Today we remember an extraordinary Czech musician, Zuzana Navarova, who died last week of cancer at the tragically early age of 45. Her band Nerez became hugely popular in the 1980s. This was a time of growing popularity of singer song-writers, but Zuzana Navarova was different. Music critic Petr Doruzka remembers:
"She was leading a band with a very interesting set-up. She was not just a singer-songwriter with a guitar. She also had very varied sources of influence, like Latin American music, Cuban music. She spent some time in Cuba, she studied Spanish. She took everything very seriously.
"She had a great voice. When you listened to her, you were completely absorbed. So I think she really had international class."
Zuzana Navarova born in 1959 in Eastern Bohemia, and from her childhood had very distinct musical tastes, as she herself later remembered: "I've always been interested in what they now call ethnic music," she said in one interview. "When I was young they called it folklore and no-one was interested, but I was a bit strange and enjoyed it."
Zuzana Navarova
She started in her teens, playing the guitar and singing at folk festivals
and in competitions, but her real success began in the early eighties,
with
her band Nerez. And people began to realize the huge appeal of what she
was
doing, and that she wasn't simply "a bit strange". She managed
to
make the leap from folk to more popular forms, but without sacrificing any
of her integrity. And to the end she never showed any interest in the kind
of success attached to pop stars. Petr Doruzka again:
"If you look at her after three decades of work she continued to prefer to perform in the Malostranska beseda, which is a small place. There was not any kind of career tactic. Her priority was music."
Zuzana Navarova's interest in Latin rhythms took her to Cuba, which she visited several times in the 80s. Her band Nerez even performed there. Zuzana studied Spanish at the Charles University in Prague and her husband, Luis de Tejeda is also Cuban. So it's not surprising that her relationship to the music of Latin America went far below the surface.
Mario Bihari
In the early 90s she left Nerez and began a solo career. On her first solo
album Caribe in 1992 she sang Latin American songs with the Caribe Jazz
Quintet. And a couple of years later she began her immensely successful
cooperation with the Colombian guitarist, song-writer Ivan Gutierrez. Two
albums resulted, "Tres" and "Zeleny album" (the Green
Album).
Although for many people Zuzana Navarova is associated mainly with Latin rhythms, her music embraced many genres. In the last few years she has worked with the band Koa, four musicians who represent very diverse musical cultures: a Peruvian drummer, a Turkish guitarist, a Czech double bass player and the amazing blind Romany accordion player Mario Bihari from Slovakia. And the musical heritage of the musicians is reflected in the music itself. On their 2003 album Jak Santidevi, she thinks nothing of shifting from songs in Czech to Spanish, Romany, or even Arabic.
Another aspect of Zuzana Navarova's career was her tireless work to support young or unknown musicians. She even set up a foundation called "Life for Artists" with the aim of promoting struggling musicians at the beginning of their career, especially if they got into difficulties. Over the years she proved to be a talent-spotter with an incredible gift. For example one of the most successful solo artists in the Czech Republic today, the idiosyncratic accordion player, singer and song-writer Raduza - whom we've also featured on this programme - owes her career to Navarova. The two were good friends, and Raduza was at her bedside during her last illness.
It was also Navarova who discovered the legendary Romany singer Vera Bila, who now has a huge worldwide following. Here Petr Doruzka remembers their first concert together in one of Prague's great venues, the Lucerna Ballroom.
"At the time nobody knew anything about Gypsy music, and then she took her to the Lucerna, which was a big achievement, because it's a big hall. I think both of them were probably a little bit nervous how this large audience, which doesn't have any experience with Gypsy music would react, and I remember I interviewed Zuzana about how was it, how did it feel, and she told me, 'Well, I had tears in my eyes.'"
