Record Reviews

TRADITIONAL JAZZ STUDIO ~ ENTOMOLOGUV SEN INDIES HAPPY TRAILS 773 (Barcode: 8595026677326) ~ CZECH REPUBLIC ~ Jazz Recorded: 1972 Released: 2018 This is a reissue of the third album by the Czech Jazz ensemble Traditional Jazz StudioFind albums by this artist, a nonet dedicated, as the name suggest, to Traditional Jazz, i.e. music that developed on the early days of the Jazz history (late 19th and early 20th Centuries) and included such genres as Ragtime, Blues, New Orleans, and early Swing. Traditional Jazz (also called Trad Jazz) enjoyed several revivals over time, such as the Dixieland revival in the US in the late 1930s or the New Orleans revival in Britain, which lasted between the mid-1950s to the mid 1960s. A "classic" Trad band, like the one on this album, included trumpet, cornet, trombone, two clarinets, piano, banjo, tuba (instead of bass) and drums. The album presents twelve original compositions, six by Antonin BilyFind albums by this artist (on side A of the LP), the band´s pianist and six by Pavel SmetacekFind albums by this artist (on side B of the LP), the band´s clarinetist. All the music is beautifully remastered and the album comes with extensive liner notes, extremely well researched and full of discographical information, sadly only in Czech language (which works fine for me, but probably less so for other enthusiasts who also might be interested). Traditional Jazz was extremely popular behind the Iron Curtain, especially so in Poland and Czechoslovakia, for many reasons, some musical and others political. This subject is way too complex to be explained here, but let´s just say that Trad was "safe", far from Avant-Garde ideas that might bother the State censorship and represent underground / subversive / revolutionary ideology. Therefore it was used by Jazz musicians and the local intelligentsia circles as a cover-up to do exactly what the state was afraid they would do. Also Trad had a spiritual sense of freedom and sensuality, which were of course taboo. Having said all that, one must also state that Trad could serve as a basis for quite complex improvisations and compositional challenge, and it had a genuine following both among the musicians and the enthusiastic listeners. The music offers a carefully reconstructed sound, style and feel of early Jazz and the original composition sound absolutely authentic to the era. The lineup (see above) and the acoustic sound also add to the authenticity. Overall this album is a great example of East European Traditional Jazz, which still sounds quite charming in historical perspective. For fans of European Jazz and its history, reissues of this kind are an absolute must, and the fact that this music is available on CD for the first time makes it a wonderful treasure. Brilliant stuff! My personal thanks to Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, the owner of Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label, for his friendship and the incredible job he is doing to keep this music alive! Side Note Since the 1950s Czechoslovakia had a highly developed Jazz scene, certainly in proportion to its population, which included many successful ensembles and even Big Bands, as well as Jazz clubs, festivals and publications, all this in spite of state censorship and political limitations. The similar situation existed since the 1960s as far as Rock (including Progressive Rock and Jazz-Rock Fusion) was concerned, resulting in many excellent, interesting and innovative ensembles. The music was relatively well documented by the three state owned record labels: SupraphonFind albums on this label (founded in 1927), PantonFind albums on this label (founded in 1968) and OpusFind albums on this label (founded in 1971 and based in Bratislava, created on the base of Slovak division of Supraphon). Following the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989, the state owned record labels were privatized, with Supraphon dominating the local market. However, Supraphon was quite reluctant as far as exploring its vast back catalogue is concerned, and this is where the small independent Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label Records, a reissue label dedicated to the preservation of the recorded legacy of Czechoslovak music, owned and run by the devoted enthusiast / historian Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, founded in 2007, comes in. Over the years the label released a plethora of brilliant music, reissuing long deleted LPs and extensively exploring the archives in search of bonus material. The quest of Indies Happy Trails is similar to what the GADFind albums on this label Records label, run by Michal WilczynskiFind albums by this artist, is doing for Polish music, with similar consistency and praiseworthy dedication.

Updated: 01/03/2020Posted: 01/03/2020

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend