Jazz Articles about Karel Velebny

About Karel Velebny

Album Review

Multi-instrumentalist Karel Velebny was known as the father of modern jazz in the former Czechoslovakia. Besides playing the tenor sax, bass clarinet and vibes, he was also a composer, arranger, teacher, and the leader of Studio 5: one of the leading bands in the 60's. He died in 1989.

For the most part, Velebny finds his inspiration in mainstream jazz and bop. The terrain is well defined by the approach of the band, who play with ...

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Album Review

Karel Velebny: SHQ

by Raul d'Gama Rose
September 19, 2008

If it were possible for painting and poetry to incorporate bebop in a crazy sort of rhythmic gymnastics, or if it were possible somehow to meld revolutionary body politic with dramatic performance then this record would be Paul Klee-meets-Bird--or, for that matter, Frank Zappa-meets-Vaclav Havel. Those expecting to hear a '60s nouvelle vague record would probably be only half right. The surprising highlight of SHQ, from Czech tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist/vibraharpist Karel Velebny, is the exquisite poeticism that pervades throughout what ...