Emil Viklicky / Pavel Hruby

“Live at Jazz Dock”

(Amplion Records AMP 202503)

Emil Viklicky – piano, Pavel Hruby – bass clarinet

“Live at Jazz Dock” is the second duo album from the Czech jazz musicians Emil Viklicky (piano) and Pavel Hruby (bass clarinet).

Their 2021 studio release “Between Us” is reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann, a recording that was the product of lockdown and which was documented in the studio in August 2020. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/emil-viklicky-pavel-hruby-between-us

The success of “Between Us” has ensured that Viklicky and Hruby have continued to work together as a duo and this live recording captures a performance made on 28th March 2025 at the Jazz Dock jazz club in Prague.

I’ve always had a fondness for the playing of Emil Viklicky after first hearing him on a trip to Prague way back in 1994. Viklicky is now very much the ‘elder statesman’ of Czech jazz and is a player and composer with an international reputation. Slightly more recently I have enjoyed seeing him perform at both the Brecon and Cheltenham Jazz Festivals and his UK visits have also taken in the Porthcawl Jazz Festival. Among his numerous international collaborations have been the “Magic Eye” and “Zahadna” albums with the American brass and reed multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson.

Viklicky has worked regularly with both American and British musicians, among them US guitarist Bill Frisell and with the British contingent including saxophonist Julian Nicholas, drummers Dave Wickins and Eric Ford and more recently vocalist Imogen Ryall.

The live album “One Two Three Four”, featuring the Anglo Czech quartet of Viklicky, Nicholas, Wickins and bassist Petr Dvorsky is reviewed here.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/one-two-three-four

I have also reviewed the concert recording “Wangaratta”, which features a Czech- Australian chamber jazz trio featuring Viklicky, Australian saxophonist John Mackey and Czech born, Australian based trumpeter  Miroslav Bukovsky. 
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/emil-viklicky-miroslav-bukovsky-john-mackey-wangaratta

Of course Viklicky also worked with all of the leading Czech musicians, including such famous ‘exports’ as saxophonist Jaroslav Jakubovic, who supplies this album’s liner notes, and the high profile bassists George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous.

Viklicky was born in Olomouc in the former Czechoslovakia in 1948. He graduated in mathematics at Palacky University in 1971 but was always a keen amateur jazz musician and gradually began to establish himself on the Czech jazz scene. Eventually the music took over full time and he studied jazz at the famous Berklee College of Music in the United States.

Returning to his homeland he based himself in Prague and since 1989 has released over thirty jazz albums as a leader or co-leader, working in a variety of instrumental contexts and with both Czech and international musicians.

I purchased a couple of his early releases on my trip to Prague, “Homage to Joan Miro” (1989) and the excellent “Beyond the Mountains, Beyond the Woods” (1990). Later, when I got to see him play in the UK with his superb trio featuring bassist Frantisek Uhlir and drummer Laco Tropp, I acquired copies of the live albums “Trio ‘01” and “Cookin’ in Bonn” (2006), both recorded by this terrific line up.

In addition to his jazz output the prodigiously talented Viklicky has also composed a number of classical works, including an opera based on the writings of Vaclav Havel. he has also written for film, television and theatre.

I’m less familiar with the work of Pavel Hruby and biographical details have been hard to come by, despite an internet search. Nevertheless it transpires that Hruby is a saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and educator whose other projects include Phoenix, a collaborative improvising quartet featuring the Czech jazz musicians keyboardist Michal Nejtek, bassist Jaromir Honzak and drummer Daniel Soltis. This group début album also appears on Amplion Records, the label owned by producer Alexej Charvat. Other collaborative groups with whom Hruby has worked are the bands Limbo and Telemarkk. In 2021 he released the solo album “Go Between”, which featured him playing a variety of saxophones and clarinets.

As on this duo’s previous release “Live at Jazz Dock” features Hruby specialising exclusively on bass clarinet. As is the nature of jazz the musicians have long moved on from their previous recording and the live album only features one piece from the “Between Us” album. The programme features a mix of Viklicky and Hruby originals, with the pianist taking the lion’s share of the credits. There are also interpretations of compositions by Steve Swallow, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane.

