🔴 LIVE FROM PALACKÉHO SADY: Updates go live during the stage changes!
🕒 UPDATE 1 (17:20) — Herák | Bulatkin "Elysium" opens the festival!
A highly skillful, beautifully relaxed performance by Herák & Bulatkin “Elysium”—the brilliant new collaborative project by Míra Herák and Daniel Bulatkin, featuring Tomáš Baroš on double bass and Marek Urbánek on drums—has officially opened the 10th anniversary of Jazz in Písek 2026.
Most musicians I know absolutely despise being the opening act for a festival. The spectators are usually still on the move, drifting around the park looking for a place to settle down, fetching drinks, and getting oriented. If the members of “Elysium” felt any of that opening-slot pressure, they hid it flawlessly. Of course, looking at a lineup drawn straight from the absolute cream of the Czech jazz scene, we expected nothing less. In short: we got exactly what we came for—good music delivered at the highest possible level during this year’s Jazz in Písek festival! 
This was just the opener, folks. If you are online and in the neighborhood, hurry down to Palackého sady right now because there is still a massive lineup to come. Meanwhile, enjoy the during this year’s Jazz in Písek 2026 photo gallery below… it is fresh, more than fresh! 
🕒 UPDATE 2 (18:50) — The fresh vitality of Renegatz!
Being squeezed directly between two massive domestic heavy-hitters is never a dream slot for a young band. Yet, the moment Renegatz (Andrej Hrubč – key; Andrej Hudek – b; David Gerry; Michal Ondrička – sax.) finished their gig yesterday, I don’t think a single person in the crowd was thinking about who came before them or who was up next. That is how deeply impressive their concert was.
Though their roots stretch back to 2021—meaning they are no longer complete newcomers to the scene—their performance was a thoroughly pleasant and thrilling surprise. Write this name down in your personal notebook right now; you are going to need it in the future! 
🕒 UPDATE 3 (20:00) — "Sorry, Miles!" takes Písek by storm!
The Libor Šmoldas Quartet has just finished their spectacular tribute concert to one of the greatest icons in music history: Miles Davis. The entire set was built upon one of the most compelling and essential musical releases in the Republic this year: Sorry, Miles!
Libor Šmoldas and his quartet—Mikuláš Pokorný (piano), Jesse Simpson (drums), and the phenomenal Sam Zerna stepping in as a guest on double bass—didn’t just give us a masterclass in who actually composed many of the famous tunes historically credited to Miles. They also proved beyond a doubt that you don’t always need a trumpet to play the music of Miles Davis. All it takes is some extremely high technical skill, a deep love for the craft, and a few colleagues who share those exact same features. It doesn’t even take a long time to master; a single lifetime will be more than enough!
Yes, they were that good—and once again, I dare say it proudly. The thunderous feedback from the South Bohemian crowd proved that I was in no way alone in my feelings; on the contrary, the entire park was locked in. Look through the pictures below, and hopefully, you will gain at least a small understanding of the magic the Libor Šmoldas Quartet just pulled off on stage.
This officially concludes the live, real-time portion of yhalinen.com‘s coverage of Jazz in Písek. This doesn’t mean I am packing up my gear and heading to the train station just yet—only that the rest of the evening’s music will be covered in tomorrow’s full summary report. I will be staying right here in the park with my camera rolling… Until tomorrow!
