Various Artists – Czech Up! Vol. 2: We’d Be Happy (Vampisoul VAMPI 178CD, 2018)
The Vampisoul label is bringing back music from various countries and genres in a series of compilations. Czech Up! Vol. 2: We’d Be Happyy is a collection of widely-diverse tracks extracted from the Supraphon label in the former Czechoslovakia.
Although Czechoslovakia was behind the Iron Curtain, the artists at the time were deeply influenced by western music: pop, rock, psychedelia, funk and jazz.
On Czech Up! Vol. 2: We’d Be Happy you’ll find primarily a set of catchy pop and rock songs with psychedelic guitars and the classic brass sounds of the era, as well as some great funk jazz and contemporary jazz pieces.
The highlights on the album are the tasty funk jazz of Mahagon; the rhythm of Blues of Blue Effect, a band that later evolved towards progressive rock and became on the leading prog rock acts in Central Europe; the organ-fueled jazz of SHQ; the progressive jazz band Jazz Q featuring Joan Duggan; the blues and funk rock of Flamingo featuring Narie Rotrová; the quirky global fusion and prog rock of Barnodaj; and the Procol Harum-inspired sound of Hana Zagorová.
The CD booklet includes vintage photos and album covers with biographies of the artists featured, with in depth liner notes by Lukás Machata.
Purchase Czech Up! Vol. 2: We’d Be Happy
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
