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Emil Viklicky & George Mraz: Mraz & Viklicky: Together Again

By Ian Patterson
March 21, 2014
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Emil Viklicky & George Mraz: Mraz & Viklicky: Together Again

In European jazz the assimilation of folkloric influences has become commonplace as the American vernacular—or more specifically the Great American Songbook—exerts less of a hold. Czech musicians pianist Emil Viklick? and bassist George Mraz's collaborations on Morava (Fantasy/Milestone 2001)—with drummer

Billy Hart

drums
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Hart and singer Zuzana Lapcikova—and Moravian Gems (Cube-M��tier 2007) with singer/violinist

Iva Bittova

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Iva Bittova and drummer Laco Tropp—explored the beauty of Moravian folk music in a jazz context. ACT Music's Siggi Loch was so captivated that he has made it his mission to bring the music to a wider audience. Thus, Together Again sees Viklick? and Mraz revisit the tunes from the two aforementioned recordings in an intimate duo setting.

Together Again is undoubtedly a jazz recording, and little wonder, as both musicians have spent decades delving into the standards repertoire. Mraz made his name with pianists

Oscar Peterson

piano
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Peterson and

Tommy Flanagan

piano
1930 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Tommy Flanagan and in the

Thad Jones

trumpet
1923 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Thad Jones/

Mel Lewis

drums
1929 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Mel Lewis Orchestra. Viklick? has led his own small ensembles, including a jazz-funk quartet with guitarist

Bill Frisell

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Frisell in 1979. However, Moravian folk has been ever-present in the pianist's music since his debut V Holom��ci m��st�� (Supraphon 1978). Viklick? has also composed a significant number of classical works and it's these threads—the swing and blues of jazz, Moravian traditional melodies, and classical sensibilities—that largely define the music.

Five Viklick? originals and his arrangements of six traditional tunes might suggest that this is a Viklick? leader session in all but name. Still, Mraz's deeply sonorous tone and vibrant playing is as fundamental to the chemistry as bassist

Georg Riedel

bass, acoustic
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Georg Riedel's was to pianist

Jan Johansson

piano
1931 - 1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Jan Johansson playing on Jazz Pa Svenska, (Megafon, 1964) perhaps the most outstanding example of traditional European folk music given the jazz treatment to this day. Viklick? and Graz's light steps on two traditional tunes, the vignette "Dear Lover" and the quietly compelling "U Dunaja u Pre?purka" come closest to the chamber intimacy of that Johansson/Riedel recording,

Viklick? imbues 19th century Czech classical composer Zden��k Fibich's romantic "Poem," with a gentle bluesy lyricism, which Mraz replicates in an extended solo. Fibich was a contemporary of Anton��n Dvo?��k, Gustav Mahler and Leo? Jan��?ek, the latter of whom is something of a muse for Viklick?. Two of Jan��?ek's compositions are arranged afresh by the pianist; "Theme From 5th Part of Sinfonietta" flows with a slightly stately melodicism, while the blues-based "Thank You, Laca" is more romantic at its core. Both tunes highlight the duo's intuitive interplay and the loose-limbed freedom in their improvisations.

The blues number "A Bird Flew By" shifts subtly through the gears, moving between reflective melancholy and a more buoyant mood. "I Saw Grey Pidgeon" [sic] is a traditional tune given the blues treatment in a straight-forward yet appealing arrangement. More compelling is the harmonically arresting and rhythmically dynamic, "Austerlitz"—one of Viklick?'s most strikingly original compositions. The soulful "Moon Sleeping In The Cradle," the lightly stated classicism of "Up On A Fir Tree" and the delightful, elegant blues of "In Holom��c Town"—with fine arco work from Mraz—round out the set.

Together Again is an enchanting recording of subtle charms and a fine addition to ACT's growing Duo Art series. Doubtless for some it will serve as a reminder of Mraz's exquisite playing and for many more as a tardy introduction to Viklick?—one of Europe's most significant and yet unheralded jazz pianists/composers.

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Track Listing

Dear Lover; Poem; Theme From 5th Part of Sinfonietta; A Bird Flew By; U Dunaja u Pre?purka; Austerlitz; Moon, Sleeping In A Cradle; Thank You, Laca; Up On A Fir Tree; I Saw Grey Pidgeon; In Holom��c Town.

Personnel

Emil Viklicky

piano

Emil Viklick?: piano; George Mraz: acoustic bass.

Album information

Title: Mraz & Viklicky: Together Again | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: ACT Music

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