Jaroslav Jezek - Hostina Chudych (1937)

Performed by: Jaroslav Jezek

Full Song Title: Hostina Chudych

Recorded in: 1937

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is another big hit from overseas. This time a popular Jazz artist from Czechoslovakia!

Jaroslav Ježek was one of the most popular Czech composers, pianists and conductors, author of jazz, classical, incidental and film music during the 1920s and 30s.

His musical output is commonly divided into two parts. The first part of his work consists of chamber, piano and concertant compositions, created first under the influence of Stravinsky, of the Parisian Les Six and of Arnold Schönberg. Later he found his own, specific and modern expression. He also became a popular jazz composer in pre-war Czechoslovakia. He composed songs and dances for the revue plays of the Prague Free Theatre (The Ass and the Shadow, Caesar, The Headsman and the Fool e.g.) and also for the films of Voskovec and Werich (Powder and Gasoline, The World Belongs to Us, Stand and Deliver!).

His innovative melodies are well known in the Czech Republic to this day. Ježek was also evidently fascinated by American jazz. Between 1929 and 1936, possibly earlier, he organized and conducted an orchestra featuring his original jazz compositions and arrangements. Billed variously as "Ježek's Jazz" and "Ježkův swingband" they recorded for the Czech Ultraphon label, making some of the most original music in Europe. A few of these recordings deserve special mention. "Bugatti Step" (1930; Ultraphone A10166) is an up-tempo number for piano and jazz orchestra, enjoying enduring popularity as a hot jazz piano solo. "Teď ještě ne" (Not Yet) (1931; Ultraphon A10217) is rousing dance music in the Jean Goldkette or Coon-Sanders' Nighthawks style.

"Rubbish Heap Blues" (1937; Ultraphon A11421) shows that Ježek not only listened to Duke Ellington's records, but was keeping up with Duke's very latest work. "Rubbish Heap" features a Johnny Hodges-like alto sax and a Cootie Williams-like growl trumpet, plus a three-trombone section to complement the three trumpets. Ježek's composition titled simply "Polonaisa" (1931; Ultraphon A10355) is a traditional Polonaise clothed in modern instrumentation, harmony and textures. It is as if Chopin and Gershwin had collaborated, the Polish dance rhythms mingling easily with hot syncopation. Ježek also turned the boys loose in records of his arrangements of well-known hot jazz standards, such as "Tiger Rag," "Dinah" and "Chinatown, My Chinatown." These recordings, very few of which could have survived the Nazi occupation and World War II, are almost completely unknown, at least in the U.S.A.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

Best wishes,
Stu
______________________
Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.