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1968 – 1972
Secondary school of mechanical engineering in Košice; member of the amateur rock band Forty Three; Public Arts School, percussion
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1972
relocation to Bratislava (invited by Dežo Ursiny); member of prominent rock bands Collegium Musicum, Fermáta, Modus, Prúdy etc.
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from 1975
focuses on jazz, playing in ensembles led by Ladislav Gerhardt
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1976 – 1986
member of: Czechoslovak Radio Dance Orchestra in Bratislava; Peter Lipa’s Combo; VV Systém
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late 1970’s
cooperation with Emil Viklický (CZ); Bratislava Jazz Days (1979, 1985); Jazz Ost-West in Nuremberg 1984 etc.
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1980
co-founder of the Czechoslovak Jazz Quartet (Emil Viklický, Lubomír Tamaškovič, František Uhlíř)
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1986
member of Karel Velebný’s All Stars Big Band
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from 1986
permanent member of Gustav Brom BigBand
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1991 – 1992
member of ’s OrchestraThe Quartet
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1993
playing with the bands Madre and Štěpán Markovič’s Jazz Face
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1995
appearances with the Matúš Jakabčic Tentet; Bratislava Jazz Days ‘95, Bratislava Music Festival ‘96 etc.
The drummer Cyril Zeleňák began his musical career in amateur rock bands in Košice, but after moving to Bratislava in 1972 he quickly became a prominent figure on the Slovak jazz and rock scene. He performed with leading groups and orchestras and collaborated with important figures of Slovak and Central European jazz. From the mid-1970s, he focused primarily on jazz, becoming a member of several renowned big bands and small jazz ensembles. With these groups, he appeared at major festivals at home and abroad. His long-term artistic activity also includes collaborations with leading jazz trios and ensembles, through which he has made a significant contribution to the development of Slovak jazz performance tradition.
Cooperation: Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Harry Peppl, Karel Velebný, Jiří Stivín, Svatopluk Košvanec, Peter Cardarelli, Karl Bauer, Bernt Rosengreen, Leo Blackburnetc etc.