Results for "Czechia"

Article: Extended Analysis

Miroslav Vitous Group

by John Kelman
February 25, 2014

With the ongoing demand for historic titles to see first-time CD issue, ECM has raised the ante even further with Re:solutions: seven classic recordings, released on CD (four available for the first time and one previously only available for a limited time in Japan), vinyl and high resolution digital formats. They're all important, but 1981's Miroslav ...

Article: Album Review

Otto Hejnic Trio: One

by Bruce Lindsay
November 23, 2013

The Otto Hejnic Trio is that relatively unusual creature, a drummer-led piano trio. The group hails from the Czech Republic where One, its debut, was recorded in late 2011. It's an impressive first release. The trio--Hejnic, Ondrej Krajňák on piano and Josef Fečo on double bass--proves to be a tight and dynamic unit. The music, all ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

A Pair On Polí5: DoMa Ensemble and Limbo

by Dan Bilawsky
October 25, 2013

Polí5 is a small, Prague-based imprint that takes its name from the bookstore/cultural hub from whence the music comes. The store opened its doors in 2006, but its proprietors were involved in supporting independent artists long before that. Under the name “Manuzio," they “ran the 'Apartment gallery,' held concerts and theatre performances and published low-edition book ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

Libor Smoldas: Intuition and Dreamtime

by Chris Mosey
October 10, 2013

Libor Smoldas is one of the best jazz guitarists the Czech Republic has produced in recent years. He plays extremely fluent, straight ahead music in the Jim Hall tradition, with overtones of Kenny Burrell. He is more relaxed, less intense than his contemporary, David Doruzka, best known of the current crop of Czech jazz guitarists. Smoldas ...

Article: Album Review

Martina Fiserova & Brian Charette: Clearing Fields

Read "Clearing Fields" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
July 12, 2013

This collaboration between vocalist Martina Fiserova and keyboardist Brian Charette is one that was twenty years in the making before finally bearing fruit on Clearing Fields.Recorded in Prague, Czech Republic--where Fiserova makes her home and New Yorker Charette has established himself as a jazz educator and bandleader---this is one of those records that was ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

Checking In On The Czech Republic: A Pair Of Offerings From Amplion Records

by Dan Bilawsky
January 18, 2013

Jazz history, development, and direction have always been documented through the force of recording. In the past, that meant that the few and mighty major labels and handful of independent start-ups essentially dictated what would and wouldn't be disseminated to listeners around the world. Now, with the collapse--or (re)evolution--in the music industry, things have changed. Recording ...

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Article: Album Review

Miroslav Vitous Group /w Michel Portal: Remembering Weather Report

Read "Remembering Weather Report" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
July 1, 2009

On the surface, Remembering Weather Report possesses little in common with the fusion supergroup that Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous co-founded in the early '70s with keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, before being summarily removed on the cusp of greater commercial success. Weather Report was a decidedly electric group; Vitous' is unapologetically acoustic, and doesn't ...

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Article: Interview

Emil Viklicky: Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano

by Victor Verney
October 31, 2006

When most American jazz buffs think of the Czech Republic, they probably think of bassists George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous or keyboardist Jan Hammer. However, Europeans knowledgeable about the same topic probably think of Emil Vicklický, the acknowledged “Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano." Known for combining the melodism and tonalities of Moravian folk music with modern ...