Emil Viklický - Zuzana Lapciková - Jiri Pavlica - Prsí dést [Fast Falls The Rain]

Emil Viklicky - piano;
Zuzana Lapcikova - dulcimer, vocals;
Jiri Pavlica - violin, hurdy-gurdy, tromba marina, Jew's harp, vocals;

additional musicians on tracks 2, 5, 8-10,13, 15:
Frantisek Uhlir - double bass;
Josef Vejvoda - drums;

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01. Prolog [01:45]
02. Prsí dést [04:58]
03. Grumla [04:34]
04. Kvítí milodejné [04:04]
05. Sibenicky [03:41]
06. Bazalicka [04:40]
07. Bylo lásky [03:59]
08. Kone moje vrané [03:47]
09. Ked sa Janko na vojnu bral [06:17]
10. Mal som 7 penazí [02:07]
11. Na horách, na dolách [04:18]
12. Dyby ne tak bylo [03:57]
13. Masíruju na Francúza [03:00]
14. Touha [04:51]
15. Epilog [03:50]

Recorded at Demovina Studio, Prague on April 1994
Lotos LT 0014-2 531

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“…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 jazz harmonies and classical orchestration in a distinctly individual style, Vicklický grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, where his father was a university art professor. He graduated in 1971 from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics, and applied to graduate school with a view to becoming a professor himself. His first postgraduate lesson was also his last: learning that in communist Czechoslovakia circa early 1970s, political correctness was more important than academic merit, convincing him to pursue a musical career instead.

In 1974 he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and in 1976 he was a prizewinner at the jazz improvisation competition in Lyon. His composition "Green Satin" earned him first prize in the music conservatory competition in Monaco, and in 1977 he was awarded a one-year scholarship to study composition and arrangement at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Since returning to Prague, he has led a variety of quartets and quintets and lectured at summer jazz workshops in both the Czech Republic and Wales. From 1991 to 1995, Vicklický served as president of the Czech Jazz Society, and since 1994 he has worked with the Ad lib Moravia ensemble, which had a highly successful concert tour of Mexico and the United States in 1996. Vicklický often performs in international ensembles with American and European musicians, including the Lou Blackburn International Quartet and the Benny Bailey Quintet. He has made frequent appearances in Finland with the Finnczech Quartet and in Norway with the Czech-Norwegian Big Band, and he has performed throughout Europe as well as in Japan and Israel. The editor of Rolling Stone magazine once wrote of Vicklický that, "it was a delightful surprise to see such first-class, top-of-the-line jazz in Prague."…
...
AAJ: You're known for combining Moravian folk music and jazz. I'm curious, given that your audience tonight will be primarily Czech-Americans, will you do anything different than you might if you were, say, just playing at some jazz club in New York or Chicago?

EV: No, I don't think so. That is my trademark, and the only thing that might be different tonight is that the audience might be even more responsive, and they may know some of the folk songs I use. On the other hand, I've reharmonized, even changed them rhythmically pretty far from the original, and they might not recognize them. Something I do in the Czech Republic which has been commercially successful is touring with Zuzana Lapcikova, a folk singer who is educated in ethnography. She's a very good singer; she dresses in the traditional folk garb, gives some background, and she sings the melody in its original form. And then we take it on and gradually change it into something, and then we gradually bring it back…
by Victor Verney (allaboutjazz)
Full interview:
(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=23450&pg=6&page=1)