Vlasta Průchová
Encyclopedia
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
.
, Slovakia
at that time. She was baptised by the Slovak priest Andrej Hlinka
. At the end of 1938, the family was forced to leave Slovakia, and they resided in Prague.
Following the World War II
, Průchová gained first experience with jazz music. At the Filmové žně (Film Harvest Festival) in Zlín
she attended the performance of the "ensemble of swing stars" Elit Club. Among the members of the band was also her future husband, Jan Hammer Sr. She later visited their performances also in the Prague palace Metro, where the band played in the "swing pub" Akvarium. From her youth, she showed a musical talent in singing and Jan Hammer Sr. finally persuaded her to join the band. In 1947, she began to perform in the first Prague jazz club Pygmalion. The band was renamed to Rytmus 47. The same year she married Hammer. Pygmalion was closed in 1949, and following that Průchová sang in a legendary Prague dance-hall Lucerna Palace. At the same time she also collaborated with significant Czech jazz instrumentalists Luděk Hulan
, Ferdinand Havlík and others.
In the 1950s, Průchová — as a member of the Karel Krautgartner
Orchestra — became one of the most successful participants of the Czechoslovak song competition Hledáme písničku pro všední den (In Search of a Song for the Weekday). In 1952, she was voted the best Czech jazz woman singer in the poll of the samizdat
Boptime.
At the beginning of 1960s, Průchová continued her concert career together with her husband, cardiologist and musician Jan Hammer Sr. Their children Jan
and Andrea occasionally joined them on piano and drums. Their flat became a place of regular jam session
s with fellow musicians. On one of these occasions, in 1965, she even invited American jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong
for dinner, and they jammed together.
In 1968, during the dramatic events of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
, the whole family moved to USA. Jan Hammer Sr. received a one-year research fellowship in Washington, D.C.
, and Jan Hammer Jr. began to study at the Berklee College of Music
in Boston
. Their stay in the USA was entirely legal, however, the return to the Czechoslovakia brought them considerable problems. Jan Hammer Jr. remained in the United States, but his father's career in medicine was stopped. Similarly, their daughter Andrea wasn't admitted to study at the Prague Conservatory
. The one-year stay in a Western country was too suspicious for Czechoslovak communist régime.
Vlasta Průchová was affected by communist state too. Although she was allowed to perform in the Prague clubs, she was prevented from making new recordings for more than twenty years. She was forced to find a new band for her performances at clubs and regional jazz festivals. Thus began her cooperation with young exponents of the Czech jazz scene, Emil Viklický
, and later with pianist Zdeněk Zdeněk.
Jan Hammer Sr. died on 2 May 1989, a few months before Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution
. His wife Vlasta Průchová appeared on the stage also afterwards, in 1990s and in the early years of the new millennium. She died on 16 June 2006 in Prague.
s and swing to bebop
. In 1950s and 1960s she also influenced the style of the Czech pop music
with her specific phrasing
and diction. She represents a part of the continuity of the Czech jazz in the second half of the 20th century. In her later years Průchová rarely changed her repertoire, she is considered an exponent of the "classical jazz singing".
Czech musicologist Lubomír Dorůžka titled her "a key person of the Czech jazz singing" in one of his specialised jazz publications.
Antonín Matzner and Igor Wasserberger compared her to American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
in their book Jazzové profily (Jazz Profiles). Průchová even adopted a part of Fitzgerald's standard repertoire.
Vlasta Průchová next to her musical activities appeared also in film. In 1951 she played a singer in the crime film V trestném území (In the Penalty Area). In 2001 she appeared in the documentary Milý společník aneb Blues pro Luďka Hulana (A pleasant Companion or Blues for Luděk Hulan
).
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
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
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
.
Biography
Průchová was born to Czech parents who worked in RužomberokRužomberok
Ružomberok is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 30,000-Geography:...
, Slovakia
Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
The First Czechoslovak Republic , refers to the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938. The state was commonly called Czechoslovakia . It was composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia...
at that time. She was baptised by the Slovak priest Andrej Hlinka
Andrej Hlinka
Andrej Hlinka was a Slovak politician and Catholic priest, one of the most important Slovak public activists in Czechoslovakia before Second World War...
. At the end of 1938, the family was forced to leave Slovakia, and they resided in Prague.
Following the World War II
World 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...
, Průchová gained first experience with jazz music. At the Filmové žně (Film Harvest Festival) in Zlín
Zlín
Zlín , from 1949 to 1989 Gottwaldov , is a city in the Zlín Region, southeastern Moravia, Czech Republic, on the Dřevnice River. The development of the modern city is closely connected to the Bata Shoes company...
she attended the performance of the "ensemble of swing stars" Elit Club. Among the members of the band was also her future husband, Jan Hammer Sr. She later visited their performances also in the Prague palace Metro, where the band played in the "swing pub" Akvarium. From her youth, she showed a musical talent in singing and Jan Hammer Sr. finally persuaded her to join the band. In 1947, she began to perform in the first Prague jazz club Pygmalion. The band was renamed to Rytmus 47. The same year she married Hammer. Pygmalion was closed in 1949, and following that Průchová sang in a legendary Prague dance-hall Lucerna Palace. At the same time she also collaborated with significant Czech jazz instrumentalists 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 :...
