Dan Bárta is one of the most talented Czech vocalists, the owner of a very distinctive voice, an artist who incorporates rock, musicals, funk, blues and jazz into his music style. With the release of his 2 solo albums „Illustratosphere“ and „Entropicture“ Bárta embraces the jazz world and starts an intimate new journey. Originally an X-ray lab technician, 36-year old Dan Bárta began singing in Alice, a rock band from Plzen. They released three albums in the first half of the 1990´s and became a sensation of the growing post Velvet Revolution Czechoslovak rock scene. Bárta kept on searching further and several months later he joined the Czech version of Jesus Christ Superstar which has become the most successful musical on stage in the Czech Republic. Bárta played and sang the roles of both Jesus and Judas in numerous performances. Another musical success – the role of Che in Evita followed. Dan Bárta has been also singing in a soul - funky project Sexy Dancers (Czech Grammy Award for the best newcomers in 1998) and in a funky band called J. A. R. that has become a top live act in the Czech Republic. In their twelve years of existence J. A. R. have created not only the wild „funky party music“ sound, gained thousands of devoted fans and released five successful albums, but the distinctive voice of their singer in particular, his contribution and charisma elevated the band to the top of Czech pop. Dan Bárta was awarded 7 Czech Grammy Awards for THE BEST MALE VOCALIST in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Rock, pop, funky and finally....jazz. „I have been interested in music itself,“ says Bárta. „Following one genre is a privilege of a genius or of someone who got stuck. I have been trying to do new things all the time to enrich my vocabulary with new means of expression...“ A man with many interests, a Renaissance character, a traveller who has been travelling arround the world trying to capture the beauty of dragonflies with his camera. In fact, Dan published his photos in the Czech edition of National Geographic and wants to publish a Czech dragonfly atlas! „I had never thought about a solo record before. But suddently I wrote more intimate songs and from there came the idea,“ Dan describes the birth of „Illustratosphere.“ „I think the breaking point was this party a long time ago where I heard several jazz albums, music I had never really listened to before.
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It really got to me and I started studying and researching in jazz. It took me four years to absorb it and then let it resonate and....compose. A process of crystalization. And the mates in the band felt the same.“ It took over a year and half to complete the first album and several outstanding Czech muzicians took part in the recording (Míra Chyška – guitar, Filip Jelínek – keyboards, percussion, Robert Balzar – bass, Jirí Slavícek – drums, Stanislav Mácha – piano). The album was awarded the Czech Music Award in THE BEST ALBUM category and the homonymous band was named THE BEST BAND of 2000. Additionaly the video for the song „Predpokládám“ won THE BEST VIDEO category. It took over three years to complete the second album „Entropicture“. All the songs were composed by the band and Dan again wrote the lyrics. „Entropicture“ is a musically less intimate and complicated work than the previous album. „Yes, we will definitely play it live again, in venues, with a very special intimate atmosphere,“ says Bárta. „Music is beautiful. Sometimes I get lost in music and I am not able to concentrate on anything else. The sound of a piano, cello or of an oboe...it is a very personal intimate experience. Music is intensive, great and important. Hundreds of hours of music....And I put together a mosaic made of all these moments. Music is my life and life is my music“ „Entropicture“ was awarded the Czech Music Award of 2003 in THE BEST RECORDING category. DAN BÁRTA won another Czech Music Award for THE BEST SONG of 2004 which he co-wrote with his mates from J. A. R. for the most popular Czech movie of 2004 – Snowboardáci. Currently he has been working on new material with J.A.R. and getting ready for recording the third album with Illustratosphere. The retrospective double-album RETROPICTURE LIVE was released on the 24. November 2005. More Info: SONY BMG, Czech Republic, Palackého 1, 110 00 Prague 1, Tel. +420 246 086 150, [email protected] Dan Bárta (often mistagged as Dan Barta) is one of the most talented Czech vocalists, the owner of a very distinctive voice, an artist who incorporates rock, musicals, funk, blues and jazz into his music style. He also sings in J.A.R.. With the release of his 2 solo albums „Illustratosphere“ and „Entropicture“ Bárta embraces the jazz world and starts an intimate new journey. Originally an X-ray lab technician, 36-year old Dan Bárta began singing in Alice, a rock band from Plzeň. They released three albums in the first half of the 1990´s and became a sensation of the growing post Velvet Revolution Czechoslovak rock scene. Bárta kept on searching further and several months later he joined the Czech version of Jesus Christ Superstar which has become the most successful musical on stage in the Czech Republic. Bárta played and sang the roles of both Jesus and Judas in numerous performances. Another musical success – the role of Che in Evita followed. Dan Bárta has been also singing in a soul - funky project Sexy Dancers (Czech Grammy Award for the best newcomers in 1998) and in a funky band called J. A. R. that has become a top live act in the Czech Republic. In their twelve years of existence J. A. R. have created not only the wild „funky party music“ sound, gained thousands of devoted fans and released five successful albums, but the distinctive voice of their singer in particular, his contribution and charisma elevated the band to the top of Czech pop. Dan Bárta was awarded 7 Czech Grammy Awards for THE BEST MALE VOCALIST in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Rock, pop, funky and finally....jazz. „I have been interested in music itself,“ says Bárta. „Following one genre is a privilege of a genius or of someone who got stuck. I have been trying to do new things all the time to enrich my vocabulary with new means of expression...“ A man with many interests, a Renaissance character, a traveller who has been travelling arround the world trying to capture the beauty of dragonflies with his camera. In fact, Dan published his photos in the Czech edition of National Geographic and wants to publish a Czech dragonfly atlas! „I had never thought about a solo record before. But suddently I wrote more intimate songs and from there came the idea,“ Dan describes the birth of „Illustratosphere.“ „I think the breaking point was this party a long time ago where I heard several jazz albums, music I had never really listened to before. It really got to me and I started studying and researching in jazz. It took me four years to absorb it and then let it resonate and....compose. A process of crystalization. And the mates in the band felt the same.“ It took over a year and half to complete the first album and several outstanding Czech muzicians took part in the recording (Míra Chyška – guitar, Filip Jelínek – keyboards, percussion, Robert Balzar – bass, Jiří Slavíček – drums, Stanislav Mácha – piano). The album was awarded the Czech Music Award in THE BEST ALBUM category and the homonymous band was named THE BEST BAND of 2000. Additionaly the video for the song „Předpokládám“ won THE BEST VIDEO category. It took over three years to complete the second album „Entropicture“. All the songs were composed by the band and Dan again wrote the lyrics. „Entropicture“ is a musically less intimate and complicated work than the previous album. „Yes, we will definitely play it live again, in venues, with a very special intimate atmosphere,“ says Bárta. „Music is beautiful. Sometimes I get lost in music and I am not able to concentrate on anything else. The sound of a piano, cello or of an oboe...it is a very personal intimate experience. Music is intensive, great and important. Hundreds of hours of music....And I put together a mosaic made of all these moments. Music is my life and life is my music“ „Entropicture“ was awarded the Czech Music Award of 2003 in THE BEST RECORDING category. DAN BÁRTA won another Czech Music Award for THE BEST SONG of 2004 which he co-wrote with his mates from J. A. R. for the most popular Czech movie of 2004 – Snowboarďáci. Currently he has been working on new material with J.A.R. and getting ready for recording the third album with Illustratosphere. The retrospective double-album RETROPICTURE LIVE was released on the 24. November 2005.
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