Plain and Fancy: 08/26/24

Monday, August 26, 2024

Emergency - Emergency (1971 czechia / germany / uk, remarkable jazz brass prog rock, 2017 remaster)

Quite remarkably from today's view, Anglo-American beat and pop music did not just spread in the West, but beyond the „Iron Curtain" of the time. In the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Hungary etc., many young musicians got themselves instruments and amplifier equipment, of- ten under difficult conditions and against the will of the ruling class. Their aim was to follow the electrifying "new music" that came from the West, and to play beat and later on rock music. This was particularly the case in former Czechoslovakia, where (quite in contrast to the GDR) a fairly liberal wind was blowing in the mid 1960 - considering it was under Soviet control - and where the ruling powers allowed the young generation to tailor themselves to the West both musically and with regard to their outward appearance.

The roots of Emergency date back to the beat band The Madators, originally founded in 1965 as "Fontana" by bassist Otto Bezloja (born on 04.07.1945, died 28.12.2001). The Madators from Prague were one of the leading beat bands in former Czechoslovakia, and also very popular in the GDR, since they often had gigs there. Their live program mainly consisted of cover versions of successful contemporaries like "The Who", "The Kinks", or the "Small Faces". The band released two singles, two EP's and a complete album, where they also played own titles. Singer Reddy Kirken (real name: Miloš Vokorka, born 28.05.1942) took over the vocals with The Madators from 1968-1969. Befo- re that, he had sung and played the guitar with the "Hell's Devils" (1963-1964) and with Komety (1967-1968).

Keyboarder Jiří Matoušek (born 20.09.1942 in Prague) also played with The Madators from 1968-1969, together with sax player Hanuš Berka (15.12.1941, died on 14.04.1978). Before that, Jiří Matoušek had played the keyboard with "The Colour Images", the backing band of the Czech beat pioneer Pavel Sedláček. Hanuš Berka probably possessed the most impressive career until the foundation of Emergency. He had been instructed in classic piano since his early childhood, and had later on learned the guitar, clarinet, saxophone and flute. After his study at the conservatory in Prague he was honored best tenor saxophone player at the German amateur jazz festival.

In 1966 he worked as arranger for singer Karel Gott. Together they spent one year in Las Vegas, where he became honorary citizen and occasionally played with Ray Charles and Count Basie. Since Karel "made music I was no longer interested in", the jazz virtuoso and Coltrane fan separated from his partner. Back in Prague the former MBA and civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Trade was part of the traditional jazz studio and played together with world renowned jazzmen Jan Hammer (keyboarder with the Mahavishnu Orchestra 1971-1973, and many others) and Miroslav Vitouš (bass, founding member of Weather Report). His "jazz mass❞ was successful at the jazz festival in Oslo.

Together with The Madators' colleagues mentioned he went to Munich in 1969 and became musical director of the German version of the musical "Hair". The Madators had been engaged as a band for this musical and also recorded the album "Haare". With that the beat- and pop era ended and the musicians obvious- ly wanted to broaden their musical horizon. Together with London guitarist Barry Newby and top session drummer Udo Lindenberg they founded Emergency. Technically top on their instruments they managed to establish a progressive brass rock alongside the funky krauty psychedelic- and electro rockers, which initially convinced a live audience.

Manager Abi Ofarim, in whose cellar the band rehearsed, made contact with CBS and in no time a record contract for two albums was signed. Since the band had also caught the interest of the head of promotion of the American CBS, who was checking out Teutonic sound as a talent scout in Germany, the LP was released simultaneously in the USA and in Germany. Emergency's 1st album of the same name consisted of Reddy Kirken (Miloš Vokorka, aged 26 at that time), who had a black voice of rugged beauty and looked like a close (if beardless) relative of Rasputin. His parents were Red Indians, Sioux, who had landed in Prague. With his old friends Jiří Matoušek and Otto Bezloja he was companion of Hanuš Berka. Barry Newby, guitarist from London, who caressed the strings of his guitar as gently as Fred Glickstein from the "Flock", and eventually top drummer Udo Lindenberg from Hamburg intended to follow the Bohemian Berka on his path to the top of the world ranking list.

The record premiered in May 1971. Its rhythmic intensity and musical precision is by all means comparable to the earlier albums of the "Chicago Transit Authority” (I'm A Man). Cream of the crop! In January 1972 the second album Entrance was recorded and released shortly after. Guitarist Barry Newby had left for his home London, in order to produce T. Rex, resp. Marc Bolan. He was replaced by Frank Diez (Armageddon, Atlantis, and many others). Englishman John Redpath took over from Udo Lindenberg, who wanted to get his solo career started. In spite of excellent critiques the second album did not have the desired financial success; and so the band split up. Hanuš Berka continued with new musicians (for example Veit Marvos, Peter Bischof, Richard Palmer-James) and a more catchy sound. Another two regular albums were released on the brain label (Get Out Of The Country, 1973, and No Compromise, 1974), before the band finally dissolved in 1975.

Hanuš Berka died in 1975 after a traffic accident. In 1991 Otto Bezloja reactivated The Madators (with whom he played until his death in 2001). The Madators had their last concert in 2008. The first legal rerelease of the Emergency CBS albums, which have been unavailable for a long time, is dedicated to the memory of Hanuš and Otto.

by Manfred Steinheuer, September 2016