Eva Olmerová
Encyclopedia
Eva Olmerová was a Czech pop
and jazz
singer. She is regarded as one of the greatest Czech jazz singers of all time.
her grandparents returned from London
, where her grandfather had worked with Edvard Beneš
, president of the exiled Czechoslovak government
. Her parents divorced in 1948, when she was fourteen.
She remained with her father. At his cottage in Třebšín u Štěchovic she had first-hand experience of the tramping movement
and began to sing folk songs with guitar accompaniment. In the early 1950s she became involved in Prague's jazz scene and performed with the Arnošt Kavka Band. In 1951 she was arrested by the Czechoslovak state security service
, in connection with her grandfather's political activities and her uncle Otmar Kučera's wartime service as Commander of 313 Squadron RAF
. At the police station she was forced to undress, then interrogated. She was seventeen. Later, in 1958, she attacked and slapped a policeman and was jailed for fourteen months.
In 1952 she married for the first time but was soon divorced. For a while she earned a living as a professional singer in the bars of Prague. In 1962 the composer Karel Mareš offered her an engagement with the Semafor Theatre
. Olmerová agreed, but this promising start was sabotaged when her "criminal past" was revealed in anonymous letters. Her performance of the Mareš song Jsi jako dlouhý most (“You're Like A Bridge So Long”) won her the Czechoslovak song competition Hledáme písničku pro všední den (In search of a song for the weekday). She was otherwise banned from public performance in Prague.
Towards the end of 1963 the official restrictions imposed on Olmerová's career were eased. She began a collaboration with the Traditional Jazz Studio, worked occasionally with other music ensembles and was also allowed to perform regularly in the Theatre on the Balustrade
, where she met and formed a friendship with Václav Havel
, the later Czechoslovak and Czech president. In 1965 she married again. This marriage ended with her husband's emigration after less than a year. Olmerová began to use phenmetrazine
in combination with alcohol
- she sought psychiatric help but her use of alcohol and drugs would continue to dog her career.
In the 1960s she performed in several films and in 1967 returned to the Semafor Theatre. In 1969 she released her first studio album - The Jazz Feeling - with S+HQ and Karel Velebný
. It gained wide critical acclaim and Olmerová was invited to perform in Western Europe
but the Czechoslovak agency Pragokoncert - closely tied with the communist régime - refused her the necessary travel permit due to her "unreliability". In 1969 Olmerová may have met the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
after Fitzgerald's Prague concert. In this version of events, Ella Fitzgerald was impressed by Olmerová's voice and invited her to join the rest of Fitzgerald's European tour. Some eyewitnesses question the story. Olmerová is known to have remained in Prague during Fitzgerald's tour. In 1969 she reunited with Pavel Smetáček and his Traditional Jazz Studio.
In 1972 Olmerová married for the third time. This marriage also quickly ended in divorce and in the same year she drunkenly crashed a Wartburg car borrowed from jazz bassist Luděk Hulan
, was arrested and sentenced to ten months in jail. In 1974 she recorded her second album - Eva Olmerová & The Traditional Jazz Studio. Live performances were increasingly problematic, due to her alcoholism
. In 1978 she started working with the Prague Big Band and Milan Svoboda. She recorded her next album, Zahraj i pro mne (Play also for me) with the Jazz Orchestra of the Czechoslovak Radio at the age of 48. It was her first to be sung with Czech lyrics. In 1984 she received the Luděk Hulan Award.
In the 1980s Olmerová performed with the Metropolitan Jazz Band, the Steamboat Stompers and with the Senior Dixieland, and occasionally sang with folk and country musicians (Wabi Ryvola among others). In 1986 she recorded the album Dvojčata (The Twins) with Jitka Vrbová and Hot Jazz Prague. Her health was rapidly deteriorating, due her alcoholism
and associated lifestyle. She lived in poor domestic conditions on a low rate of invalidity pension, but continued singing. From 1989 she performed with what was to be her last regular ensemble, the S-band.
Eva Olmerová welcomed the fall of the communist régime
in 1989 and visited Václav Havel at Prague Castle
, but her health was ruined. Drahomíra Vihanová made a short documentary film about her in 1991 - Proměny přítelkyně Evy. It generated some harsh critical responses as "naturalistic" and "coarse". Olmerová wanted to take Vihanová to court, but the Czech director Ivan Vyskočil discouraged her.
In her last years, Olmerová performed with the pianist Emil Viklický
. During studio rehearsals for her final album, Svíčka a stín (The Candle and the Wind) she collapsed, but as soon as she had been treated at hospital she returned to the studio.
Eva Olmerová made her last recording on 26 May 1993. She died childless on 10 August 1993, in the hospital in Prague-Bubeneč. The primary cause of her death was cirrhosis
of the liver.
