All posts by jan

Theatre, Upcoming Events

Donald L. Coburn – Gin Game

Zuzana Kronerová & Dušan Sitek

The Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre,

June 1, 2024 at 7:30 pm, 950 W 41st Ave. Vancouver BC

Donald L. Coburn (narozen 4. srpna 1938) je americký dramatik. Za hru The Gin Game získal v roce 1978 Pulitzerovu cenu za drama.

Coburn se narodil v Baltimore, Maryland rodičům, kteří se rozvedli o dva roky později. Vystudoval střední školu v roce 1957, poté sloužil v americkém námořnictvu v letech 1958 až 1960. Byl dvakrát ženatý, nejprve s Nazle Joyce Frenchovou, se kterou se oženil v roce 1964 a rozvedl se v roce 1971, poté s Marshou Woodruff Maherovou v roce 1975. měl vlastní reklamní společnost v letech 1965 až 1968. Poté pracoval pro Stanford Advertising Agency v Dallasu v Texasu v letech 1968 až 1971. V letech 1973 až 1976 pracoval jako marketingový konzultant.

Obsah hry
Weller Martin a Fonsia Dorsey, dva starší obyvatelé pečovatelského domu pro seniory, narazí na známého. Zdá se, že ani jeden nemá žádné další přátele a začnou si užívat vzájemné společnosti. Weller nabídne Fonsii, že naučí hrát karty, a začnou hrát sérii her, které Fonsia vždy vyhraje. Wellerova neschopnost vyhrát je pro něj čím dál frustrující, zatímco Fonsii si stále více věří.

Při hraní se zapojují do dlouhých rozhovorů o svých rodinách a životě ve vnějším světě. Postupně se z každého rozhovoru stává bitva, podobně jako v probíhajících karetnich hrách, kdy se každý hráč snaží odhalit slabiny toho druhého, zlehčovat život toho druhého a důkladně toho druhého ponížit.

Zuzana Kronerová (7. 4. 1952, Martin) se narodila do herecké rodiny Jozefa Kronera a Terézie Hurbanové-Kronerové, a na oba slavné rodiče ráda vzpomíná. Původně chtěla studovat filologii, na herectví se hlásila jen tak z 11 hecu”. A vyšlo to. Absolvovala na bratislavské VŠMU, a po letech se tam vrátila jako oblíbená pedagožka.

Zuzana Kronerová

Nejprve nastoupila do Divadla pro děti a mládež v Trnavě (1974). O čtyři roky později už ji zlákala bratislavská Nová scéna, kde zůstala osm let. Tři roky pak byla členkou hereckého souboru ve Slovenském národním divadle. V Divadle ASTORKA Korzo’90 byla v angažmá od jeho založení až do roku 2018 (např. Rómeo a Júlia, Tichý dom nebo Pred odchodem na odpočinek). Kromě Studia L+S /Lasica, Satinský/ spolupracovala také s Radošinským naivním divadlem. Hostuje i na českých divadelních scénách, v Národním divadle (Markéta Lazarová), v Café teatr Černá labuť, nejnověji ve Vršovickém divadle MANA (Gin Game).

Uplatňuje se v televizních inscenacích, seriálech, v rozhlase i dabingu. V posledních letech si ji oblíbil film, a to především ten český. Ona sama si cení pohádky Vyměněná princezna nebo TV komedie Mišo, kde si zahrála se svým otcem. Ráda vzpomíná také na spolupráci s jejími idoly Milanem Lasicou a Júliem Satinským, které s otcem nazývali filozofičtí klauni.” Do širšího povědomí vstoupila mj. snímky Divoké včely, Štěstí, Václav, Venkovský učitel, Domácí péče, Masaryk či Bába z ledu.

Na kontě má dva České lvy za rok 2017 a 2001 (Bába z ledu, Divoké včely) plus další čtyři nominace, je držitelkou Ceny filmové filmové kritiky (2018) a dvakrát si odnesla cenu Sinko v sieti, udělované Slovenskou filmovou a televizní akademií. Slovenský prezident Andrej Kiska jí v lednu 2018 udělil Rád Ludovíta Štúra.  Kromě herectví se věnuje i zpěvu, především šansonu, a miluje jazz. Je vdaná, má syna a dceru, a manžela Milana, s nímž střídavě žije v Praze a Bratislavě.

