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DODO ŠOŠOKA SLOVAK JAZZ QUARTET


Dodo Šošoka – drums, leader

Robert Ragan – double bass

Miloš Suchomel – tenor saxophon

Klaudio Kováč – piano, vocal


The Quartet was founded in 1976. From its very beginnings the best jazz musicians have been appearing in it while performing all over the world at the most renowned jazz scenes (London, Jerusalem, Vienna – Donauinsel festival 2001, Warsaw – Jazz Jamboree a.s.o.).


Robert Ragan – double bass

Graduated from the Conservatoire Žilina, Slovakia, double bass solo in State Opera of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. He is one of the best Slovak double bass players.


Miloš Suchomel – tenor saxophon

Graduated from the Žilina Conservatoire as a oboist, then he graduated from the Conservatoire of Bratislava, Slovakia as a tenor saxophon player. He is considered to be one of the best jazz saxophon players. In 2001, he joined „Big Band EBU“ on its tour. In 2002, due to a scholarship he has studied at the Columbia College Chicago.


Klaudio Kováč – piano, vocal

Graduated from the Žilina Conservatoire. He joined the Lee Andrew Dawison Tour all over the States. He accepted the invitation of the singer Lee Andrew Dawison to join his six-months-lasting American Tour. He ranks among excellent jazz piano players and is a demanded pianist as well as jazz singer.


Jozef „Dodo“ Šošoka


More than 40 years of artistic jazz achievements have made him one of the best-known drum and percussion soloists in Slovakia, as well as around the world. Due to a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he had the opportunity to perform with numerous jazz artists. The exceptional musician also organises international projects and co-operates with a great number of well-known jazz musicians such as Charlie Mariano, Linda Sharrock, Hans Koller, Phil Wilson, Lee Konitz, Tomasz Stanko, Larry Smith, Jeff Gardner, Barbra Montgomery, Lee Harper, Hannes Beckmann, Piotr Baron, Antonio Ciacca, Juraj Bartoš, Karel Ružička, Gabriel Jonáš and many others.

„Dodo“ intensively develops concert activities in Europe, in the USA and Africa as well. He is a founding member of the Czecho-Slovak-American Jazz Quartet, which released the CD „Bob Top“. In 1995, he recorded the CD „Larry Smith and Company: Live at the Slovak Philharmonic“. He is a member of the Prague Jazz Quartet and has recently given his solo concert in London, Copenhagen, Budapest, Jerusalem, Prague, Passau, Bologna, Berlin, Vienna, Györ, Stuttgart.

He performed at the international jazz festivals both in Bologna and Foggia, Italy. He is a holder of the Leo Danihels Prize for Music. The Slovak Music Fund awarded him prizes for lifelong achievement, international and domestic jazz promotion, and his fidelity to the art of jazz.


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