In 2006 the Prague municipal government approved naming one of the Prague streets Eva Olmerová Street.
and the styles of Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
and Bing Crosby
. She referred to Karel Gott
, the most popular singer in Czechoslovakia, as having "...a homosexual feeble voice with falsetto". On the Czech jazz scene she was often compared to Bessie Smith
and Billie Holiday
, both for her voice and her turbulent lifestyle. Czech music critic Jiří Černý compared her to Janis Joplin
in one of his reviews. According to Černý, Olmerová's potential for world fame was never realised because of her oppression by two regimes - the Czechoslovak communist regime which banned her performances abroad, and her own "life regime". Vlasta Průchová
, another significant singer of her generation, stated that Olmerová "...has everything, what a good jazz singer should have - the feeling, colourful voice and original expression." Her rare feeling for jazz was probably the most valued feature of her style. Her merits as a singer were also appreciated by folk and country bands and aficionados. The somewhat sentimental mood of most contemporary folk and country songs were revitalised under her lively swing and blues singing style.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer. She is regarded as one of the greatest Czech jazz singers of all time.
Biography
Eva Olmerová was born in Prague in 1934. She started piano lessons at the age of 6, as a pupil of Aurelie Káanová-Bubnová. After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
her grandparents returned from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where her grandfather had worked with Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
, president of the exiled Czechoslovak government
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...
. Her parents divorced in 1948, when she was fourteen.
She remained with her father. At his cottage in Třebšín u Štěchovic she had first-hand experience of the tramping movement
Czech Tramping
Czech tramping or in Czech, simply, tramping, is a movement that combines a trajectory towards nature with imaginative play based on ideas of "Amerika." It manifests itself in distinctive clothing style and weekend and vacation trips, and even musical performance.Czech interest in "Amerika" dates...
and began to sing folk songs with guitar accompaniment. In the early 1950s she became involved in Prague's jazz scene and performed with the Arnošt Kavka Band. In 1951 she was arrested by the Czechoslovak state security service
STB
STB is an acronym that can mean:* Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus – Bachelor of Sacred Theology* Set-top box – a television device that converts signals to viewable images* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP -- a law firm...
, in connection with her grandfather's political activities and her uncle Otmar Kučera's wartime service as Commander of 313 Squadron RAF
No. 313 Squadron RAF
No. 313 Squadron RAF was a Czechoslovakian-manned fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.It was first formed at Catterick on 10 May 1941, equipped with Spitfire I fighters and crewed mostly by escaped Czechslovakian pilots...
. At the police station she was forced to undress, then interrogated. She was seventeen. Later, in 1958, she attacked and slapped a policeman and was jailed for fourteen months.
In 1952 she married for the first time but was soon divorced. For a while she earned a living as a professional singer in the bars of Prague. In 1962 the composer Karel Mareš offered her an engagement with the Semafor Theatre
Semafor
Semafor is a Czech theatre in Prague established by Jiří Suchý in 1959. It belongs to the so called "Theatres of small stages". Suchý himself has performed there for many years and is the current owner...
. Olmerová agreed, but this promising start was sabotaged when her "criminal past" was revealed in anonymous letters. Her performance of the Mareš song Jsi jako dlouhý most (“You're Like A Bridge So Long”) won her the Czechoslovak song competition Hledáme písničku pro všední den (In search of a song for the weekday). She was otherwise banned from public performance in Prague.
Towards the end of 1963 the official restrictions imposed on Olmerová's career were eased. She began a collaboration with the Traditional Jazz Studio, worked occasionally with other music ensembles and was also allowed to perform regularly in the Theatre on the Balustrade
Theatre on the Balustrade
The Theatre on the Balustrade is situated in Prague, Czech republic.The theatre was founded in 1958. Its founders - Helena Philipová, Ivan Vyskočil, Jiří Suchý and Vladimír Vodička named their professional theatre after a street leading from the square to the river...
, where she met and formed a friendship with Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, the later Czechoslovak and Czech president. In 1965 she married again. This marriage ended with her husband's emigration after less than a year. Olmerová began to use phenmetrazine
Phenmetrazine
Phenmetrazine is a stimulant drug of the morpholine chemical class that was previously used as an appetite suppressant, but has since been withdrawn from the market...
in combination with alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
- she sought psychiatric help but her use of alcohol and drugs would continue to dog her career.
