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Emil Viklicky

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny's SHQ ensemble. In 1976, he was a prizewinner at the jazz improvisation competition in Lyon, and his composition "Green Satin" (Zeleny saten) earned him first prize in the music conservatory competition in Monaco, where in 1985 his "Cacharel" won second prize in the same competition.

In 1977, he was awarded a year's scholarship to study composition and arrangement with Herb Pomeroy at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He then continued his composition studies with Jarmo Sermila, George Crumb and Vaclav Kucera. Since returning to Prague, he has led his own ensembles (primarily quartets and quintets), composed and arranged, and - since the death of Karel Velebny - worked as director of the Summer Jazz Workshops in Frydlant. He has lectured at a similar workshop event in Glamorgan, Wales. Between 1991 and 1995, Viklicky was President of the Czech Jazz Society, and since 1994 he has worked with the Ad lib Moravia ensemble, whose performances combine elements of Moravian folk music, modern jazz and contemporary serious music. In 1996, the ensemble undertook a highly successful concert tour of Mexico and the United States.

As a pianist, Viklicky often performs in international ensembles alongside musicians from the U.S. and other European countries, including the Lou Blackburn International Quartet, the Benny Bailey Quintet, and multi- instrumentalist Scott Robinson. He has made frequent appearances in Finland (with the Finnczech Quartet and in particular with Jarmo Sermila) and Norway (with the Czech-Norwegian Big Band and Harald Gundhus) and has performed in the USA, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands (at the North Sea Festival) and elsewhere. The editor of Rolling Stone wrote of Viklicky that "It was a delightful surprise to see such first-class, top-of-the-line jazz in Prague."

As a composer, Viklicky has attracted attention abroad primarily for having created a synthesis of the expressive elements of modern jazz with the melodicism and tonalities of Moravian folk song that is distinctly individual in contemporary jazz. Besides this, however, he also composes "straight-ahead" modern jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works that utilize certain elements of the New Music, and at times his music requires a combination of classical and jazz performers. He also composes incidental and film music and has produced scores for several full-length feature films and television series. Throughout the 1990s he devoted an increasing amount of time to the composition of contemporary classical music for a great variety of instrumental combinations ranging from small chamber ensembles and electronic instruments to symphony orchestras and choruses. Viklicky's work has gained him a number of prestigious awards.

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5
Album Review

Emil Viklický & Pavel Hrubý: Between Us

Read "Between Us" reviewed by Ian Patterson


After four decades of small ensemble recordings, veteran Czech jazz pianist Emil Viklický is developing a taste for duo albums. Following the fine duo outings Together Again (ACT Music, 2014) with George Mraz, and Moravian Romance: Live at Jazzfest Brno 2018 (Venus, 2018) with Miroslav Vitous, Viklický partners with reed player Pavel Hrubý, here on bass clarinet, to deliver a dozen intimate dialogues which draw as much from blues, classical and Eastern European folk traditions as they do from jazz. ...

7
Album Review

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

Read "Mraz & Viklicky: Together Again" reviewed by Ian Patterson


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 Viklický and bassist George Mraz's collaborations on Morava (Fantasy/Milestone 2001)--with drummer Billy Hart and singer Zuzana Lapcikova--and Moravian Gems (Cube-Métier 2007) with singer/violinist 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 ...

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Extended Analysis

Emil Viklicky: Emil Viklicky 60

Read "Emil Viklicky: Emil Viklicky 60" reviewed by Victor Verney


Emil Viklicky Emil Viklicky 60 Multisonic 2009

Imagine Barack Obama introducing, say, keyboard player Herbie Hancock for a live concert at the White House on the occasion of Hancock's 60th birthday (a milestone, incidentally, that Hancock reached on April 12, 2000). Pianist Emil Viklicky's latest CD was created under somewhat analogous circumstances. The analogy is admittedly a bit strained, and not just because Czech president Vaclav Klaus doesn't wield the sheer power ...

1,021
Extended Analysis

Emil Viklicky Trio: Ballads And More

Read "Emil Viklicky Trio: Ballads And More" reviewed by Victor Verney


Emil Viklicky Trio Ballads And More Arta 2008

Pianist Kenny Barron, on several occasions, has said that in his view the ballad is what separates the wheat from the chaff with musicians. “As far as I'm concerned," he maintains, “if you can't play a ballad, forget about it!" Numerous jazz luminaries, as if in recognition of this fact, devoted an entire album to the form, including saxophonists Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Stanley ...

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Interview

Emil Viklicky: Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano

Read "Emil Viklicky: Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano" reviewed by Victor Verney


When most American jazz buffs think of the Czech Republic, they probably think of bassists George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous or keyboardist Jan Hammer. However, Europeans knowledgeable about the same topic probably think of Emil Vicklický, the acknowledged “Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano." Known for combining the melodism and tonalities of Moravian folk music with modern jazz harmonies and classical orchestration in a distinctly individual style, Vicklický grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, where his father was a university art ...

