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Subject: Orig. Prague Syncopated Orch 1978 LP - "00 OPSO 1978 Notes.txt" [01/25] yEnc (1/1)
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00 OPSO 1978 Notes.txt
Recorded 1978
LP rip by Dick Baker, January 2010
[This recording was made at Supraphon studios in Prague
in November 1978. It was issued in 1979 by the West
German label WAM as WAM 780.065, then in 1980 by Supraphon
as 1115 2715. The poor quality of the last three tracks,
especially the vocals, is the same on both, so obviously
it's bad on the master recording. The liner notes below
are from the Supraphon issue; the notes on the WAM issue
are in German, but are not the same. --DB]
SIDE ONE
(1) ORIENTAL 2:20
Billy Meyers-Elmer Schoebel
(2) ROCK BOTTOM 2:30
Tiny Parham
(3) LOVE FOUND YOU FOR ME 2:50
Doc Cook
(4) I'M NOT WORRYING 3:25
Fats Waller
(5) GHOST OF THE BLUES 2:40
J. Tim Brymn-Sidney Bechet
(6) UP THE COUNTRY BLUES 3:20
Wingy Manone
SIDE TWO
(7) CHINAMAN BLUES 3:20
Erskine Tate
(8) MAMA'S GONNA SLOW YOU DOWN 2:45
Wells-Cooper
(9) KANSAS CITY MAN BLUES 2:25
Williams-Johnson
(10) FIVE FOOT TWO, EYES OF BLUE 2:35
Ray Henderson-Sam Lewis-Joe Young
(11) BOMBAY 3:05
Tiny Parham
(12) NAVIGATOR (WHY CAN'T YOU)* 2:50
Jolson-DeSylva-Brown-Henderson
[*The correct title of this 1929 song is "Why Can't You?"
There's nothing about a navigator in the lyrics, so your
guess is as good as mine as to where OPSO or Supraphon
came up with "navigator." --DB]
Arranged by Pavel Klikar
ORIGINAL PRAGUE SYNCOPATED ORCHESTRA
Pavel Klikar - cornet, leader (1-12)
Jan `tolba - clarinet (12), alto saxophone 1, 3-8, 10-12)
(2, 9), tenor saxophone (4, 5, 3, 10, 12)
OndYej Havelka - vocal (3, 4, 10, 12)
and guest performers
Oleg Petrua - cornet (12)
Petr Karen - bass saxophone (10)
Michal Hejna - drums (1, 10, 12)
Produced by Tony Matzner
The Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra is specifically
dedicated to the faithful recreation of orchestral jazz and dance
music of the years 1922 to 1930, based on an almost religious
analysis of surviving recordings of the period.
The organization was formed in Prague in 1974, with young
musicians who hadn t played with any other bands. These zealous
neophytes undertook to probe the depths of a then almost
forgotten popular style. They even attempted to achieve the
musical mind-set of 20s bandsmen!
During their short existence, the OPSO has already passed
through three distinct developmental stages. The first ran to
the year 1976. Up to that time the orchestra consisted of five
players, with a three-voice melodic section, heavily oriented
toward the white New York school of the time, but also following
some notable black orchestras, such as those of Clarence Williams
and Fletcher Henderson, and not at all forgetting the blues.
Their main thrust at that point was to attempt a balanced, crisp,
small-room sound. Thus rhythmic support was limited to piano and
banjo, with bass and drums being purposely left out.
The second stage, during 1976 8, was marked by the arrival
of new, talented musicians, among them the vocalist OndYej
Havelka. Various combinations of two reeds, and the inclusion of
a violinophone (a horned fiddle not seen since acoustic recording
days!), allowed more varied instrumentation, and the enlarged
group could more easily interpret not only polyphonic jazz, from
the earliest 20s, but also the homophonic hot dance music from
the decade s second half. More and more, the extraordinary vocal
and stylistic abilities of singer OndYej Havelka began to
blossom.
At the peak of this era was their appearance at the Old Jazz
Festival in the Dutch town of Breda in May 1978 (at which,
witnesses assure us, they blew the other bands into the Zuyder
Zee!), and the recording of the LP you have in hand.
OPSO Mark III emerged in late 1978 as a full-sized 13-man
aggregation typical of most dance bands of the 20s, using two
cornets, a trombone, three reeds, (everything from an oboe to a
bass sax!), two violins, piano, banjo or guitar, sousaphone or
string bass, and drums. All this allowed further emphasis on
orchestral arrangements, and minimized the role of collective
improvisation.
However, within the frame of this larger orchestra coexist
various smaller combinations which do continue the earlier
polyphonic style.
Not only in its music does OPSO relive the 20s. Also
important was the old recording technique: one microphone,
distantly placed, small studio, heavily draped, acoustically
dead, and direct-to-disc recording. For this LP we scrupulously
followed the old ways. Although using two microphones for
stereo, we set them almost together at a very narrow stereophonic
base (20 cm or 8 inches apart), at a distance of 4 to 5 meters
(roughly yards) from the orchestra. The recording was done with
hands off the console; no engineered balancing, playback or
mixing. What you hear on this record is an authentic
reproduction of the music actually played in the studio.
If a listener would like to take the recommendation of OPSO
leader Pavel Klikar, he or she would press the L+R button on the
amplifier and listen to this record in mono. It s surprising how
much clearer and more precise is the sound, and how much more
intensively is the listener drawn back into the source years of
this music!
The attempt of OPSO players to return to the 20s is not
limited to their appearance in period costumes, but goes so far
as their playing only on true, antique instruments, with their
typically soft, blending tone, and to the use of specific
intonation, vibrato, and tonal attack of the period! With all
this they develop an exotic and unique sound, with a mesmerizing
effect on the listeners of today.
For the record, we list the orchestras which recorded the
original versions of the pieces recreated for this LP by the
Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra:
New Orleans Rhythm Kings (1) Chicago, 1922
Tiny Parham and His Musicians (2, 11) Chicago, 1929
Cookie s Gingersnaps (3) Chicago, 1926
Clarence Williams and His Orchestra (4) New York, 1929
Fletcher Henderson s Orchestra (5, 8) New York, 1924
Joe Manone s Harmony Kings (6) Chicago, 1927
Erskine Tate s Vendome Orchestra (7) Chicago, 1923
Clarence Williams Blue Five (9) New York, 1923
California Ramblers (10) New York, 1925
Fred Rich and His Orchestra (12) New York, 1929
RECORDED IN PRAGUE IN NOVEMBER 1978
Recording director: Tony Matzner
Recording engineer: Petr Kocfelda
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