Ona

The title Ona means ‘She’ in Czech and it presents women’s songs from Tomáš Kočko’s homeland Moravia, the eastern region of Czechia. In the press release Kočko writes, ‘I can see now how many tasks and troubles women have to deal with, and how much harder their destinies have always been in comparison to men.’ Alongside the core line-up of Kočko on guitar, plus cimbalom, violin, double bass and drums, there are plenty of guest musicians, including violin and the concert cimbalom of Balázs Unger from Hungary’s Cimbaliband. There are traditional string instruments from the highlands – fiddles, viola and double bass – plus distorted guitars, various wind instruments and drums.

Kočko himself is rather a guest on his own album, singing only a few times and leaving the space for female vocalists, including Alena Antalová and Lucia Šoralová from Slovakia and Polish singer Gosza Tutko. This brilliant concept album is their 14th and a great chance to discover a leading figure of the Central European folk-rock music scene.