NUO (Nuselský umělecký orchestr, the Nusle Art Orchestra) was formed in 2002 as the ensemble accompanying the keyboardist and composer Jakub Zitko in his graduation project in composition at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory. It grew into a “small big band” with an exclusively original repertoire in which the jazz avant-garde, odd metres, minimalism, samples and electronics meet humour and exaggeration. Most of the pieces are written by Zitko, today a member of the band MUFF and a collaborator of Aneta Langerová. The band has featured Marcel Bárta (saxophones), Pavel Hrubý (clarinets, saxophones), Oskar Török (trumpet), Jan Jirucha (trombone), Jiří Šimek (guitar), Ivan Acher (samples), Jakub Vejnar and Aleš Slavík (bass guitar) and Miloš Dvořáček (drums). The debut Multimusic Minibigband (2004) was nominated for the Anděl award, and the album Dixie and The Gang was released by Amplión Records in 2007.
