by yoni » Sat Aug 06, 2005 6:31 pm
Hi all,
Just got back from Czech Republic a couple days ago, second time there this summer. An amazing time was had by all.
I played a festival of Gypsy music, in the hills of eastern Bohemia, on the beautiful grounds of an ancient castle. It wasn't a real big festival, only a few hundred in attendance, but a one-of-a-kind gathering. There was a night of Gypsy popular, a night of Gypsy jazz and a night of traditional Gypsy music. Some great Gypsy bands from Czech and around Europe came.
I had the great honor of being the only non-Gypsy artist brought to perform there.
Well, I'm not so sure now, as my birth mother emails me that we likely have Gypsy genes in us anyway - there may have been some hanky-panky with great grandparents in Czech, and the Gypsy and Jew communities were quite close there. It still surprised me that about half the melodies the traditional groups played were ancient Jewish tunes, and their own renditions of them, often played around the speed of light.
One group was so insane I'll never forget them: The "Holub (dove) Ensemble" - a father, three sons and other young friends that played too wild to be true. They took the Django Reinhardt style and other styles to whole new dimensions, out into hyper-space. Kids, most of them, and I don't think I ever heard such incredible speed and chops on violin, up there with Amin, if not crazier. They looked right out of the 1930s, dark, mean and lean, slicked back black hair and dressed to kill in all black for the shows. These were poor, hard country folk and totally obsessed and possessed when it came to playing, which they did most of the days and nights. The two lead violinists, aged about 18 and 20, were downright scary, got some bizarre sounds out of their violins, besides general playing and orchestrations which seemed just about impossible. They also had two rhythm guitarists, an accordionist and an upright bassist - all super-virtuosos; the bassist was so rocking powerful and fast, and had such a big, thumping sound, no percussion was needed.
But in the mountain-valley hotel where we all stayed there were jam sessions into the wee hours - and these madmen had me flying right along, on hand drums and drum set. Was told later that some unforgettable stuff happened.
My show was with a group called "Apsora", the main group of the Gypsy jazz evening. Also monster players, they wouldn't let me stop soloing and made me the star of the evening. Got amazing feedback, was told I "electrified" the place... this almost really happened anyway, as the heavens let loose with a huge thunderstorm toward the end of the show.
The stage had a billowing fabric backdrop of a scene from India, the whole place was candle-lit, under huge old trees with the castle above, a scene right out of a movie.
A few of the groups were real funny, including one band of all very old guys - known for playing tunes of just one or two notes, but playing them faster than anyone else on earth - that was their thing. These guys were real hams, too.
Lots of Czech TV and press were there, some was recorded and I hope to hear it back some time.
Don't know when I'll get back there again, but one or two of these groups might come again to play in Israel, which would be great.
Now I'm settling back in, glad to be home in hot weather again. Gigs planned so far this week are one for mentally handicapped kids' schoolgroups, and my steady gig in Haifa,
and I'll be going with a whole new inspiration.
All the best,
Yonatan
Edited By yoni on 1142326488