Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Karel Velebny: SHQ

380

Karel Velebny: SHQ

By

View read count
Karel Velebny: SHQ
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 is possibly one of the finest European albums that Bernard Stollman and ESP-Disk recorded in 1967.

This is music unlike anything else from those wonderful folks who also provided cinematographers Vilmos Zigmond and Laslo Kovacs, who came out west with footage of Prague Spring. Reel-to-reel. The music is poetic, combining a McLuhan-esque clash of the tactile and other sensory with the visual, hence the allusion to painter-poet Klee. But in this case it is a memorable set of music that tears up the walls between the new thing of the sixties and the bebop of Bird that much of the '60s music sought to deconstruct.

Velebny's music combines melodic invention—a result of controlled virtuosity and rhythmic creation—that came from a purely ingenious sense for time. As a tenor saxophonist, he has virtually no precedent, although there may be, at times, a hint of familiar bebop phrasing. And as a vibraharpist, he incorporates stylish, piercing jabs of mallets on ringing keys. Combined with the wild flights of creative fantasy of Jiri Stivin's alto saxophone and flute, the two develop a new kind of poetics of jazz. This is typified by a lyrical yet strident tone that echoes with luminosity long after the sound of musical notes die down. Much of Europe's response to the onslaught of jazz, during a time when it was struggling to come to terms with communism and that reactionary view of jazz, sounded that way through the '60s and '70s. What sets the music on SHQ however, is its uncommon beauty and humor.

On "The Uhu Sleeps Only During The Day," Velebny and Stivin solo like two wild birds in flight, constantly swirling and swooping around each other as they blow phrases and long lines at each other; one enticing the other to fly higher on the wings of fancy. This masterful performance is carried on through "Joachim Is Our Friend," an obvious reference to legendary German writer and itinerant jazz fan, Joachim Berendt. There is always a fine sense of harmonic adventure cleverly housed within the strict design of the song's architecture. Drummer Josef Vejvoda and bassist Karel Vejvoda shine outrageously here. It is the pianist Ludek Svabensky's turn to dazzle with masterly inventive in "Beetles On The Head" and especially on "Waldi On The Castle Steps." It appears that by 1967, Bernard Stollman of ESP can do no wrong.

Track Listing

The Uhu Sleeps Only During The Day; Joachim Is Our Friend; Beetles On The Head; Waldi On The Castle Steps; Andulko Safarova.

Personnel

Jiri Stivin: alto saxophone, flute, recorder; Karel Velebny: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, vibraharp; Ludek Svabensky: piano; Karel Vejvoda: bass; Josef Vejvoda: drums.

Album information

Title: SHQ | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: ESP Disk

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.