Archives for June 2012

Whether the mercantile strictures of 21st century television will ever again permit cultural programming of substance on the commercial networks is anybody’s guess. The field has largely been left to public television, which has met the challenge with various degrees of responsibility and effectiveness.

In the medium’s early days, serious music may not have been welcomed with open arms on the major US networks, but it did make it onto the schedules. NBC-TV’s The Subject Is Jazz ran once a week in 1958, during what more than one commentator has referred to as New York’s last golden age of jazz. The program presented prominent representatives of several jazz eras who were at work in the city. Gilbert Seldes was the host, with pianist Billy Taylor (1921-2010) as the viewer’s articulate guide through the mysteries of improvisation, orchestration and swing, among other aspects of the music. Seldes (1893-1970) was a prominent cultural critic whose books, included The 7 Lively Arts and The Public Arts. He had considerable influence on Americans’ understanding of cultural matters.

Seldes may have been a bit stiff on television, but he prepared his questions and comments with care. Taylor exhibited the same relaxation and expertise that later made him an attraction on CBS-TV’s Sunday Morning. Here they are discussing rhythm and leading into a segment that features guitarist Mundell Lowe, bassist Eddie Safranski, drummer Osie Johnson and Taylor in the rhythm section. We hear solos by trombonist Jimmy Cleveland, baritone saxophonist Tony Scott and—in a brilliant bebop chorus from his pre-Tonight Show days—trumpeter Doc Severinsen.

YouTube has several segments from The Subject Is Jazz. To view them and see Ben Webster, Lee Konitz, Bill Evans go here to make your selections.

Last night the Emil Viklický Trio appeared at the small Seattle club Lucid, following up the film screening described in yesterday’s post. Lucid has the intimacy, camaraderie and absence of a cover charge reminiscent of jazz clubs in the 1950s and ‘60s. One significant difference from those days; at Lucid, as at many clubs today, the pianist must supply his own instrument, the kind that plugs into the wall. In the first set, Viklický, bassist Clipper Anderson and drummer Don Kinney concentrated on the pianist’s compositions from his recent Sinfonieta album and others inspired by his admiration for the Czech composer Leoš Janáček.

The second set sitters-in included solo vocalist Berenika Kohoutova from Prague and three other actors from Rhythm On My Heels, the motion picture discussed in the previous exhibit. The music ranged from standards by Victor Young, Hoagy Carmichael and Sonny Rollins to “Bim-Bam,” a Czech popular song from 1941 that is a highlight of the movie. Thanks to photographer Stacey Jehlik for these shots of the festivities.

The west coast tour over, on his way home to the Czech Republic Viklický will play Monday night at Dizzy’s Club in New York City’s Lincoln Center. He, bassist George Mraz, drummer Billy Hart and the Czech singer and screen star Iva Bittová will reprise music from Mraz’s album Moravian Gems.

The central characters in the new Czech film Rhythm On My Heels are young jazz musicians and their friends. They are ensnared in a plot by the communist party’s intelligence wing to concoct a case branding them anti-communist activitsts. This powerful film is directed by Andrea Sedláčková and acted by a vibrant cast. It is based on Josef Škvoreckýs book The Tenor Saxophonist’s Story. Many in the audience for last night’s screening at Seattle’s Town Hall lived through the communist occupation of Czechoslovakia (1948-1990). The emotions of that debilitating period of the nation’s history showed in their faces as they watched the film, which was shot on location in Prague. This paragraph is from the program for a screening last week in New York.

The story takes place in Czechoslovakia in the fifties and is “a musical tragedy” about love. Main character Danny is the alter ego of Josef Skvorecky himself. Danny is passionate about beautiful girls and jazz, but at the wrong time in a country where communist regime considers this music be way too imperialistic for young people. Danny and his friends form a jazz band and try to live a normal life in a strange world, where one’s destiny is shaped by politics, secret police and undercover agents who might as well be those beautiful girls.

Screened at international film festivals, the film had showings this week in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Pianist Emil Viklický, who composed the soundtrack, attended the screening and followed it with a concertby his trio. Six of the young actors from the film joined them to sing the title song and other music from the score. They are Vojtech Dyk, Jan Meduna, Berenika Kohoutova, Marika Soposka and Margareta Hruza. Ms. Kohutova (pictured) also sang a few standards. She has the potential to become a superior jazz vocalist.

Bassist Clipper Anderson and drummer Don Kinney rounded out the Viklický rhythm section. To read about their concert on a previous US visit by Viklický, click here. To read about his connection with Škvorecký, go here.

Wayne Jehlik, the Czech consul in Seattle, reports that efforts are afoot to arrange for US distribution of a DVD of Rhythm On My Heels. For its dramatic content, acting, Ms. Sedláčková’s directing and Viklický’s vivid music, the film is worthy of theatrical release here.