4 New CDs Launched - A Look at the Czech Chanson
Scene
 
 
December 2007. The project
contains 4 hours of music in the form of 59 songs by 26 singers and
bands, providing a comprehensive look at contemporary Czech chanson -
Jakub Zahradník's collaboration included the roles of producer and
co-ordinator. The CDs represent a cross-section of the four annual
Original Chanson Festivals, held between 2004-7. All generations of
artists are represented, classics along with some new names, and also
various types of chanson. We can hear solitary performers with an
accordion or a guitar, singing to the musical accompaniment of a piano
or several musical instruments, but also bands, often offering unusual
combinations. The list of performers includes foreigners who have
settled in the Czech Republic and sing in Czech, but the listeners can
also look forward to Polish, Slovak, German or French lyrics. The
project deserves admiration and is the result of co-operation between
Producentské Centrum Františka Rychtaříka, Radioservis publishers,
the Pagat Ultimo Musical Productions agency and the Prague 5 City
District. Having said that, it is still merely the tip of the iceberg:
everyday events in clubs or theatres testify to the fact that chanson
- "the bitter song with a meaning " or "European
blues" - is very much alive and surprisingly prolific, that it is
usually performed in more intimate venues and that it is a music to
"touch", with lyrics playing a principal role.
By clicking the CD cover art
you can access the names of the musicians. Each CD costs around € 10
and is also available individually from various distribution channels,
for example: www.radioservis-as.cz
New CD featuring Pavla Kapitánová soon to be
launched
Although the original plans for a CD with Jakub Zahradník's new songs
for Pavla Kapitánová sadly had to be abandoned, František Rychtařík's
Production Center has decided to search the archive and launch a CD
that would include most of Jakub's songs written exclusively for Pavla
- the backbone of their repertoire. With the exception of the most
recent song Love At All Times, recorded in a studio with a band and
showing the direction the duo's style was taking, all the other songs
come from a single concert, performed with Ondřej Štajnochr on
double bass. The selection includes such songs as Stephan Wunderhorn's
Message, The Cow Cathedral in the Fields, A New Day or Pouť přes
vyhnanství / Exile Street, all published for the very first time. The
last song has also given its name to the entire record, which will be
launched at the Original Chanson Festival in Švandovo Theatre on 11th
October.
Pavla Kapitánová has left us
It is with great sorrow, pain in my heart
and deep sadness that I must inform you that our dear, beloved Pavla
Kapitánová, unique singer and friend, has died tragically in the night
of Sunday 22 June 2007 in a car accident on the D8 highway, as she was
returning from a concert with her band. Her close friend Dáša, who
rarely missed any of Pavla's concerts, has also died. The news is
still too fresh and difficult to accept. We had many plans together,
which will never come to fruition. Thank you for all your expressions
of sympathy, there are so many. I will pass them on to the family.
Twice About Love
The single CD “Dvakrát o lásce” (Twice about
Love) is now out and available to be broadcasted on the radio. The CD
comprises two versions of Petr Novák’s 1960s hit song “Povídej” (Tell
Me) and a new song by Jakub Zahradník “Za všech časů láska” (Love at
All Times), both representing an introduction to a new joint project
of Pavla Kapitánová and Jakub Zahradník. Pavla and Jakub have
performed together since 2002 and their first tour concluded last
year. Recently they only played occasionally, as Pavla became the
mother of a baby girl, but their new tour should commence around the
turn of the year.
Original Chanson Festival 2007
Chanson lovers can mark 11th September 2007
in their planners as the day of the Festival of Chanson. Once again it
will take place at Švandovo divadlo at Prague-Smíchov and this time it
will focus on women – authors, composers and performers. Our
invitation was accepted by the duo Tara Fuki, Vesna Vasco Caseres,
Jana Rychterová, Dagmar Andrtová-Voňková, Szidi Tobias (Slovakia), Fen
Jung Song and Sylvie Krobová. All these ladies are involved with
chanson one way or another and their musical works are markedly
different from the rest, while also being very diverse. The evening
will be hosted by a kindred soul, the well-known actor and moderator
Jaroslav Dušek.
The Festival will be held by the Prague 5 City District and supported
by the Prague City Hall. The whole event will be recorded (and later
broadcasted) by Český rozhlas 3 – Vltava. For more details see
www.sanson.cz
The Song of a Hot Stone
The long awaited book of poems by Jakub
Zahradník “Zpěv rozpáleného kamene” (The Song of a Hot Stone) was
introduced on Thursday 31st of May 2007 in the Café-Gallery Černá
Labuť, Prague 1. The book looks back over the twenty years of the
author’s poetry writing and at the same time contains many new poems,
drawing their inspiration from life in the past regime, mysticism and
mysterious places in South Bohemia. Part and parcel of the book is a
CD with piano improvisations by Jakub Zahradník and a chip of stone,
which was planted right through the pages into the boards of the book
by sculptor Vladimír Moutelík.
A Surprising Musical Encounter
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