Vlasta Průchová (12 July 1926,
Ružomberok
Ružomberok (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of approximately 27,000.
Etymology
The name of the initial settlement located on today's Makovický street was ''Revúca'' ( Slovak "roaring ...
– 16 June 2006,
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
jazz singer. From the second half of the 1940s, she gradually built up her leading position in the Czech jazz scene. Průchová was the mother of the renowned Czech-American pianist and composer
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television an ...
.
Biography
Průchová was born to Czech parents who worked in
Ružomberok
Ružomberok (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of approximately 27,000.
Etymology
The name of the initial settlement located on today's Makovický street was ''Revúca'' ( Slovak "roaring ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
at that time. She was baptised by the Slovak priest
Andrej Hlinka
Andrej Hlinka (born 27 September 1864 – 16 August 1938) was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, journalist, banker, politician, and one of the most important Slovak public activists in Czechoslovakia before World War II. He was the leader of the ...
. At the end of 1938, the family was forced to leave Slovakia, and they resided in Prague.
Following the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Průchová had her first experience with jazz music. At the ''Filmové žně'' (Film Harvest Festival) in
Zlín
Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...
she attended the performance of the "ensemble of
swing stars" Elit Club.
[ Dorůžka (2002), p. 429] Among the members of the band was also her future husband,
Jan Hammer Sr. She later saw their performances in the Prague palace ''Metro'', where the band played in the "swing pub" ''Akvarium''. From her youth, she showed a musical talent in singing and Jan Hammer Sr. finally persuaded her to join the band. In 1947, she began to perform in the first Prague jazz club, Pygmalion.
The band was renamed Rytmus 47. In the same year she married Hammer. Pygmalion was closed in 1949 and following that Průchová sang in the legendary Prague dance-hall Lucerna Palace. At the same time she also collaborated with significant Czech jazz instrumentalists
Luděk Hulan,
Ferdinand Havlík and others.
[ Víšek (2006), album notes]
In the 1950s, Průchová — as a member of the
Karel Krautgartner Orchestra — became one of the most successful participants of the Czechoslovak song competition ''Hledáme písničku pro všední den'' (In Search of a Song for the Weekday).
In 1952, she was voted the best Czech jazz woman singer in the poll of the
samizdat
Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...
''Boptime''.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Průchová continued her concert career together with her husband, the
cardiologist
Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...
and musician Jan Hammer Sr. Their children,
Jan and Andrea, occasionally joined them on piano and drums.
[ Dorůžka (2002), p. 430] Their flat became a place of regular
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
s with fellow musicians. On one of these occasions, in 1965, she invited the American jazz singer and trumpeter
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
for dinner, and they jammed together.
In 1968, during the dramatic events of the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...
, the whole family moved to the United States. Jan Hammer Sr. received a one-year research fellowship in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and Jan Hammer Jr. began to study at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Their stay in the USA was entirely legal but the return to the Czechoslovakia brought them considerable problems.
Jan Hammer Jr. remained in the United States, but his father's career in medicine was stopped. Andrea was not admitted to study at the
Prague Conservatory
The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...
.
The one-year stay in a Western country was too suspicious for Czechoslovak communist regime.
Průchová was affected by
communist state
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
too. Although she was allowed to perform in the Prague clubs, she was prevented from making new recordings for more than twenty years.
She was forced to find a new band for her performances at clubs and regional jazz festivals. Thus began her co-operation with young exponents of the Czech jazz scene,
Emil Viklický, and later with the pianist Zdeněk Zdeněk.
[ Dorůžka (2002), p. 431]
Jan Hammer Sr. died on 2 May 1989, a few months before the Czechoslovak
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...
. Průchová appeared on the stage afterwards, in the 1990s and in the early years of the new millennium. She died on 16 June 2006 in Prague.
Style
Průchová was one of the pioneers of the Czech jazz singing. Her musical style encompasses various genres from
jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...
s and
swing to
bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
.
In the 1950s and 1960s she also influenced the style of the Czech
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
with her specific
phrasing and diction. She represents a part of the continuity of the Czech jazz in the second half of the 20th century.
[ Dorůžka (2002), p. 432] In her later years Průchová rarely changed her repertoire, she is considered an exponent of the "classical jazz singing". The Czech musicologist Lubomír Dorůžka called her "a key person of the Czech jazz singing" in one of his specialised jazz publications.
Antonín Matzner and Igor Wasserberger compared her to the American jazz singer
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
in their book (Jazz Profiles).
[ Matzner (1969), p. 133] Průchová even adopted a part of Fitzgerald's standard repertoire and also appeared in films. In 1951, she played a singer in the crime film ''V trestném území'' (In the Penalty Area). In 2001, she appeared in the documentary ''Milý společník aneb Blues pro Luďka Hulana'' ().
Discography
*''Všechno je prosté'' (1961) - music: Jan Hammer Sr., orchestral accompaniment: Dance Orchestra of the Czechoslovak Radio.
*''
The Man I Love'' (1965) - music:
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
, with Junior Trio.
*''Tonight'' (Arta, 1991) (Ar F 1 0027-2) - first recordings after 27-year pause.
*''Docela všední, obyčejný den''
D(Bonton Music, 1997) (B 71 0567-2) - re-edition of her recordings from 1958 to 1964.
*''Vlasta Průchová - na počátku bylo blues''
D(
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.
History
The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...
, 2006) (SU 5708-2) - recordings from 1950 to 1977.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
*
Czech jazz music loses its First Lady (Czech Radio)First lady of Czech jazz Vlasta Pruchova dies at 79 (Radio Prague)Welcome to the Czech Republic!O bytostném hudebním zápalu Vlasty PrůchovéŽivot v jazzu (A Life in Jazz) - Rytmus podle Vlasty Průchové (Rhythm according to Vlasta Průchová) - Televize.cz
*
ttp://hudebnirozhledy.scena.cz/www/index.php?page=clanek&id_clanku=363 Article in ''Hudební rozhledy''Hold Vlastě Průchové (Tribute to Vlasta Průchová) - Czech RadioVlasta Pruchová - Cantante (Aurora.com.uy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruchova, Vlasta
1926 births
2006 deaths
Czechoslovak women singers
Czech jazz singers
Czech women jazz singers
People from Ružomberok
20th-century Czech women singers