Rok Zalokar

Not far from Bistrica ob Sotli, at the top of the hill known as Svete Gore (Holy Mountains), stand five sacred shrines whose history reaches back a thousand years and more. The largest of them, the 17th-century Church of St. Mary, houses one of the oldest pipe organs in Slovenia.

The organ’s distinctive character invites inventiveness in sound, a variety of approaches and deep harmonies that linger in the night-time serenity of the church.

Rok Zalokar – pianist, keyboardist, improviser and composer – is one of the leading representatives of the younger generation of the Slovenian jazz scene. His artistic journey and vision encompass many shapes and forms of musical expression: profound solo and group explorations, and connections between the electronic and the acoustic.

His ability to seamlessly fuse various genres and influences enables him to keep evolving his own musical thoughts and ideas, guiding himself – and the listener – ever deeper into the uncharted and unexplored territories of musical art.

Spaces is a collection of in-situ sound and music recordings guided by a simple premise – one performer, one instrument, one space – capturing the synergy between the musician, the space and the music that emerges in acoustically compelling places. Each session unfolds live over a day or two, with no audience and no studio overdubs. By relying on location field recorders and a minimal microphone setup, we bring studio-grade capture into remote, off-grid locations – leaving the sound honest, unprocessed and defined by the space itself.