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ArtsOndrej Havelka - keeping 1920s jazz popular in the Czech Republic
The Czech singer Ondrej Havelka and his group the Melody Makers do faithful
and charming versions of jazz and popular songs from the 1920s and 30s.
They are currently touring the Czech Republic. This week they played at
Prague's magnificent Lucerna Hall, part of a complex which was designed by
Vaclav Havel's grandfather and completed in 1921. When I spoke to Ondrej
Havelka in a café in Lucerna just before Wednesday's concert he told me it
was one of his favourite venues.
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WitnessLubomir Doruzka: a concert for Haile Selassie
Lubomir Doruzka is a living legend of Czech jazz. He has been involved in
music since the Second World War, when, as a teenager, he worked on an
illegal jazz magazine. Because he speaks fluent English he has often
accompanied musical ensembles, both jazz and classical, on tours abroad.
Here he remembers an extraordinary concert in Addis Ababa during a tour of
Africa in 1957, when the Janacek Quartet was invited to play for the
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
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ArtsArts
Music and youth social work unite at the 10th anniversary of a civic
organization called Proxima Sociale. The event took place at a vibrant
Prague night club called Palac Akropolis last Friday. Proxima Sociale
works in two large districts in Prague and offers various resources to
youth, such as housing and psychological support, and they are also very
active in recruiting possible candidates for these services on the street.
But yes this is an arts report. The event presented four young Czech bands
ranging from jazz melodies, hardcore and reggae music.
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Czech MusicFritz Weiss and a series of miraculous wartime jazz recordings
Prague's Jewish Museum recently released a CD that is nothing short of
miraculous. At the height of the Nazi occupation of Prague during the
Second World War, the Czech Jewish jazz musician, Fritz Weiss, made nearly
thirty recordings with the Emil Ludvik Orchestra. Weiss was musical leader
of the band and also made all the arrangements. Amazingly, he continued to
work with the band even after he was sent to the Terezin ghetto. In Encore
today, we'll be telling the story of these extraordinary swing recordings,
made literally in the shadow of the swastika.
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