ŽÁHA

If the band’s name doesn’t ring a bell, then you weren’t fully immersed in music around the year 2000. The funk-rock band released the album *Soul Machine*, which Jiří Černý praised in a full-page review in *Reflex*; they performed before James Brown during his first visit to Prague; and Czech Television filmed a Žáha concert at the Lucerna Music Bar, which it still rebroadcasts today.

The band emerged from the ashes of the blues trio Tucet. Bluesman and guitarist Peter Jurkovič, along with singer Marek Hlavica, formed a seven-piece soul band. Žáha’s sound was much “dirtier” than other funk projects in vogue at the time, which leaned toward disco and electronics.

A number of interesting musicians have passed through the band—from Martin Kumžák to jazz saxophonist Jakub Doležal to Mirek Linhart’s “yo-yobanda.” At the core of the band, however, has always been the tireless rhythm section—bassist Jáchym Bašek and drummer Tomáš Makovský, trombonist Filip Jiskra, and frontman Marek Hlavica.

The band, which stopped performing regularly twenty years ago, is returning exclusively to the Krásný ztráty Live festival in its strongest lineup featuring Linhart and Doležal, a full horn section, and original material. Soul Machine is hitting the road again.
 

Playing on Friday:

MICHAL PROKOP a FRAMUS FIVE, MICHAL PAVLÍČEK & HOSTÉ, KLÁRA VYTISKOVÁ, ​​​GARAGE & TONY DUCHÁČEK, VLADIMÍR MERTA DUO "80", ŽÁHA, STORY & MILAN KŇAŽKO, KALANDRA MEMORY BAND, JIRKA KÁRA & PAPÍR SKLO PLASTY
and others