Zuzana Navarova died in the early morning of the 7th December, after a long battle with cancer. She had always played down her illness, and for people outside her closest circle of friends her death came as a shock. Had she lived we can be sure that she would have continued to make a huge contribution to Czech music. But at least we have the recordings that she left behind and memories of her concerts, where she appeared more often than not in jeans and a t-shirt, but captivated audiences from beginning to end. Petr Doruzka:
"She really had a talent of putting words together in a very unusual way and expressing what would be difficult to put to words for another person. She was catching ideas which are flying around."
Petr Doruzka
Magic Carpet is Radio Prague's monthly music magazine that looks at music
from Czech, Moravian and Silesian towns and villages. The programme covers
a wide selection of genres, from traditional folk to the exotic and
experimental.
It is presented by Petr Doruzka, one of the Czech Republic's foremost
music journalists.
world.freemusic.cz
COMING UP
2.1.2005: The best of 2004
In the first Magic Carpet of 2005, you'll hear some rare and unusual
albums of 2004 which didn't fit into the previous programmes. Cankisou
(pronounced "Chankishow") from Brno "rediscovered" the mysterious tribe of
the Chanki
people, famous for their devotional and ritual songs. Banana is led by the
young female singer of mixed Italian-Ukrainian origin, who calls herself
Vladivojna La Chia. If you miss the bad girls of the punk rock era,
Vladivojna will be be a singer of your choice. Ahmet má Hlad (Ahmet is
Hungry) is an 8 piece band mixing clarinets and accordion with electric
guitars, and playing crazy adaptations of folk songs from all Eastern
Europe. And NUO stands for The Art ensemble from Nusle, a hard driving and
flexible jazz band. Their first album, Multimusic Miniband, reaches from
funk to electronica.
30.1.2005: A trip to Slovakia
More than 10 years after the partition of Czechoslovakia many Czechs
consider Slovakia a strong musical inspiration, while Slovak musicians see
Czech audiences as a potential and friendly market. The Bratislava band
Jej dru¾ina (Her escort) made their well received debut three years ago,
inspired by the rich heritage of Slovak folk songs. Soon afterwards this
highly
respected band split in two equally interesting parts, and both made new
albums recently. But it's not only local musicians who collect folk
songs in Slovakia. Nowadays, musicians from Hungary, like the Fono Folk
Band, are looking over the border to find more about the music heritage
of both Slovaks and the Hungarian minorities living in Southern Slovakia.
For copyright reasons we are unable to archive the programmes in audio, but here at least are a few words about some of the recordings featured recently in the programme.
ARCHIVE
Terne Chave
5.12.2004: Terne Chave, Gypsy roots with a
future
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain 15 years ago, one of the most
interesting exports from East European countries has been Gypsy music:
wedding brass orchestras from Serbia, cymbalom and fiddle bands from
Romania and Hungary. In the Czech Republic, Gypsy music is on the rise
too, but often it sounds very different from the style of our East
European neighbours. Terne Chave has earned a reputation as a great live
band. Their new album, Kai Dzas (Where are we going), gives us a flavour
of where Gypsy music may be going.
Link: Terne Chave live
www.ternechave.net
The mean fiddlers from Moravia
7.11.2004: The mean fiddlers from Moravia
The violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin, who died in 1999, once said:
"When we think about the violin, we think about the tradition of
Stradivarius. But we forget the violin is derived from a folk music
instrument, the fiddle." Jiri Plocek, Czech researcher and
musician, comments: "There is a link between fiddlers from
Moravia, my home region, and fiddlers from Scotland or Scandinavia. Their
music is vibrant and sparkles with energy." Plocek's musical
partner Jitka Suranska, explains: "This is a very different
style than playing with a symphony orchestra, which is my second job. But
playing with Jiri opens a new door for me: playing from the
heart."
Link: www.mujweb.cz/www/gnosis_brno
Traband
10.10.2004:
Anybody who travelled east before the fall of the Iron Curtain remembers
the
Trabant. A funny little car with a motorcycle engine manufactured in
Eastern Germany. The word Trabant was used in many jokes. In a slightly
transformed form, it serves as a name for a band. Yes, Traband, with a D,
is a band with a strong sense of humour, and contrary to the Trabant car,
they have a lot of energy to spare - and also some remarkable musical
ideas.