The album commences with “Tell Me, Sonny” co-written by Viklicky and the Czech composer, conductor and radio producer Jaroslav Krcek, a leading authority on both classical and folk music.. .It’s a piece rooted in the co-composers’ shared love of folk music and acts as the vehicle for the extraordinarily fluent playing of Hruby on bass clarinet. In addition to his technical expertise on the instrument Hruby is also a deeply emotive player and as on the duo’s debut there’s a sense of being taken on a journey and being told a story during the course of these performances. Viklicky is also a supremely accomplished technician and he shines as both an accompanist and as a soloist, and this opening piece includes an extended passage of unaccompanied piano.

Viklicky’s own “Dawn Devayne” follows and once again the highly developed rapport between the two musicians is very much in evidence. Less busy and more lyrical than the opener it is nevertheless still imbued with a smouldering passion and intensity with both musicians stretching out emotively and expansively as soloists. Writing as a fellow reed player Jakubovic is particularly excited by Hruby’s playing of the bass clarinet and praises his fellow countryman lavishly, and deservedly so.

Hruby’s first contribution with the pen is “Pocahontas”, subtitled “Kiss for Gabriela”, one of the team at Jazz Dock. This commences with a short passage of unaccompanied piano before Hruby adds bass clarinet, playing with the sort of warmth and tenderness that the subtitle might suggest. The always excellent Viklicky then spreads his wings more expansively at the keyboard with a lengthy solo piano excursion that embraces jazz, folk and classical elements.

Unaccompanied piano also introduces Viklicky’s own “Kyczera”, a charming piece with a strong focus on melody. It’s something a show case for the composer who undertakes a lengthy piano solo before handing over to Hruby’s bass clarinet.

The first piece by an outside composer is an arrangement of the Steve Swallow tune “Away”, which is approached in a quietly lyrical fashion, giving it a lullaby like quality.

Viklicky’s “Sweet Basil” appeared on the duo’s “Between Us” album and is a tune that I’ve always assumed represents a dedication to the much missed Greenwich Village jazz club. If so it’s a lament to the venue’s demise, sombre in tone with deep, grainy bass clarinet sounds accompanied by deep piano sonorities. There’s a brooding quality about the music as Viklicky’s virtuoso piano solo is followed by some extraordinarily guttural bass clarinet sounds from Hruby.

Hruby takes up the compositional reins again with “Innervision”, which is lighter and more celebratory in mood, but no less impressive. This is a performance that combines typically fluent and accomplished collective interplay with outstanding individual solos.

The album concludes with two ‘covers’, beginning with Herbie Hancock’s “Chan’s Song”, which is performed with great elan and which represents the liveliest performance on the entire album. Hruby sings joyously through his horn during the course of an exuberant solo. He’s well supported by Viklicky’s superb comping before the pianist takes over with a celebratory solo of his own.

Finally we enjoy a version of John Coltrane’s “Naima”, which may well have been an encore on the night. It’s unusual to hear this celebrated ballad performed on bass clarinet and the duo truly make it their own, not just via the unusual instrumentation but also by their surprisingly robust take on the tune with Hruby really putting the bass clarinet through its paces and once again generating some extraordinary sounds. Viklicky is a skilled and willing foil who makes a superb contribution of his own, including some bravura piano soloing.

“Live at Jazz Dock” sees the duo of Viklicky and Hruby continuing to flourish and the immediacy of the live performance setting gives the album an additional frisson that just gives it the edge over its studio recorded predecessor. Although of different generations in terms of age these two musicians have developed an extraordinary rapport over the course of the last five years and this is brilliantly captured here.

Both musicians impress as individuals, with Jakubovic’s notes largely focussing on Hruby’s contribution as he produces an extraordinary range of sounds and timbres from the bass clarinet. But it’s not just about technical excellence, the playing is richly nuanced and deeply emotional too. In his turn Viklicky brings all these qualities to his piano playing and although they excel individually Hruby and Viklicky are also a great TEAM. Producer and record label owner Alexej Charvat plays his part too, as do engineers Adam Karlik and Michael Samiec at Jazz Dock.

This album of intimate but quietly intense duo performances is highly recommended.

 

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