B|arbora vagnerova

Barbora fell in love with jazz, blues, and swing when she was a little girl. "As far as I remember, every important moment and joy in my life was deeply related to music. I dreamt about the times when musicians and singers were artists and entertainers with drive and class. Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Etta James, BB King, and Julie London or Ray Charles are my eternal idols," says the Prague based vocalist.

She landed her first gig at the age of 16 with traditional jazz band Hot Club (founded by Jiří Melichar) in her hometown - Mladá Boleslav. Barbora earned her experience step-by-step, and soon their concerts were sold-out thanks to the enormous audience support: "We have been together with my boys for 17 years through good and bad times. They are my family. And what's more, because of their influence I started to adore William C. Handy, Joe King Oliver or Louis Armstrong and other masters."

In 2017 drummer and bandleader Miloš Kejř asked Barbora to join him and the incredible musicians Jiří Masáček (cornet), Josef Pospíšil (trombone, vocals), Jan Greifoner (bass) and Zdeněk Kalhous (piano) who formed the band J. J. Jazzmen playing the contemporary New Orleans sound (founded by Jan Jirucha in 1993). The chemistry on and off-stage works exceptionally well, and they perform regularly in the best jazz and blues clubs as Reduta Jazz Club, Jazz Dock - Jazz & Blues Bar & Café, Jazz & Blues Club Ungelt, Jazz & Cocktail Club Old Lady's, M4 Music Club as well as various jazz and dixieland festivals. 

Recently Barbora started to cooperate with excellent musicians performing in a trio with a nostalgic and tender sound in the style of Julie London. Among the fantastic players are Pavel Šlosar (bass), Jiří Růžička (piano), Vít Fiala (bass), Radim Linhart (piano), Luděk Havel (piano), Vladimír Strnad (piano), Petr Krumphanzl (guitar), Václav Kupka (bass) or Jakub Duša (guitar). She is working on her skills and performance style with wonderful vocalists Chuck Wansley and Petra Ernyei.

Apart from the aforementioned, you can hear Barbora singing regularly with King Swing (founded by Milan Benedikt Karpíšek) and with other bands such as Starci po chmelu (founded by Miroslav Čuban) or Lédl Jazz Quintet with phenomenal trumpet player Jiří Hlava (founded by Bohuslav Lédl). Barbora and her sister Alice were also invited by the legendary artists Jitka Molavcová and Jiří Suchý to do a gig together with the excellent pianist and composer Jakub Šafr in Prague's Semafor theatre. 

Barbora's biggest wish is to spend a few weeks studying music in New Orleans where she went together with other musicians Miloš Kejř and Martin Masáček in April 2019. Czech National Radio Jazz broadcasted a report about their journey and performance in NOLA with amazing artists from New Orleans and all around the globe.

Organizing events and small festivals is one of Barbora's passions. In cooperation with Vladimír Handlík, director of the Letecké muzeum Metoděje Vlacha, she founded a festival On the Wings of Jazz that takes place every autumn and spring season. 

After finishing her studies in France, Italy and Austria, Barbora pursued a career as an entrepreneur while running her company B|PLANS be organized since 2013. Her main project is the experiential learning internship program in healthcare specialties for English speaking students - the Czech Hospital Placements Program in the University Hospital in Motol as well as focus on education in the Vlček Family Foundation.