Recently Traband finished a new album, which is ready for
release.
On their past albums Traband have always used a unifying theme behind
their
songs, so I asked the leader, singer and composer Jarda Svoboda, what is
the concept of their new CD?
"It's called Hyje, which means 'Go horses!'. The
songs are full of knights, horsemen of Apocalypse, riders and golden
chariots."
Despite the fact that Traband has existed for 10 years, they are not a
band
who can fill a stadium, and I am also sure this is not their ambition. Yet
they are quite successful abroad - they often play in France and recently
they returned from the first tour of Japan. Even though Traband put a
great
deal
of energy into their lyrics, you do not have to speak Czech to enjoy their
music.
Link: www.traband.net
Docuku
12.09.2004:
The Eastern part of the Czech Republic, close to the Slovak border,
happens
to be very fertile source of traditional music. Up in the north, the
wooded highlands once were sheltering thieves and outlaws. To make this
region safer, four centuries ago the land was offered to farmers and
shepherds who also functioned as a border patrol. Most of the settlers
came
from the East, even from Romania. This newly populated region was given
the name Wallachia, after the historical name for the Romanian kingdom.
Today, their descendants speak Czech, but the region is known for its
distinguished
wooden architecture, sheep herding and also music.
The Wallachian ensemble Docuku could be seen as a regional all
star band.
The set-up features a violin player, who's also leader of one of the best
local cymbalom bands, Solan. The drummer used to play with a well-known
Czech rock
band Mnaga & Zdorp for 10 years. And one of the key members of Docuku
is a
gifted young woman, who sings and plays mandolin: Lucie Redlova, the
daughter of veteran foksinger Vlasta Redl. Their first album was released
this summer, featuring contemporary arrangements of folk songs.
Link: www.docuku.centrala.org
Sina
15.08.2004: In the era of major companies and global pop it
takes a lot of courage to be independent. The fretless bass guitar player
Sina and her partner, guitarist Daniel Salontay, formed Slnko Records in
Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. In the beginning, they burned the CDs
on their home computer, packaged them and sent by mail - but with growing
success of their company this became harder more difficult. With their
band, Dlhe Diely, they were one of the brightest surprises of last years
Colours of Ostrava festival. Magic Carpet features both Dlhe Diely and
Sina's solo albums.
Link: www.slnkorecords.sk
Jablkon
18.07.2004: The history of the Prague band Jablkon reaches deep
into the past. In 1977 they started as an acoustic trio with two guitars
and percussion and their music was in stark contrast to every existing
fashion.Jablkon blended instruments with voices in very unorthodox way.
The musicians invented a wide spectrum of howls, wails, screams, grunts
and other deeply human sounds, and used just the right amount of this
vocal seasoning to build a pattern, a momntum of a non-verbal message, or
just a joke. Their music was like a well crafted building with a wild back
yard; in the large scale architecture you can feel delicate melodies and
musical forms of a sophisticated European origin.As years went by, the
classical elements of their music became more apparent in 90's, when the
band played with the classical violinist Jaroslav Sveceny, and made a rare
appearance with a symphonic orchestra. Last year, the band celebrated the
first 25 years of it's existence. On a memorable concert in the Prague
Archa theatre, Jablkon performed with the Moravian Symphony orchestra and
other guest players. Magic Carpet features the live CD from this concert.
Link: www.jablkon.com
See also:
Gypsy
music - a rediscovered heritage?
Reinventing folk music with the Moberg
Ensemble
No
respect for borders from Quakvarteto
Underwater remains of Prague’s first bridge explored by researchers
Why is it so hard to remove a Czech president?
The 1946 US operation that proved a propaganda coup for Czechoslovakia’s Communists
Huawei threatens court case if Czech agency does not withdraw warning
Major renovation planned for Prague’s Masaryk train station