Laco Déczi & Celula New York

Laco Déczi is a Slovak-American jazz trumpeter, composer, and painter born in 1938 in Bernolák. From his entry onto the professional music scene, he has been its enfant terrible — despite the then-dominant West Coast jazz, he championed explosive hard bop in the style of Clifford Brown, which he later merged into an impressive synthesis with Miles Davis's electric jazz-rock fusion. Between 1963 and 1966, he was a member of the legendary SHQ of Karel Velebný. Since 1985, he has lived in the USA, where he leads the Jazz Celula New York ensemble. The band performs in a four-piece lineup: trumpet, keyboards, bass, and drums — Déczi's eldest son Vaico Déczi plays drums.

Since 1990, Laco has regularly performed twice a year in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The concerts are renowned not only for virtuosic playing but also for humor and uninhibited storytelling. The performance takes place at Zelenáčova Šopa — a Zlín beer bar and music club focused on jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, blues, and alternative music.