Thursday, January 26, 2023

Jan Konopásek

Jan Konopásek (1931 - 2020) was a key figure in modern jazz in Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 20th century. He started with Karel Krautgartner, but his fateful partner was the vibraphonist Karel Velebný.

Together they founded the pioneering formations Studio 5 and S+H Q. Konopásek is also one of the few Czech musicians who, after emigrating, worked in top American jazz orchestras.

"He was the last top actor of the first wave of modern Czech jazz, which arose during the gradual loosening of the straitjacket imposed on Czech culture by the communist totalitarianism after 1948," explains Jiří Plocek, the author of Konopásk's biography.

The musician's famous sense of humor was confirmed last spring, when he returned to Czech Radio after many years a tuxedo that had been loaned to him in 1961 for concerts with Karel Krautgartner's JOČR.

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