29.3.2015

The BAND : The LAST WALTZ  (DVD)

As a film, The Last Waltz was a triumph -- one of the first (and still one of the few) rock concert documentaries that was directed by a filmmaker who understood both the look and the sound of rock & roll, and executed with enough technical craft to capture all the nooks and crannies of a great live show. But as an album, The Last Waltz soundtrack had to compete with the Band's earlier live album, Rock of Ages, with which it bears a certain superficial resemblance -- both found the group trying to create something grander than the standard-issue live double, and both featured the group beefed up by additional musicians. While Rock of Ages found the Band swinging along with the help of a horn section arranged by Allen Toussaint, The Last Waltz boasts a horn section (using Toussaint's earlier arrangements on a few cuts)and more than a baker's dozen guest stars, ranging from old cohorts Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan to contemporaries Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Van Morrison. the Band are in fine if not exceptional form here; on most cuts, they don't sound quite as fiery as they did on Rock of Ages, though their performances are never less than expert, and the high points are dazzling, especially an impassioned version of "It Makes No Difference" and blazing readings of "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Levon Helm has made no secret that he felt breaking up the Band was a bad idea, and here it sounds if he was determined to prove how much they still had to offer). Ultimately, it's the Band's "special guests" who really make this set stand out -- Muddy Waters' ferocious version of "Mannish Boy" would have been a wonder from a man half his age, Van Morrison sounds positively joyous on "Caravan," Neil Young andJoni Mitchell do well for their Canadian brethren, and Bob Dylan's closing set finds him in admirably loose and rollicking form. (One question remains -- what exactly is Neil Diamond doing here?) And while the closing studio-recorded "Last Waltz Suite" sounds like padding, the contributions from Emmylou Harris andthe Staple Singers are beautiful indeed. It could be argued that you're better off watching The Last Waltz on video than listening to it on CD, but either way it's a show well worth checking out.

ZVA 12-28 Band

Kapela ZVA 12-28 band oslávila v roku 2015 už dvadsiatepiate výročie jej založenia, napriek tomu robí svieže autorské blues na pozoruhodnej interpretačnej a inštrumentálnej úrovni. Kapela je charakteristická originálnou tvorbou, charizmatickým spevom a hrou na gitaru lídra Norberta Červenáka, citlivou a invenčnou hrou huslistu Stanislava Fakana a originálnym groovovým (rytmickým) uchopením piesni kontrabasistu Ladislava Červenáka a hráča na bicie nástroje Petra Krška.

Pestrým melodickým a rytmickým poňatím, aranžmánom a zvukom sa hudobný jazyk kapely ZVA 12-28 Band výrazne vymyká z typického stredoeurópskeho blues-rockového klišé. Hudobne kapela vychádza z pôvodnej bluesovej tradície (Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon…), využíva moderné a originálne prvky shuffle & boogie, funky. Svoju nezameniteľnú hudobnú tvár si buduje nielen na originálnom poňatí bluesových štandardov, ale hlavne na pôvodnej tvorbe, ktorá kulminuje v posledných rokoch existencie kapely. V rokoch 2005 až 2010 vydáva tri pôvodné autorské albumy http://indies.eu/umelci/45/zva-12-28-band/ , v ktorých sa čím ďalej viac prelína typická bluesová modalita s modalitou ovplyvnenou slovenským folklórom.

Kapela každoročne odohrá 60 až 90 koncertov prevažne na klubovej a festivalovej pôde na Slovensku, v Čechách ale i v Poľsku, Rakúsku a v Maďarsku.