This alignment of two great Czech musicians produced an album in 1998 that seems remarkable it has taken 26 years to surface. Prior to his death in 2021, Mraz’ reputation as one of the finest bassists in jazz – his perfect time and intonation were legendary – preceded him, having performed at the top table of America jazz with a who’s who of greats that included Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz and Joe Henderson.

Linka is less well known – although he has played and recorded with his share of American names. At the time of this recording Linka had been voted one of the 10 best jazz guitarists by readers of DownBeat. An accomplished classical guitarist, his heart lies in jazz and he annually acts as the artistic director of the Bohemia Jazz Festival, which he founded.

The remarkable thing about this album is both musicians make it all sound so easy, as if anyone could pick up a hollow body guitar or a double bass, walk into a wine bar and effortlessly hold an audience rapt. Perhaps there is an underlying truth here, as this music is ideally suited to function as agreeable background music while sipping a glass of something agreeable on a summer’s night. The understated, laid-back quality of acoustic guitar and bass has no sharp edges, flamenco flourishes or machine-gun-like Paco Da Lucia runs, but instead concentrates on teasing out the melodic potential of each song.

Both Mraz and Linka have a Slavic background, and their love of melody, derived from their folkloric heritage, brings a unity of thought and conception to the project.