Josef Fečo was born March 30, 1978 in Prague and he comes from a Roma musical family and had a great desire to become a musiciansince childhood. Joseph had great examples at home – his father was excellentbassist, his mother was a singer and his great grandfather, an excellent violinist andcomposer, has always been his role model.
Josef played the guitar since age 4, but his desire was to play the violin like hisgrandfather. He played it till 11, but then he became fascinated with cimbalom(dulcimer) and devoted his efforts one hundred percent to it. The cimbalom meant alot to him. Since 11 he became a member of a band led by his grandfather named(ROMALE AVEN JIVAS IMAR). He toured several prestigious festivals throughoutEurope with the band.
Unfortunately, this beautiful instrument has limited opportunities in this country, whichled Josef to the decision to learn to play the bass. His ties to the dulcimer were neverweakened, he still has a very personal relationship with it, but he did not want tostagnate in the „bar musician“ category. He followed his artistic goal and after a six-month training he passed the entrance exam to the conservatory. In 1994, hebecame a student of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory, from which he graduated in2000, majoring in double bass and bass guitar. During his studies at theConservatory he met with numerous artists, including Karel Ruzicka, whose trio hejoined in 1999.
Joseph is now the most sought after bassist in the Czech Republic, his musicalinterests include jazz, funk, pop, soul and folk. He composes and arranges.
Josef is a permanent member of the following musical projects:
Karel Růžička Trio, Zuzana Lapčíková Quintet, Libor Šmoldas Quartet, RostislavFraš Quartet, Otto Hejnic Trio
Own projects: Connection, Josef Fečo and Gypsy Friends (International Project withmusicians from Serbia, Hungary, CZ and SK)
International projects: Skip Wilkins (USA), Bobby Watson (USA), Radovan Tariška(SK), Lubos Sramek (SK), Robo Opatovský (SK), Lakatos Robert (HU), GaborWinand (HU), Byron Wallen (GB), Ondrej Krajňák (SK)
Awards: Anděl Awards – Zuzana Lapčíková Quintet in 2012
Anděl Awards Nominations – Josef Fečo and Zuzana Lapčíková – Black and White2007, Junior Jazz 1999
A review by the world-known American bass player Essiet Okon Essiet (USA):
Ever since I first met Josef Feco in Prague I was impressed with his bass playing.It is well known that great bass players come from the Czech Republic.
As well as being a top bassist Josef also plays many other instruments. I really lovehis playing on Cimbalom. The Cimbalom is a unique gypsy instrument that I firstheard him play in Bratislava Slovakia. I’ll talk about his bass playing for now though. He was once heard by the great drummer Al Foster and Al said to him „you shouldmove to New York. I agree. He’s ready for NYC! He has a full sound, great feel &impressive technique. We should be hearing more from Josef Feco in the near future.
Essiet OKon Essiet