Herec Dušan Sitek přišel na svět v Novém Bohumíně (23. 2. 1955). Vyučil se kuchařem a absolvoval Hotelovou školu v Mariánských Lázních, ale toužil po divadle. A sen si splnil. V roce 1981 absolvoval DAMU v Praze, v ročníku s Bohumilem Kleplem, Danou Batulkovou, Dagmar Čárovou aj. Působil v ostravském Divadle Petra Bezruče, ve Slezském divadle v Opavě a 25 let byl členem umělecké-ho souboru v Městském divadle ve Zlíně. Poté se přesunul do Prahy, v letech 2010-2015 hrál v Divadle pod Palmovkou, ale také v Městském divadle v Kladně, Národním divadle aj. V současné době je „na volné noze” a kromě pražské libeňské scény (Králova řeč) je k vidění také ve Švandově divadle na Smíchově (Kdo je tady ředitel?) a v Divadle Paloce (Hraběnka aneb Zámek v Čechách, Stará dobrá kapela) a v Divadle Na Maninách (Zatmění). 

Dušan Sitek

Příležitosti dostal také ve filmu, naposledy ve snímku Metanol, dále třeba Ostravak Ostravski nebo Taxi 121. Televizní diváci ho znají mj. ze seriálů Policie Modrava, Vyprávěj, Ulice, Mamon, nejnověji Vesničan.



Buy tickets


Jazz, Uncategorized, Upcoming Events

Petra Ernyei & Adam Tvrdy

featuring Jodi Proznick, one of Canada’s finest jazz artists.

“When I close my eyes, I see a little girl running around the tables in the Jewish Centre in Prague, avidly helping the curly-haired waitress to serve lunches. Old ladies and gentlemen seated around smile at her and give her a caress occasionally. Above the entrance to the dining hall there is a portrait of Barbra Streisand, who, in 1983, shot the movie Yentl in Prague; the little girl was one of the children extra on the set. At home, the kitchen smells of mom’s delicious pancakes and there is the little girl`s father sitting with a banjo on his knees, surrounded by other musicians. The child sings and dances around them, as if already sensing that singing will be her life calling...”

The Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre,

June 18, 2023 at 7:30 pm, 950 W 41st Ave. Vancouver BC

Petra Ernyei
Adam Tvrdy
Jodi Proznick

Petra Ernyei was born in Prague, her mother is Czech, her father was born in England to Hungarian-Slovak parents. She grew up in a musical environment—her father Andrej was a well-known musician and banjoist playing traditional jazz. The beginning of her professional career as a jazz singer started when Petra performed for the first time with her father’s band at the age of 18 at the Sacramento Jazz Festival in California. She sang with big bands (Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra, Prague Swing Orchestra) and in 2008 she established her own “Petra Ernyei Quartet.” Since this time, Petra has been performing on Czech, Germany, England, Austria, Norway, Hungary, Portugal, Bulgaria, Russia and Greece stages. Petra was inspired by the jazz vocalists of the 50s and 60s, a period in which America lived jazz to the fullest. In fact, it was a CD of Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderly that inspired the launch of the JAZZ SIX project. She is also dedicated to the music of Jewish authors. In 2021 she released a CD “This is me” together with guitarist Adam Tvrdy and double bassist Petr Dvorský. The album features Sephardic, Hebrew and jazz songs, processed in original arrangements. In 2020-2022, she gave concerts with the program “Tribute to Jewish authors” in synagogues all over the Czech Republic as part of the “Ten Stars project” which is devoted to the restoration of destroyed synagogues in the Czech Republic.

Adam Tvrdy is a guitarist and composer with a multi-genre and intense expression. In his interpretations and improvisations he focuses on his original musical ideas while respecting traditions and a vocabulary of the musical style being played. Adam studied jazz and classical guitar at the prestigious Prague Jazz School. Adam Tvrdy has a list of experiences and collaborations with some of the top artists from his domestic scene as well as world scene. As a guest member he participated in shows and recordings with the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra conducted by maestro Ennio Morricone in Prague and at Abbey Road Studios in London, recording the original soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Thanks to more occasional work with the Orchestra (CNSO) Adam played in project like The Beatles Night and the Hollywood Night conducted by Carl David. Another of Adam’s experience with film music was meeting and working with composer and trumpet player Terence Blanchard on his soundtrack for Red Tails.

Jodi Proznick is a Canadian jazz bassist, composer, educator and producer. In 2019, she was named Jazz Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and has been nominated for two Juno Awards. She was also a recipient of the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Arts and Music Awards in 2022.

Jodi Proznick has earned a reputation as one of Canada’s finest jazz artists. She has won numerous National Jazz Awards, including Bassist of the Year in ’08 and ’09. Her group, the Jodi Proznick Quartet, was awarded the Acoustic Group of the Year and Album of the Year in ‘08 and the Galaxie Rising Star at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in ‘04.