, Ferdinand Havlík and others.
In the 1950s, Průchová — as a member of the Karel Krautgartner
Karel Krautgartner
Karel Krautgartner was a Czech jazz and classical clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, composer, conductor and teacher.- Life :...
Orchestra — became one of the most successful participants of the Czechoslovak song competition Hledáme písničku pro všední den (In Search of a Song for the Weekday). In 1952, she was voted the best Czech jazz woman singer in the poll of the samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
Boptime.
At the beginning of 1960s, Průchová continued her concert career together with her husband, cardiologist and musician Jan Hammer Sr. Their children Jan
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
and Andrea occasionally joined them on piano and drums. Their flat became a place of regular jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
s with fellow musicians. On one of these occasions, in 1965, she even invited American jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
for dinner, and they jammed together.
In 1968, during the dramatic events of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and her main satellite states in the Warsaw Pact – Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic , Hungary and Poland – invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalization...
, the whole family moved to USA. Jan Hammer Sr. received a one-year research fellowship in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and Jan Hammer Jr. began to study at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Their stay in the USA was entirely legal, however, the return to the Czechoslovakia brought them considerable problems. Jan Hammer Jr. remained in the United States, but his father's career in medicine was stopped. Similarly, their daughter Andrea wasn't admitted to study at the Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...
. The one-year stay in a Western country was too suspicious for Czechoslovak communist régime.
Vlasta Průchová was affected by communist state too. Although she was allowed to perform in the Prague clubs, she was prevented from making new recordings for more than twenty years. She was forced to find a new band for her performances at clubs and regional jazz festivals. Thus began her cooperation with young exponents of the Czech jazz scene, 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...
, and later with pianist Zdeněk Zdeněk.
Jan Hammer Sr. died on 2 May 1989, a few months before Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
. His wife Vlasta Průchová appeared on the stage also afterwards, in 1990s and in the early years of the new millennium. She died on 16 June 2006 in Prague.
Style
Průchová was one of the pioneers of the Czech jazz singing. Her musical style encompasses various genres from jazz standardJazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s and swing to bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
. In 1950s and 1960s she also influenced the style of the Czech pop music
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...
with her specific phrasing
Phrase (music)
In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and performance...
and diction. She represents a part of the continuity of the Czech jazz in the second half of the 20th century. In her later years Průchová rarely changed her repertoire, she is considered an exponent of the "classical jazz singing".
Czech musicologist Lubomír Dorůžka titled her "a key person of the Czech jazz singing" in one of his specialised jazz publications.
Antonín Matzner and Igor Wasserberger compared her to 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...
in their book Jazzové profily (Jazz Profiles). Průchová even adopted a part of Fitzgerald's standard repertoire.
Vlasta Průchová next to her musical activities appeared also in film. In 1951 she played a singer in the crime film V trestném území (In the Penalty Area). In 2001 she appeared in the documentary Milý společník aneb Blues pro Luďka Hulana (A pleasant Companion or Blues for 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 :...
).
Discography
- Všechno je prosté (1961) - music: Jan Hammer Sr., orchestral accompaniment: Dance Orchestra of the Czechoslovak Radio.
- The Man I LoveThe Man I Love (song)"The Man I Love" is a popular standard, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira. Originally part of the 1924 score for the Gershwin government satire Lady, Be Good as "The Girl I Love", the song was deleted from the show as well as from both the 1927 anti-war satire Strike Up...
(1965) - music: George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, with Junior Trio. - Tonight (Arta, 1991) (Ar F 1 0027-2) - first recordings after 27-year pause.
- Docela všední, obyčejný den [CD] (Bonton Music, 1997) (B 71 0567-2) - reedition of her recordings from 1958 to 1964.
- Vlasta Průchová - na počátku bylo blues [CD] (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 :...
, 2006) (SU 5708-2) - recordings from 1950 to 1977.
External links
- Czech jazz music loses its First Lady (Czech Radio)
- First lady of Czech jazz Vlasta Pruchova dies at 79 (Radio Prague)
- Vlasta Průchová at the Czech music.net
- Welcome to the Czech Republic!
- O bytostném hudebním zápalu Vlasty Průchové
- Interview with Vlasta Průchová
- Interview with Vlasta Průchová
- Život v jazzu (A Life in Jazz) - Rytmus podle Vlasty Průchové (Rhythm according to Vlasta Průchová) - Televize.cz
- Singer Vlasta Průchová died (LIDOVKY.CZ, ČTK)
- Novinky.cz
- První dáma českého jazzu (The First Lady of Czech Jazz) - Czech and Slovak Club
- Article in Hudební rozhledy
- Hold Vlastě Průchové (Tribute to Vlasta Průchová) - Czech Radio
- Vlasta Pruchová - Cantante (Aurora.com.uy)