372
Album Review

Emil Viklicky: Cookin' In Bonn

Read "Cookin' In Bonn" reviewed by Victor Verney


Mention the Czech Republic to American jazz fans and most would likely think of George Mraz, Miroslav Vitous or Jan Hammer. However, these three musicians would almost certainly agree that pianist Emil Vicklický is the “Patriarch of Czech jazz," a title bestowed on him by general consensus.

Without question, there remain lingering pockets of Americans who doubt, privately if not aloud, whether Europeans can really play jazz; in fairness, there are also many Europeans who believe Americans can't really play ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny's SHQ ensemble. In 1976, he was a prizewinner at the jazz improvisation ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny\'s SHQ ensemble. In 1976... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny\'s SHQ ensemble. In 1976... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny\'s SHQ ensemble. In 1976... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny\'s SHQ ensemble. In 1976... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today!

Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same year he joined Karel Velebny\'s SHQ ensemble. In 1976... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

1

Event

Emil Viklicky "The Janacek Of Jazz" Plays Rare London Gig At Spice Of Life October 31

Emil Viklicky "The Janacek Of Jazz" Plays Rare London Gig At Spice Of Life October 31

Source: All About Jazz

Czech jazz pianist Emil Viklicky returns to the UK to play a rare, one-off gig at the Spice of Life, in Soho, London on Thursday, October 31st. Appearing in his favorite setting of a trio, Viklicky is joined by double bassist Petre Dvorsky and drummer Tomas Hobzek. Often described as “the Janacek of jazz”, Viklicky has spent a lifetime exploring the music of Czech composer Leos Janacek (1854 to 1928), weaving his timeless Moravian folk melodies into the jazz idiom, ...

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Recording

"The Funky Way of Emil Viklicky" Reviewed in UK Vibe!

"The Funky Way of Emil Viklicky" Reviewed in UK Vibe!

Source: Michael Ricci

Here is an interesting keyboardist deserving of wider recognition. Born in 1948 in the then-Czechoslavakia, Emil Viklicky made his album debut in 1975 in the middle of the jazz-fusion/rock period internationally and the album sold over 30,00 copies within the country. During 1977/1978, Viklicky was awarded a one-year scholarship to study at the prestigious Boston Berklee College of Music, and here he came into contact with a number of fellow students who would go on to become established jazz musicians, ...

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Recording

Recent Listening: Hal Weary, Bill Frisell, Emil Viklicky

Recent Listening: Hal Weary, Bill Frisell, Emil Viklicky

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Hal Weary, A Rendezvous with Deja Vu (halwearyjazz). Weary is a pianist from the west on the rise in New York City. The quintet numbers on his debut CD draw on the hard-bop/gospel spirit of Horace Silver and Art Blakey. On “Tenderly," he touches on but soon departs from Erroll Garner. Unaccompanied on “Praise Medley" he seems to refer to the Ellington of “Reflections in D." Weary and his sidemen, saxophonist Shantawn Kendrick, trumpet Kenyatta Beasley, bassist Gregory Williams and ...

228

Recording

Emil Viklicky Releases New CD in Japan

Emil Viklicky Releases New CD in Japan

Source: Michael Ricci

Emil Viklicky and Venus Records are pleased to announce the release of Emil's latest CD, Sinfonietta~The Janacek of Jazz (VHCD 1034). Eleven of its dozen tracks were recorded at Avatar Studios in New York last year with George Mraz on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. The twelfth track, “Sinfonietta," recorded in Prague in 2007 with Mraz and Laco Tropp on drums, originally appeared on the CD Moravian Gems (CubeMetier 2007). As a composer, Emil Viklickýhas attracted international attention for ...

”Combine elements of Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson with a deep infusion of Moravian soul, and you have Emil Viklicky, the patriarch of Czech jazz piano.”
—Jack Massarik, London Evening Standard, 10 Dec. 2007

“Emil Viklicky's chiming chords and poignant melodic turns on Moravian love songs had a Keith Jarrett-like eloquence.”
—John Fordham, Guardian, 21 Jan. 2007

“Emil Viklicky is one of those European jazz pianists who has successfully incorporated elements of his indigenous folk culture into jazz. When he performs his original compositions with their indebtedness to Czech and Moravian folk forms, a very distinctive and rewarding synthesis occurs

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Between Us

Amplion
2020

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Emil Viklicky: Emil...

Multisonic Records
2009

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Cookin' In Bonn

Dekkor Records
2006

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Pepper in Ostrava

From: From live performance
By Emil Viklicky

Longing

From: Live In Vienna
By Emil Viklicky

Mystery of a Man Blues

From: Marcus Printup and Emil...
By Emil Viklicky

Aspen Leaf

From: Cookin' In Bonn
By Emil Viklicky

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