In addition to leading her own group, Jodi has performed with many of Canada’s top jazz musicians, including PJ Perry, Don Thompson, Kirk MacDonald, Guido Basso, Oliver Gannon, Dee Daniels, Phil Dwyer, and Laila Biali. She is regularly in demand to perform and record with visiting jazz artists including Michael Bublé, Byron Stripling, Michael Feinstein, David “Fathead” Newman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ed Thigpen, Jeff Hamilton, Peter Bernstein, Charles McPherson, Seamus Blake, George Coleman, Sheila Jordan, Mark Murphy, Harold Mabern, Eric Alexander, Jim Rotundi, Eddie Daniels, Jeff Hamilton and Lewis Nash.

Petra Ernyei
Adam Tvrdy
Petra Ernyei & Adam Tvrdy
Jodi Proznick & Tilden Webb
Jazz, Past Events, Uncategorized

Petr Kroutil & Ondra Kabrna

“bringing people together again”

Friday, May 27, 2022 at 8pm, The Revue Stage, Granville Island

Petr Kroutil. One of the most distinctive and most charismatic musicians in Europe. Petr studied saxophone and clarinet at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague. In addition, he studied Jazz Composition and Performance at the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston. He studied bamboo flute at Kathmandu University in Nepal. Petr Kroutil’s biggest and most successful project so far is the big band Original Vintage Orchestra, where he currently acts as a bandleader, soloist (sax., Clar., Indian flute), singer and arranger.

In the US he accompanied the The Platters with Herb Reid, Marty Allen, Kenny James, Victor Mendoza’s Afro-Latin American Big Band, Joe Mareiny – a member of the Louis Armstrong All Stars Band. Kroutil also performed alongside with phenomenal drummer Dave Weckl, Chris Minh Doky and Dean Brown from Brecker Brothers. He holds the B.E.S.T. Award Of Berklee College Of Music.

He was the only Czech musician to play at the opening festival of the Olympics in London in 2012. For this purpose he made a music arrangement of the song Škoda lásky (Beer Barrel Polka) in swing style. The Trafalgar Square was attended by 25,000 people and the concert was broadcasted by the BBC.

Petr Kroutil and Chuck Wansley expanded to the US with a musical project in 2019 where, along with the Hollywood Dancers, they attracted more than 1,000 visitors to the famous Millennium Baltimore Hotel in Los Angeles (until 1943 the Academy Awards were taking place there).

Ondřej Kabrna. After finishing high school in1994 he joined the piano department of the Conservatory of Jaroslav Ježek. He graduated from the piano program in the year 2000. Since 1999, he has begun teaching at the Conservatory. In 2016 he further graduated from the piano program at the Academy of Music in Prague, where he studied with Karel Ruzicka and Jiri Slavik. His master thesis was Transformations of Jazz, which was influenced by the music of the Jewish author Erwin Schulhoff.

Sponsored by:   

Past Events

Lubos Andrst group

” legend of Czech blues and jazz rock”

Friday, September 20, 2019 at 8pm, The Revue Stage, Granville Island

Featuring:
  • Lubos Andrst – guitar
  • Vit Pospisil – keyboards
  • Filip Benesovsky – bass guitar
  • Michal Hejna – drums
  • Bill Runge – saxophone

  
LUBOŠ ANDRŠT (26 July 1948 – 20 December 2021) is rightly considered to be one of the most respected blues and jazz musicians in the Czech Republic.  He is especially known for his proficiency and dexterity with the guitar.  For years, he has regularly performed his musical undertakings, where many of his band members alternated and were swapped out.  Andrst’s collaboration with other soloists, especially with the singer Michal Prokop, is significant. The repertoire of  Luboš Andršt’s current band, Lubos Andrst Group, is based on Andrst’s own harmoniously elaborate compositions, which reflect the influences of jazz, Latin music and blues.  These connections are evident in the two albums: “Acoustic set” and “Moment In Time”. Andrst’s unmistakably clever guitar play is complemented by two new members to the band: the experienced and highly sought-after musicians Filip Benešovský and Vít Pospíšil. On the other hand, drummer Michal Hejna, who has been playing with the group for 20 years, plays exclusively in instrumental bands like Rhythm Desperados, Jiří Stivín and others. Currently, his main responsibility, however, is the operation of the jazz club AghaRTA, where the LA Group performs regularly.  Michal Hejna has also been instrumental in organizing the AghaRTA Prague Jazz Festival.

BILL RUNGE has been a successful performer, composer, arranger, and orchestrator for over 30 years. A multi-instrumentalist, he has performed and recorded on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, electric and string bass, piano and other keyboards, guitar, pennywhistle, and accordion. Bill has performed live shows at Jazz, Folk and Blues Festivals in Canada, Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. with such artists as The Funk Bros., Colin James, and Natalie Cole, Michael Buble, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Bo Didley, Sheena Easton, Roger Daltry, John Hammond Jr., Ben E. King, Bob Hope, Robert Cray, Marilyn Crispell, Don Thompson, Kenny Wheeler, Jimmy Witherspoon, Dave Holland, Slide Hampton, Jeff Healey, Michael Burgess, Strippers Union and dozens more.