In the 1960s she performed in several films and in 1967 returned to the Semafor Theatre. In 1969 she released her first studio album - The Jazz Feeling - with S+HQ and Karel Velebný
Karel Velebný
Karel Velebný was a Czech jazz musician, composer, arranger, actor, writer and music pedagogue. Velebný was one of the founders and pioneers of modern Czech jazz in the second half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
. It gained wide critical acclaim and Olmerová was invited to perform in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
but the Czechoslovak agency Pragokoncert - closely tied with the communist régime - refused her the necessary travel permit due to her "unreliability". In 1969 Olmerová may have met the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
after Fitzgerald's Prague concert. In this version of events, Ella Fitzgerald was impressed by Olmerová's voice and invited her to join the rest of Fitzgerald's European tour. Some eyewitnesses question the story. Olmerová is known to have remained in Prague during Fitzgerald's tour. In 1969 she reunited with Pavel Smetáček and his Traditional Jazz Studio.
In 1972 Olmerová married for the third time. This marriage also quickly ended in divorce and in the same year she drunkenly crashed a Wartburg car borrowed from jazz bassist Luděk Hulan
Luděk Hulan
Luděk Hulan was a Czech jazz double-bassist and musical organiser. He was an important exponent of Czech jazz in the second half of the 20th century.- Biography :...
, was arrested and sentenced to ten months in jail. In 1974 she recorded her second album - Eva Olmerová & The Traditional Jazz Studio. Live performances were increasingly problematic, due to her alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. In 1978 she started working with the Prague Big Band and Milan Svoboda. She recorded her next album, Zahraj i pro mne (Play also for me) with the Jazz Orchestra of the Czechoslovak Radio at the age of 48. It was her first to be sung with Czech lyrics. In 1984 she received the Luděk Hulan Award.
In the 1980s Olmerová performed with the Metropolitan Jazz Band, the Steamboat Stompers and with the Senior Dixieland, and occasionally sang with folk and country musicians (Wabi Ryvola among others). In 1986 she recorded the album Dvojčata (The Twins) with Jitka Vrbová and Hot Jazz Prague. Her health was rapidly deteriorating, due her alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and associated lifestyle. She lived in poor domestic conditions on a low rate of invalidity pension, but continued singing. From 1989 she performed with what was to be her last regular ensemble, the S-band.
Eva Olmerová welcomed the fall of the communist régime
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
in 1989 and visited Václav Havel at Prague Castle
Prague Castle
Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here...
, but her health was ruined. Drahomíra Vihanová made a short documentary film about her in 1991 - Proměny přítelkyně Evy. It generated some harsh critical responses as "naturalistic" and "coarse". Olmerová wanted to take Vihanová to court, but the Czech director Ivan Vyskočil discouraged her.
In her last years, Olmerová performed with the pianist Emil Viklický
Emil Viklický
Emil Viklický is a Czech jazz pianist and composer. In 1971 he graduated from Palacký University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same...
. During studio rehearsals for her final album, Svíčka a stín (The Candle and the Wind) she collapsed, but as soon as she had been treated at hospital she returned to the studio.
Eva Olmerová made her last recording on 26 May 1993. She died childless on 10 August 1993, in the hospital in Prague-Bubeneč. The primary cause of her death was cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of the liver.
In 2006 the Prague municipal government approved naming one of the Prague streets Eva Olmerová Street.
Inspiration and style
Olmerová was an entirely self-taught singer. She claimed to be free of the influences of other singers but admitted to an admiration for Mahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
and the styles of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
. She referred to Karel Gott
Karel Gott
Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...
, the most popular singer in Czechoslovakia, as having "...a homosexual feeble voice with falsetto". On the Czech jazz scene she was often compared to Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
and Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, both for her voice and her turbulent lifestyle. Czech music critic Jiří Černý compared her to Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
in one of his reviews. According to Černý, Olmerová's potential for world fame was never realised because of her oppression by two regimes - the Czechoslovak communist regime which banned her performances abroad, and her own "life regime". Vlasta Průchová
Vlasta Průchová
Vlasta Průchová was a Czech jazz singer. Since the second half of 1940s she gradually built up her leading role on the Czech jazz scene. Průchová is the mother of renowned Czech-American pianist and composer Jan Hammer.- Biography :Průchová was born to Czech parents who worked in Ružomberok,...
, another significant singer of her generation, stated that Olmerová "...has everything, what a good jazz singer should have - the feeling, colourful voice and original expression." Her rare feeling for jazz was probably the most valued feature of her style. Her merits as a singer were also appreciated by folk and country bands and aficionados. The somewhat sentimental mood of most contemporary folk and country songs were revitalised under her lively swing and blues singing style.
Discography
- Jazz Feeling, SupraphonSupraphonSupraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
(1969, 2001) - Eva Olmerová & The Traditional Jazz Studio, Supraphon (1974)
- Zahraj i pro mne, Panton (1980)
- Vítr rváč, Panton (1983), Supraphon (2005)
- Dvojčata, Supraphon (1987)
- Svíčka a stín, Panton (1992)
- Legenda - Eva Olmerová, Sony (2008)