Ad libitum - 2 CD

In the second half of the 1970s, the intrinsic improviser Jiří Stivín invited two prominent figures of the new jazz generation to collaborate: bassist Ondřej Soukup and pianist Michael Kocáb, members of the Prague big band and at that time still of the jazz-rock Prague Selection. Both Kocáb and Soukup had already tried many different genres, but what awaited them with Stivín was something they had never approached before or since. Their concerts were musically interesting, total free jazz, never rehearsed. Before the concert, the musicians would just cut it to see who would start; the 'winner' would then kick off on stage, and the others would join in. That’s how the concert began, and sometimes from complete improvisation, very interesting music emerged. They even encountered requests for sheet music after the concert, and the response that none existed and everything was created right on stage was met with disbelief. The double album Ad Libidum, featuring a live recording from 1979, presents a compilation of one of the trio's concerts and confirms their joint creative effort to go against the tide.