Binky’s Beam
Downtown Street

Concert Review:

Thank you very much for the invitation to the Lubos  Andrst sensational jazz group you brought to the Granville Island stage.  We could have listened to them all night to the next morning.  They were fantastic to listen to as they were innovative and ,as you know , I play drums in a band and we would call these players  “very tight”. They read each other well and the audience.  The local saxophone player they brought on stage fit in extremely well with I know would have been with very little “practice time”.  Signs of true musicians!!
I understand that the concert was in celebration of the 30 year reunion of Czechoslovakia Velvet Revolution.  You pick a great choice to celebrate that!!  We hope there will be a 3000 year reunion!  Bring them back for the 31st reunion !!!
All the best and thanks again. Great evening……   Will and Helen

Past Events

Emil Viklicky trio

“ the unique fusion of folk and jazz”

featuring Paul Rushka and Jesse Cahill

Emil Viklicky :  As a pianist, Emil often performs in international ensembles alongside musicians from the U.S. and other European countries. Back in 1983-89 Emil worked with the Lou Blackburn International Quartet, the Benny Bailey Quintet, and American multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. He has made frequent appearances in Finland (with the Finnczech Quartet and in particular with Jarmo Sermila) and Norway (with the Czech-Norwegian Big Band and Harald Gundhus) and has performed in the USA, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands (at the North Sea Festival) and elsewhere. The editor of Rolling Stone Jan Wenner wrote of Emil that “It was a delightful surprise to see such first-class, top-of-the-line jazz in Prague.”

Emil has become noted for his unique synthesis of the melodicism and tonalities of Moravian folk song with modern jazz. As English critic Euan Dixon wrote in 2005 “Emil Viklicky is one of those European jazz pianists who successfully incorporated elements of his indigenous folk culture into jazz”.

As composer, Viklicky has attracted attention abroad primarily for having created a synthesis of the expressive elements of modern jazz with the melodicism and tonalities of Moravian folk song that is distinctly individual in contemporary jazz. Besides this, however, he also composes ‘straight-ahead’ modern jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works that utilize certain elements of the New Music, and at times his music requires a combination of classical and jazz performers.

Viklicky’s work has gained him quite a number of prestigious awards. These include second prize in the 1985 Monaco jazz composition competition (for “Cacharel”), the 1991 Film and Television Association prize for music for animated films, second prize at the 1994 Marimolin contemporary music competition in Boston (for “Tristana”), a 1996 Prague award for electroacoustic music (for “Paradise Park”), a 1996 Czech Music Fund prize for use of folk music in art music, and first prize in a 2000 international OPERA composition competition in Prague (for the opera Phaedra). In 2009 Emil recorded CD “Sinfonietta – Janáček of Jazz”, for VENUS Records, Japan,with George Mraz – bass, Lewis Nash – drums. Another cd for VENUS followed in 2011: “Kafka on the Shore”. This cd got Nissan prize for “The best sound CD in Japan”.  In 2011 Emil received “Medal of Merrit” from Czech president Vaclav Klaus for lifelong music achievements.

Paul Rushka:  Award-winning bassist Paul Rushka has engaged audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia with his sonorous tone, assured confident pulse, and eloquent soloing since 1997. Active as a performer, composer, arranger, and educator, Paul is a first-call bassist in Vancouver. He has appeared on stage with numerous jazz luminaries, including John Taylor, Joe LaBarbera, Julian Priester, Jimmy Greene, Peter Bernstein, Will Vinson, Mike LeDonne, Danny Grissett, Jeremy Pelt, Brad Turner, Ross Taggart, Lorne Lofsky, Kirk MacDonald, Kevin Dean, André White, Joe Sullivan, Josh Rager, and many more. In 2003, Paul won a Western Canadian Music Award for Best Jazz Album for his work on the Mike Allen Trio’s Dialectic. He is currently on the faculty at the VSO (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra) School of Music.

Jesse Cahill:  Jesse has become one of the busiest drummers on the Canadian music scene. He has worked with jazz legends like David “Fathead” Newman, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Red Holloway, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Charles MacPherson and Bobby Shew. He has also performed, toured, and recorded with many internationally recognized artists such as Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Vincent Herring, Jim Snidero, Terrell Stafford, Mike Ledonne, Pat Bianchi, Joe Magerelli, Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, Ryan Kysor and George Colligan.

