Emil ViklickýThe Funky Way Of Emil Viklický NEW CD IN DIGIPACK... Funk and jazz colliding on the Eastern Bloc a few years after the Prague Spring and the Soviet tank invasion of 1968.A perfect introduction for Czech jazz with groove, with one of the masters: Emil Viklický... Emil Viklický...
Emil Viklický
The Funky Way Of Emil Viklický
NEW CD IN DIGIPACK
Funk and jazz colliding on the Eastern Bloc a few years after the Prague Spring and the Soviet tank invasion of 1968.
A perfect introduction for Czech jazz with groove, with one of the masters: Emil Viklický.
Emil Viklický is one of the most renowned Czech jazz musicians and composers. This focused-on-funk selection was recorded between 1975 and 1987 in Czechoslovak studios.
Be it with the legendary SHQ or with Energit, accompanying Eva Svobodová, conducting a tight studio big band or collaborating with fellow Berklee College students Frisell/Driscoll/Johnson, Emil knows how to funk up his keys all the way through.
Born in 1948 in Olomouc, by the end of the 1960s Emil Viklický was playing jazz while studying mathematics at the Palacký University, Olomouc. He moved to Prague in 1971 and decided to pursue a professional career as a jazz musician.
In 1974 he teamed up with blues rock guitarist Lubo¿ Andr¿t, whose former hard rock group, Energit, had just been banned by the communist censors. Viklický significantly helped Andr¿t to transform Energit into a top-class instrumental jazz-rock combo, and with the group¿s self-titled album he also finally made his belated vinyl debut in 1975. In 1974 Viklický also joined Karel Velebný¿s legendary SHQ, where he served as a regular member until Velebný¿s premature death in 1989.
Another long-lasting collaboration was with the gifted jazz singer Eva Svobodová. In the mid-1970s Viklický provided her with a backing trio and also composed a lot of original material for her. Eventually, Karel Velebný accepted her as an occasional guest vocalist with SHQ, which resulted in a series of seven-inch EPs.
In 1976 Viklický was part of The Keyboard Conclave, diving into the world of latin-jazz fusion. On his gold-awarded 1977 solo album ¿V Holomóci meste¿ (aka ¿The Folk-Inspired Jazz Piano¿) he successfully explored the fusion of contemporary jazz with Moravian folk music. He guested on albums by singer/songwriter Vladimír Merta, the highly acclaimed folk-rock debut of the Marsyas group, and also on such obscurities like the international free-jazz project Interjazz 4 aka Good Old Circus (albeit anonymously). In his spare time he learned how to arrange big band tunes.
The fruits of Viklický¿s broad activities was a one-year scholarship to study composition and arrangement at Boston¿s Berklee College of Music in 1977/78. In the US he was exposed to all flavours of contemporary jazz while jamming with numerous top musicians. Back home, some of his fellow students visited him in Prague in summer 1979: Bill Frisell, Kermit Driscoll and Vinnie Johnson. The Supraphon jazz producer Antonín Matzner promptly organized a two-day recording session in the aging studio Dejvice. The result was the 1980 album ¿Okno¿ (¿Window¿), plus one side¿s worth of session out-takes on the 1985 LP ¿Dvere/Door¿.
Nowadays, besides bread-and-butter work like TV and film scores, he participates in countless jazz, folk and classical music projects. But most of these activities go far beyond the scope of our funky compilation. However, we do feature a collection of juicy big band versions of some of his best jazz-funk tunes. Arranged and conducted by the author himself, they were taped between 1979 and 1987 with members of various Czech jazz orchestras as ¿proofs of concept¿ during rehearsals. They remained unissued up to now.
Extensive notes covering Emil Viklický¿s career by compiler Luká¿ Machata
Tracks list
1. Trochu Funky (The Funky Way)
2. Týden (Week)
3. Je¿te Jednou Slunce (Once Again Sun)
4. Kveten (Maytime)
5. Kam S Tím Blues (Chega De Saudade)
6. 70. Východní (East 70th Street)
7. Boston
8. Zelený Satén (Green Satin)
9. Hromovka (Thunderhouse)
10. Zeme Plná Lásky (A Land Full Of Love)
11. Zase Zapomneli Zavrít Okno (They¿ve Left The Window Open Again)
12. Siesta
13. Jumbo Jet
14. Ráno (Part 1, Kash Edit) (Morning)
