Vladimír Václavek, Palo Hammel, Ondřej Škoch, Míra Kemel, Sylvia Krobová, Feng-yűng Song, Jono Bono, Paul Novotny and Alexander Yasinsky, the quartet Květovaný kůň, Duende and many other prominent artists. On his recordings he plays gut strings, which he makes himself, following the example of folk musicians in Terchova. In 2016, he was nominated for the Czech Music Award Anděl together with Ridina Ahmedová for the CD HLASkontraBAS.

The project is supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Funds.