Friday, May 25, 2018 at 8pm, The Revue Stage, Granville Island

 

Vancouver review by Bill Hood, Highlife Records

It seems that some piano players and composers have a direct line to the traditional folk music in the part of the world that they come from. In addition to Jelly Roll Morton, Ellington, and Mingus you might think of the names Dvorak and Janacek, to say nothing of Bartok and Kodaly. Messing with, while still embracing, traditional music has a long history. Sometimes we call it modern classical music and some times we call it jazz.

As we made our way into the intimate confines of the Revue Stage on Granville Island, on Friday, May 25, 2018, word spread, amongst the assembled crowd, that that sound check had been electric, and that we were in for something special.

When the night was over piano master Emil Viklicky along with his colleagues for this performance – Paul Rushka and Jesse Cahill – had fulfilled all of our expectations, and then some. From the first note – through two sets and an encore – this trio demonstrated the universal power that springs from an ability to respect and embrace traditions, while confidently improvising. The performance on this night slipped smoothly from the St Louis Blues, to Janacek, and then through original compositions based on Moravian folk tunes that spoke of things like Wine, Oh Wine, and a Falling Aspen Leaf.

In short, the evening revealed the past and the future, simultaneously held confidently in the vital palm of a pianist, and his trios’s, hands. These musicians listened, and risked, and played as though they had been together for 20 years, not just 6 hours – breathing in history and inspiration, and breathing out magic. All concerts can only hope to be both this ancient and this fresh. A night for the ages.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bill Hood /Vancouver, May 27th, 2018/

 

Past Events

Emil Viklicky and Jiri Labus

viklick:labus

Friday, May 26, 2017 at 8pm 
Shadbolt Centre for the Art, Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby BC
general admission $35.00 (service charges included)

Do not miss this unique work of Raymond Carver, a short story master and one of the greatest writers of American literature in the 80s of the last century! Performed by Jiri Labus with piano accompaniment by Emil Viklicky, you will find a great combination of excellent acting and virtuoso jazz improvisation!

Background of the author:

Raymond Carver (1938–1988) worked at a sawmill while editing a literary magazine. He wrote stories included in anthologies of best American stories of the year while selling cinema playbills in Hollywood. He won prestigious literary prizes but was dismissed from his job. An expert on and admirer of Chekhov, Flaubert and many other European artists, Carver was four times hospitalized because of his acute alcoholism. A master of short prose, he considered himself first and foremost a poet. He remains the most important American writer of the 1980s.

Performers: Emil Viklicky and Jirí Lábus

 

Past Events

Martin Kratochvil and Jazz Q Praha (Prague)

Martin Kratochvil and Jazz Q Praha (Prague)at Revue Stage on Granville Island,
1601 Johnston Street, V6H 3R9, Vancouver, BC.

Martin Kratochvil became well known to audiences throughout Eastern Europe in the 1970’s, when he brought jazz-rock and live electronic performance to this part of the world with his legendary group Jazz Q Praha, which between 1970 and 1984 recorded dozen albums and won prizes at several international festivals, including San Sebastian and Zurich. Before this time, Kratochvil had managed to earn a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Prague’s Charles University, travel in England for a year, and pursue his interest in jazz, competitive skiing and mountain climbing. In 1976 he became the first Czech musician to be invited (and allowed) to spend a year at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Gary Burton and Mike Gibbs. Upon his return from the U.S. in 1977, Kratochvil continued working with Jazz Q , and also founded Studio Budikov, the first privately-owned recording studio in Communist Czechoslovakia. This entrepreneurial spirit ripened in the forming of the Bonton Music Cooperative (still under the Communist regime), which then, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, went on to become the largest entertainment conglomerate in the former East Bloc. As CEO of Bonton Music Company, Martin is known outside the Czech Republic as the model of the new Czech entrepreneur. He continues with his passion for climbing, travelling twice a year to the Himalayas on ever more remote treks, and has in the past few years added to his range of careers by making several best-selling films about the Himalayas, and most recently has filmed the ground-breaking serial “Prolinani svetu” aired throughout this year on Czech TV. He is most at home behind the piano keyboard, where he has developed a style that can remind you of Keith Jarrett, Thelonius Monk or John Cage, depending on the piece of the moment; he combines a hard percussive attack and rhythmic drive with gentle and lush harmonies, and when the musical tension mounts he is not afraid to strike or pluck the piano strings with any object at hand.

poster_small01

 

Vancouver show photos

 

 

Past Events

Lenka Lichtenberg

Norman Rothstein Theatre, Winter 2014.

