Search - Druha Trava :: Czechmate

Druha Trava
Czechmate
Genres: Country, Folk, Pop

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. El Santo Dia
2. Spain
3. Greensleeves
4. Before The Bell Tolls
5. Rest Beside Me, Sara
6. Brazos Bottom
7. Wild Horses
8. Peace In The Valley
9. Skocna
10. One More Cup Of Coffee
11. Who's That Knockin' At My Door
12. Czechmate

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CD Details

All Artists: Druha Trava
Title: Czechmate
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 1
Label: © 1999 Compass Records
Original Release Date: 1/19/1999
Release Date: 1/19/1999
Genres: Country, Folk, Pop
Styles: Bluegrass, Outlaw Country, Classic Country, Traditional Folk
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 766397426020

Synopsis

Amazon.com

We don't usually consider bluegrass a politically subversive music, but under the communist regime of Czechoslovakia, bluegrass was a sound of resistance, records were circulated samizdat style, and musicians played under threat of imprisonment. With the advent of democracy, bluegrass and folk have flourished in Eastern Europe, with Druha Trava (in English, "Second Grass") at the fore. Their sound remains subversive: they work up Chick Corea, Bob Dylan, and Rolling Stones tunes with an ear for both jazz improvisation and Old World traditionalism. The five members are all virtuosos, having played bluegrass for some two decades, and if the idea of Czech voices harmonizing high and lonesome strikes you as implausible, it shouldn't. This may not be "authentic" bluegrass, but it's thrilling and inventive just the same. --Roy Kasten

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CD Reviews

AMAZING !

Mary L. Sprowle | Pagosa Springs ,Colorado | 12/10/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This group has been at the Four Corners Folk Festival, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado twice, and all who heard were blessed twice and over! The musical dedication of this group cannot be matched by any American artist. They are perfection, simply because they want to be perfect. This past September when they were at the festival, it was with Peter Rowan. They have made a new CD with him, which was a big mistake. They are a group well worth being on their own. They do not need the aging entertainer to make thier instruments ring ! This CD was wonderful and we would love more and more of them soon !"

These guys make Vladimir Flatt & Ivan Scruggs proud

07/02/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who'd've thought you'd ever get a chance to hear five guys from the Czech republic play American bluegrass, mixed with some progressive jazz, over a little foot stomping rock, between Smetana's classical BATTERED BRIDE like it's nobody's business? Well, last night we saw Druha Krava absolutely blow the roof off an old bar in south St. Louis. Besides offereing virtuoso renderings of all styles, the mix and pacing was fabulous. Their CZECHMATE release was featured, and they sure did it justice. NOW ABOUT THE BAND - Lubos #1 alternated between playing the hollow body banjo in a traditional style, and a solid body for the lead. Really nice hearing the lead played on the banjo. Their main singer, mandolin, and rhythm guitarist - kin to Bela Lugosi - alternated between a west Texas and an east Czech accent, always in command. When done dazzling with his dobro, the lead guitarist handled all styles beautifully and Mark Knofler would've been proud. Their percussion engineer (drummer) very mysteriously created a chamber orchestra sound, when he wasn't so madly pounding the skins. And who really missed a fiddle player, when the slide guitarist so strongly carried the load. The bass player stepped out of Bela Fleck's closet and wowed the crowd with his expert style and harmonics for the entire evening. In all, an outstanding performance and a great disk. DON'T MISS THESE GUYS IF YOU EVER HAVE THE CHANCE!"

Grown-up bluegrass

Kate Daly | Langhorne, PA. | 01/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two of the twelve cuts on this album, heard in isolation, would not seem to be bluegrass. Greensleeves, in particular, sounds quite Elizabethan. However, the entire album, taken as a whole, is complex, mature, and beautifully bluegrass."