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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Frantisek Uhliř’s Welcome New Album

May 23, 2020 by Doug Ramsey

Some time ago, I wrote on Rifftides, “The Czech Frantisek Uhliř is one of the greatest bassists in the world. He works frequently in the trio of his countryman pianist Emil Viklicky, another great European player about whom most Americans know little. I just ran across a brief note I made when I was in Prague twelve years ago (now, more like 25 years ago), helping American economists teach market economics to Czech journalists newly released from communism.”

June 10, 1993: Went to Agartha last night to hear Frantisek Uhlir, the wonderful bassist. Earlier in the day one of his fans told me he is better than George Mraz. Maybe, maybe not, but he is superb, world class. Uhlir is a short, powerful, chubby man with a pleasant round face. His tone is round, too, and centered, and he is fast, agile and swinging.

There is nothing about Uhliř’s new album, Story of my life, to alter that assessment. Leading his septet, he is as powerful as when I first heard him in Prague with Viklicky at the storied club called Agartha. In a recent video, we are treated to Uhliř leading his seven-piece ensemble at another fine Prague club, Reduta. At the end of the long clip, we’ll give you the names of the players.

František Tomšíček, trumpet; Přemek Tomšíček, trombone; Andy Schofield, alto saxophone (UK); Suzanne Higins, tenor saxophone (UK); Standa Mácha, piano; Marek Urbánek, drums; Frantisek Uhliř, bassist and leader.

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Comments

  1. Orsolya S. says

    May 24, 2020 at 8:23 am

    Thank you for this wonderful jazz concert.

  2. Mike Davis says

    June 7, 2020 at 7:37 am

    Very enjoyable indeed. Mr Uhlif’s playing calls to mind the late Red Mitchell (who undoubtedly inspired a whole raft of bass players), and Frantisek’s fellow countrymen – especially trombonist, Přemek Tomšíček – give a superb account of themselves. Indeed, it’s fair to say – though perhaps I shouldn’t – that there isn’t a dud Czech among them – which will now probably qualify as the worst pun of the year.

  3. Larry Peterson says

    June 9, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    Thank you for bringing Frantisek Uhliř to my attention. This post has led me, via Amazon Music Unlimited, to Emil Viklicky, and from there to Scott Robinson, and now Frank Kimbrough’s Thelonious Monk set with Scott R.

    All this via Amazon Music Unlimited, a huge collection of almost any and every (is there a difference?) recording I can think of, and more I never thought of. I had never heard of Frantisek Uhliř, but when I searched his name in Amazon Music Unlimited, there were at least 6 recordings I could stream. Viklicky’s name was there. When I clicked on it, many of his recordings, available to stream, appeared. One was Scott R.’s Summertime recording with Emil Viklicky’s trio. Then, searching Scott Robinson’s name, another flock of recordings appears, and I see Frank Kimbrough’s Thelonious Monk project, on which Scott Robinson’s versatile virtuosity shines.

    I have often read in Rifftides about artists unknown to me. I’ve purchased many recordings as a result. Maybe too many. You understand the organization and storage challenge of keeping lots of recordings. I haven’t learned yet what I might not like about Amazon Music Unlimited. (I assume the artists get paid when I listen.) What I do know is that for about the cost of 1 CD per month, I can pursue my curiosity far and wide and deep.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled his life in journalism... [Read More]

Rifftides

A winner of the Blog Of The Year award of the international Jazz Journalists Association. Rifftides is founded on Doug's conviction that musicians and listeners who embrace and understand jazz have interests that run deep, wide and beyond jazz. Music is its principal concern, but the blog reaches past... Read More...

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Doug’s Books

Doug's most recent book is a novel, Poodie James. Previously, he published Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. He is also the author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers. He contributed to The Oxford Companion To Jazz and co-edited Journalism Ethics: Why Change? He is at work on another novel in which, as in Poodie James, music is incidental.

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