Lenka Lichtenberg creates uniquely Canadian world music, channeling the rich Toronto soundscapes of Middle East, India and Brazil, and her own East European heritage. Once a child star in her native Prague, Czech Republic, she is an award-winning recording artist, published composer, sought-after session vocalist (Yiddish, English, Czech, French, Russian, Hebrew), and bandleader with 6 solo CD releases and several collaborations on her resume. Lenka is in the midst of a diverse international concert career, traveling across continents as a solo artist, with a trio, her group “Fray”, or with one of her collaborative projects. Most recently, she has commenced collaboration with Eccodek’s Andrew McPherson; the resulting remix of one of her songs, “Open My Eyes”, was picked as “Song of the Week” on CBC’s Here and Now in 2014. Summer touring found Lenka in concerts with Yair Dalal and Alan Bern in Czech Republic, presenting a series of Lullabies from exile concerts in Canada,  and touring in the U.S. with her band Fray in November, 2015. Lenka’s plans for 2016 include publishing  a collection of her original Yiddish songs, releasing an EP of Eccodek remixes, filming two new music videos, and recording the bulk of an upcoming CD of Czech and Moravian songs, titled “Masaryk.” As well, the British world music label ARC is set to release Lenka’s “Yiddish Journey” in February, 2016.

Interview:

Ako mladé dievča ste boli hviezdou v divadle Semafor. Prečo práve Semafor a ako si na toto obdobie spomínate?

Maminka slyšela v rádiu pana Suchého, jak si stěžoval, že mu Zuzanka Vrbová, jeho první dětská partnerka, vyrostla a že hledá novou. Maminka mu napsala, a jednoho dne se Jiří Suchývozval na telefonu – ať přijdu na konkurs. Ten jsem vyhrála, pak nasledovala doba učení se písní, náš první hit “Na louce zpívaj drozdi”, a pak hra Benefice. Z té pocházely písne jako “Na obloze tetelej se mráčky”. Bylo to celé jako sen. Chodila jsem do skoly jakp “normálni” dítě ale svět se mi úplně změnil. Po večerech jsem seděla v šatně v Semaforu, mezi dospělými, a učila se zemepis…Byla jsem v Semaforu, kromě přestávky dvou let, až do 18 let. Bylo to jediněčné dětství a mládí, jsem za nej vděčná, I když tam byly také některé negativní a i bolestné stránky věcí. Jsem si vědomá, že mně to předurčilo dráhu na zbytek života.

Po odchode z Československa v 70. rokoch ste žili v Dánsku, neskôr v Kanade, kde žijete doteraz. Čím vám učarovala práve Kanada?

Romantikou mládí. Jako dítě jsem byla posedlá “Indiány”, jak jsem je “znala” z knih Karla Maye, a pak z filmu o Vinetou. Neuveřitelná příroda, hory, moře, nekonečné dálky. V porovnání s roztomilým, placatým, malinkatým Dánskem to byl ráj na zemi. Ale možná to hlavní bylo, že jsem si ihned uvědomila, že tady má přinjemenším každý druhý přízvuk – což v Dánsku byl problém, zatímco tady v Kanadě o tom nikdo nepřemýšlí.

Vaše detstvo v židovskej rodine sa príliš nelíšilo od detstva iných detí v Prahe. Zlom nastal po vašej prvej návšteve Izraela. Ako to zmenilo váš život?

Rozhodla jsem se, že budu vést život “po židovsku” – ne z ortodoxní náboženské stránky, ale hlavně z profesionální. Že se začnu zabývat židovskou hudbou, protože všechno ostatní najednou pozbylo smyslu.

Spievate v šiestich jazykoch. Vlastne vytvárate akýsi most medzi kultúrami od Európy po orient. Čo pre vás spev znamená?

Moje duše se vyjadruje zpěvem. Zpěv je můj osobní jazyk. Jde z mnohem větší hloubky než slova.

Pár rokov dozadu ste dokončli zaujímavý projekt Písně pro dýchajíci stěny /Songs for the Breathing Walls/. Čo vás k nemu inšpirovalo?

Jezdím často do České republiky, a stále častěji tam koncertuji. Při koncertech v synagogách jsem si všimla jak každá synagoga má svůj silný osobní character. Byla jsem přesvědčena, že se jedná o vice, než pouhou akustiku. Zpívala jsem liturgické písně a žalmy pro stěny, které nebyly prázdné, něco se mi vracelo. Rozhodla jsem se nahrát tento cyklus s tím, že každá píseň bude natočena v jiné synagoze, a zároveň s hudbou, bude zachyceno I to “něco” co tam existuje, tzv. “genius loci”. Myslím, že je to v nahrávkách slyšet… Byla to snaha o uctění památky těch, kteří ty budovy kdysi plnili svými životy, a kteří zcela zmizeli- a jsou zachyceni právě pouze v těch “dýchajících” stěnách (většina těchto synagog se nachází v místech, kde už židovská komunita neexistuje).

