After over a decade of travel, New Zealand artist Jono Heyes built a Beehive Temple in an old mill on the Czech-German borderlands. Inside it he gathered his collection of handmade instruments and a team of international collaborators to film and record an album entirely live.
"The story sounds totally mad, but it comes together in a brilliance we don't often find."
— Sarah Ward, Jazz FM
Inspired by life-changing stories and encounters from the road, Beehive is a journey through the many faces of humanity towards the Nectar of the Gods. A musical pilgrimage from the steppes of Mongolia to the shores of Cuba and everywhere in between.
Beehive Live Trailer
The Bees
The international ensemble features long-term collaborators Petr Tichý, acclaimed double-bassist, winner of Czech National Radio Best Jazz Album 2025, master percussionist Pavel Nowak, New Zealand piano and trumpet virtuoso Trevor Coleman, a three-time Emmy nominee, alongside a cast of international musicians. Meet them and the other Bees here in the mini-documentary, Made in a Beehive.
"It certainly happened either in ours or in a parallel universe."
-- Petr Doruzka, Czech National Radio/Uni Magazine
Recorded entirely live by Grammy Award-winning producer Jerry Boys, and filmed by Paxart Studios, Beehive captures the rare alchemy of musicians playing in the moment.
"At times they also make you think of some Africa lost in a dream and push you as if in a trance to stand up, turn to the speakers, hug them and say 'I love you."
-- Stefano I. Bianchi - Blowup Magazine Italy
The Stories Behind The Songs
