Blue Effect with an orchestra to revive Nová syntéza. Tour marking Radim Hladík's eightieth birthday has five stops

In December, a special tribute to Radim Hladík titled Má hra – Tour 2026 will head to five Czech cities. It will commemorate the work of one of the most significant Czech guitarists by bringing together musicians from the last lineup of Blue Effect, their guests, and the jazz orchestra CBC Big Band. The audience can expect songs from the Nová syntéza project as well as classic Blue Effect hits. Musicserver ↗

The tour will kick off on December 1 in Ostrava, followed by concerts in Brno, Prague, Plzeň and Hradec Králové. The Prague concert on December 9 at the Archa+ theatre will additionally feature a special guest – guitarist Michal Pavlíček. Tickets are on sale via the GoOut network. Musicserver ↗

On stage, members of the last lineup of Blue Effect – Václav Zima (drums), Vojtěch Říha (bass guitar, vocals), Honza Křížek (vocals, guitar) and Pavel Bohatý (vocals) – will join guests Adam Krofian (lead guitar), Roman Helcl (guitar), Iva Marešová, Tomáš Fröde and Yannick Tevi (vocals). Rock & Pop ↗

An exceptional dimension will be added to the concerts by the CBC Big Band led by Miroslav Surka, with conductor Roman Fišer. Thanks to him, songs from Nová syntéza will return to the stage in the form Radim Hladík originally wrote them. The special guest of the entire tour will be Viktor Sodoma, who will sing a selection from the repertoire of The Matadors – another important chapter of Hladík's journey. Musicserver ↗

Nová syntéza is tied to two cult albums from the 1970s. The band, which at the time, under pressure from the authorities, had to use the Czech name Modrý efekt, recorded them with the Jazz Orchestra of Czechoslovak Radio led by Kamil Hála – Nová syntéza in 1971 and Nová syntéza 2 in 1974. They combined rock with a grand orchestral sound. Wikipedia ↗ Musicserver ↗

"The combination of beat music with orchestral arrangements that Nová syntéza offers has always been an enormous experience for me. The opportunity to play these songs in such a lineup is exceptional. I'm very glad that together we can bring Radim's music back to concert stages and honor his memory," says singer Honza Křížek. Drummer Václav Zima adds that playing with Radim was a great joy and a school for him, while bassist Vojtěch Říha promises the energy of a band that "doesn't coast along, but drives forward." Musicserver ↗

Radim Hladík was born on December 13, 1946, in Prague. He played in the beat group The Matadors and from the late 1960s was among the recognized Czech guitarists. At the end of 1968, he was present at the birth of Blue Effect, whose first single Slunečný hrob sold more than fifty thousand copies. The instrumental Čajovna from 1975 is still known to generations of guitarists today. Wikipedia ↗ Wikipedia ↗

Hladík was the only permanent member of the band until his death. He died on December 4, 2016, at the age of 69, of complications from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Wikipedia ↗

The year 2026 thus marks both what would have been his eightieth birthday and ten years since his death. In addition to the tour, it will bring a feature-length documentary Radim Hladík: Má hra, prepared by Radim Hladík Jr. and Boris Machytka; it will premiere on December 17, 2026, at Prague's Lucerna cinema. The first book-length monograph on Hladík, written by Honza Vedral (Slovart), has also been published, an exhibition at Prague's Popmuseum will commemorate him in December, and the Supraphon label will release his previously unreleased recordings. Musicserver ↗

You can revisit the concert version of the song Má hra, after which the tour and the upcoming documentary are named, as well as the band's first single Slunečný hrob, in the videos.



Photo: Blue Effect archive / Tribute to Radim Hladík (press photograph, Radim Hladík second from right)