Spievate, skladáte, veľa cestujete a nedá sa nespomenúť, že ste držiteľkou niekoľkých prestížnych cien. Ste tiež manželkou a matkou. Ako sa vám darí skĺbiť toto všetko dokopy? Kde na to beriete energiu?

Už je to o hodně jednodušší. Děti jsou studenti a nebydlí doma. Energie zatím mám dost, doufám že mi jěště chvilku vydrží.

Vy ste sa narodili v Prahe, váš manžel je sefardský Žid. Aké zvyky dominujú u vás doma?

Manžel je z rodiny pocházející z Iráku. Tradiční irácko-židovská kultura je v mnoha směrech součástí našeho života, ale nená to moc ve viditelných oblastech kromě určitého způsobu slavení svátkú. Také jídlo samozřejmně… co manžel má rád z dětství a teď už to mám ráda i já a naše děti. Ale to hlavní je spíše v určitém druhu chování, temperamentu. Tradiční, solidní, spolehlivé, hlasité, a výbušné jako sopka!

Čo plánujete v najbližšej budúcnosti?

Teď vyšlo nové CD, spolupráce s proslulým izraelským virtuozem Yairem Dalalem, Lullabies from Exile. Je to rozmilé CD, a zní na něm i čeština a slovenština! Tak v přísštích měsících budou nějaké turné… také pracuji na novém podání své hudby, tzv. DEM (dance electronica music), vyvíjí se to zajímavě. Ale na co se snad nejvíce těším, je plánované CD českých /slovenských lidových písní. To bych ráda natočila v létě 2015, mezi turné po dalších českých a moravských synagogách. Nápadů na další projekty mám vždycky příliš! Více než času…

Viac o Lenke Lichtenberg nájdete na jej webovej stránke: www.lenkalichtenberg.com 

 

Rozhovor pripravila Svetlana Bárdošová
Photo: Jan Zeman

 

Past Events

Laco Deczi & Celula New York

York Theatre, Spring 2014.

Trumpet player, composer and band leader Laco Deczi was born in Bernolakovo (close to Bratislava, Slovakia) in 1938. In 1960’s he was a member of Karel Velebny’s SHQ. In 1970 he recorded his solo album “Sentimental Trumpet” with strings. As soloist he took part on the famous big band recording “Jazz Goes To Beat” by Vaclav Zahradnik.

In the end of 1967 he founded his own Jazz Celula ensemble and since the beginning of 1970 he was a member of d the Czech Radio Jazz Orchestra (JOCR).

He also made some duo recordings with the guitarist Sarka Dvorak and composed a lot of music for film and TV productions.

Since 1985 he lives in United States where he is a leader of the “Jazz Cellula International”.

Laco has performed throughout the United States with a roster of jazz the finest musicians, among them: Elvin Jones, Bill Watrous, Junior Cook, Dave Weckl, Sonny Costanzo, just to name a few.

Reviews:

“The Laco Deczi concert at the York Theatre this spring was for me the most exciting, moving, and all-around entertaining live jazz I’ve heard in Vancouver—by far.
The range of this group is remarkable—from wildly dramatic to outrageously quirky to softly wistful—and surprisingly funny! Humour crept in when least expected—a delightful reminder that all moods change and even sadness can be lightly held. It was a pleasure in itself just to see how much fun the group had playing together. Each gave a truly memorable performance and each brought a completely unique voice to the blend. Kudos to Art Without Borders for bringing Vancouver this exceptional treat!”
— Margit (Mog) Hesthammar

The concert at the York Theatre on April 11th was an exceptional display of world-class musicianship by all four band members. For this amateur musician it was a treat worth every cent of the admission to take in the brilliant rhythms, harmonies and sheer playing technique of this quartet, which was exhilarating most of the night. And to be able to treat my dad to this concert on his 75th birthday made it all so much better!
Walter Vladimir Cicha

