Rok Zalokar Zhlehtet (SI)
Zhlehtet is a collective led by a Slovenian pianist, composer & producer Rok Zalokar. It appears in different formats, while keeping the unique blend of acoustic and electronic sound, contemporary music with the folklore. Coming out of spiritual jazz tradition, it's continuously expressing the message of the moment and mutual understanding. This resulted in a critically acclaimed series of albums - a surreal studio collage album Toyomi and live album Celica, both released in 2020, and 2022 release Portals Vol. 1, which was named as one of the best in Slovenia by the critics. The 2023 release Poletje Loops features the selection of live recordings from various stages that inspired the music, ranging from Jazz clubs to Psy-Trance festivals, while the next releases Podhod and Vrt focus on the long form meditative material. Year 2024 was groundbreaking for the collective. They started performing with all the active members and put forward orchestral colours. They presented a series of suites that are about to be released and toured internationally. The common thread of their live shows and albums is the channeling specific energy of the evening, therefore establishing a deeper connection with the audience and making each show unique.
---
Zhlehtet je kolektiv pod umetniškim vodstvom slovenskega pianista, skladatelja in producenta Roka Zalokarja. Deluje v različnih formatih, a vedno ohranja edinstveno zvočno mešanico akustike in elektronike ter sodobne glasbe s pridihi folklore. Izvira iz tradicije spiritualnega jazza in neprenehoma izraža sporočilo trenutka ter medsebojnega razumevanja. Rezultat so kritiško priznani albumi, kot sta surrealistični studijski kolaž Toyomi in koncertni album Celica (oba iz leta 2020), ter izdaja Portals Vol. 1 iz leta 2022, ki je bila s strani kritikov prepoznana kot ena najboljših v Sloveniji. Leta 2023 je izšel album Poletje Loops, ki vsebuje izbor koncertnih posnetkov z najrazličnejših prizorišč — od jazz klubov do psy-trance festivalov. Naslednji izdaji Podhod in Vrt se osredotočata na meditativne dolge forme.
Leto 2024 je bilo za kolektiv prelomno — pričeli so nastopati v polni zasedbi, s čimer so svoji glasbi dodali orkestralne barve. Predstavili so niz novih suit, ki bodo kmalu izdane in predstavljene tudi na mednarodni turneji. Skupna nit koncertov in albumov je usmerjanje specifične energije večera, kar ustvarja globljo povezavo s publiko in naredi vsak nastop edinstven.