winterspring
““… a gorgeous collection of imaginatively crafted songs, performed and sung with enormous heart” ”
featuring: David Dorůžka (guitar) // Luboš Soukup (sax & clarinet)
Daniel Bulatkin (piano/keyboards) // Max Makagonov (double bass) // Petr Nohavica (drums)
The culmination of four years of writing and vulnerable self-examination, Winterspring weaves a narrative of hope inspired by famous storytelling and personal anecdotes. The title is a term that was created accidentally during a free write session in vocalist Allison Wheeler’s college bedroom, and she has since then been unpacking its parallels in her life. Winterspring tells a classic tale of opposing forces working together towards growth — What was intended solely as an outlet for personal expression evolved into an exploration and understanding of the human condition.
Jazz-like in structure, the album weaves tales of love, light and loneliness into a unique blend of styles driven by sweeping vocals and colorful accompaniment. The album is a glimpse into Wheeler’s inner world, brought beautifully to life with the help of her band. In order to both find peace in the midst of inner struggle and to guide others to do the same, Winterspring is a message of hope and growth in the midst of darkness.
— about the album, Winterspring (Ubuntu Music 2022)
A SONGWRITER AND INNOVATIVE VOCALIST FROM CALIFORNIA,
Allison Wheeler is an award-winning artist making her mark on the European scene. She is “a composer of great sonic imagination” (Peter Quinn, Jazzwise magazine, UK), and a versatile voice with a love for creative challenge. After being named Undergraduate Vocal Soloist of the Year by DownBeat magazine in 2018, Wheeler relocated to the Czech Republic, where she has broken free from ‘straight-ahead’ roots and is forging her own path. Critics have compared her to artists such as Becca Stevens (JazzTimes) and Gretchen Parlato (Jazzwise), yet Wheeler creates a world uniquely her own. Her music crosses genre lines with ease, drawing on her background in jazz and folk traditions and her love of visual art to construct a realm of improvisation, nostalgia, and impressionistic detail.
Originally from the California coast, Wheeler sang at the Monterey Jazz Festival as a high school student and went on to study jazz voice at the University of Northern Colorado with Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh. As a member of the award-winning ensemble Vocal Lab, she shared the stage with artists like the New York Voices, Vertical Voices, and Aubrey Logan, received three DownBeat awards in the graduate category between 2016–2018, and performed at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences in 2016 and 2018.
Since moving to Europe, she has become a sought-after collaborator, performer, and educator. Her debut album winterspring, released in 2022 on the UK label Ubuntu Music, received international acclaim and a 4-star review from Jazzwise. The record features Czech jazz luminaries David Dorůžka (guitar) and Luboš Soukup (soprano sax & clarinet), alongside her longtime band: Daniel Bulatkin (piano/keyboards), Max Makagonov (double bass), and Petr Nohavica (drums). Together, they have appeared at festivals such as JazzFest Passau (Germany), Jazzy Fest (Slovakia), South Bohemia Jazz Fest, Jazz ve Městě, Jazzinec (Czech Republic), and more. In 2021, she sang with Lizz Wright. as part of the Prague Sounds festival.
Wheeler performs regularly with several projects, including her newly formed indie-rock band Tour Guide Blonde and Petr Nohavica - Glance, the jazz project led by her husband and drummer Petr Nohavica—winner of the 2025 Central European Jazz Showcase and whose debut album was shortlisted for the Czech Anděl Awards in 2023. In addition to performing and composing, Wheeler currently serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno and teaches at workshops and summer programs around the Czech Republic.