Pod tímto názvem uvedla nová krajanská agentura  ART without borders  koncert trumpetisty Laco Decziho a jeho comba Celula New York (syn Vajco a dva členové z Čech, baskytarista Michael Krásný a pianista Jan Aleš). Koncert se konal v novém York Theatre – The Cultch (639 Comercial Drive, Vancouver) shodou okolností v den mých pokročilých (75) narozenin, 11.dubna.
Pokud v názvu programu je jazz, pak v tomto případě šlo o jazz s  velikým J, absolutně špičkové úrovně a kvality všech jeho členů a pod vedením legendárního Laco Decziho, slavného ještě v době vlády jedné strany v Československu.
Technická a muzikální dokonalost všech, vitální, komplikovaná hra V.Decziho na bicí, nápaditá sola M.Krásného (a scatový zpěv  v doprovodu svého nástroje),  technicky výborný, znamenitě využívající  možností elektrického keyboardu Jan Aleš … všichni v dokonalé souhře s L.Deczim.
Většina skladeb byla instrumentálního improvizačního charakteru v trvání mnoha dlouhých minut. Občas jsem si ale maně připomněl výrok Count Basieho, že jazz jsou také pauzy a ticha. To bylo nejednou předvedeno v absolutní dokonalosti ve skladbách téměř be-bopového charekteru dokonalou synchoronizací nástupů (po vteřince či dvou ticha) L.Decziho hlavně s bubeníkem, ale stejně tak s ostatními hráči.
Zmínil jsem se o bravurní hře všech členů komba, ale nemohu se ještě nezmínit o V. Deczim. Málokdy jsem slyšel hrát na bicí s takovou vitalitou a technickou jedinečností , jako tohoto večera! Muzikanti nešetřili na čase, koncert byl dlouhý, stejně jako přídavek a reakce posluchačů byla nadšená a bouřlivá. Škoda, že nezněla z vyprodaného sálu.
I když z mnoha podob a stylů jazzu není ten, který jsem toho večera slyšel mým nejoblíbenějším (příliš dlouhé skladby ač v technicky náročném provedení, ale nejednou mi v nich chyběl záblesk melodie a swingu), to, že mám raději Cool jazz, Swing, Main stream jazz a čistý Be-bop nikterak neznamená, že nejsem schopen ocenit i tento styl jazzu, který ten večer sálem zněl.
To jsou ale zcela osobní názory,  a snad právě tím je jazzová hudba zajímavá, že kromě svobody projevu poskytované hráčům v improvizacích, nabizí posluchači možnost preferencí stylu toho či jiného. Každý styl má své mistry. Ve zvoleném hudebním žánru L.Deczi a jeho Celula patří nepochybně ke špičkám i v měřítku světovém.
Druhá hudební akce ART without borders skončila úspěchem. Škoda, že sál nebyl vyprodaný. Ale vancouverští milovníci hudby a hlavně jazzu jistě se v blízké budoucnosti sejdou na akcích dalších  této nové produkční skupiny.

V tom přeji mnoho úspěchu a zdaru.
Vladimír Cícha

 

Past Events

Vladimír Mišík a Pavel Skála

Summer 2013.

Vladimír Mišík is a Czech rock guitarist and singer. He founded his first band, called Uragán, as a teenager. Later, he became the lead singer of Komety with Radim Hladík. Wikipedia

Review:
“S nebem to mam dobrý, dobrý
U Pána mám plus
Když se lidi modlí, modlí,
Ja mu zpívám blues.”
“I’m in good terms with Heavens
The Father gives me plus
When people pray to Him
I’m singing Him my blues”

Those of you who visited one of two brilliant concerts of Vladimir Misik and Pavel Skala last weekend of August 2015 in Vancouver, certainly recognized the poetries of at least one of the tunes played by the Master. For us, true fans of Misik’s music, these two performances deeply touched our souls. For two hours, we were able to forget our everyday hassles and let ourselves be carried away by the beauty of Josef Kainar’s, Vaclav Hrabe’s and other noteworthy lyricists’ poetries. Misik’s unmistakable voice and guitarist Pavel Skala’s brilliant musicianship transported us back to Prague’s era, when the unforgettable Czech beer culture and Svejk’s tranquility crowned the Czech lands and when artists became dissidents not knowing how. Between his tunes, Misik recalled a story or two from the “Bolshevik times”, hence created truly magical atmosphere, full of comfort and humour.

Musically, the show was exceptional. Two true professionals (Vladimir Misik – cofounder of famous Blue Effect, who had also been a member of such bands as Flamengo and Energit, later formed his own “Etc.” – music formation he still leads today and Pavel Skala who too is active in Etc., besides Bratri Ebenove and Marsyas) accomplished marvelously what may not have been done much better by the entire cast of Etc. An atmosphere of a small club on the outskirts of New Westminster was very low key, what allowed viewers to experience Misik up close and personal. During the intermission it was possible to get personally acquainted with the artists and talk to them face-to-face. Cannot forget an amazing baker and her delicious strudels of course.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the enthusiasts of the foundation “Art Without Borders”, who organized this fantastic event. Our gratitude also goes to Mr. Misik and Mr. Skala, who performed all four concerts (in Toronto and Vancouver) free of charge.

So my final assessment? Excellent concert, very reasonable price, good beer and magical atmosphere. Next time I will come again, hundred percent!

Karla Kaznowski