Jiří Stivín - Zvěrokruh / Zodiac (1977)

Jiří Stivín jest czeskim multiinstrumentalistą i kompozytorem urodzonym w 1942 roku. Znany przede wszystkim jako współzałożyciel znanej jazz rockowej grupy Jazz Q. Niekwestionowany wirtuoz gry na flecie oraz znakomity saksofonista. Ma za sobą studia na wydziale filmowym Akademii Muzycznej w Pradze a także w Royal Academy of Music w Londynie. W twórczości swojej nie skupia się wyłącznie na jazzie, od lat 80-tych koncentruje się na wykonywaniu muzyki klasycznej, występuje solowo oraz współpracuje z licznymi orkiestrami symfonicznymi i kameralnymi. 

The decade of 1970s was replete with various fusion styles.  Jazz was illegally married with rock.  Rock flirted with symphonies and suites.  And analog electronics pervaded all styles of music.  Much of the surge in creativity actually reflected the ferment of the 1960s, and by 1974 the thrill was gone.

But there are exceptions.  Prague flutist Jiří Stivín made rare inroads into syncretic forms virtually untested elsewhere.  His cogent approach to classical, experimental and free jazz music facilitated his exposure to London’s improvised scene, including Scratch Orchestra and Cornelius Cardew. 

In an era when many Czech and Slovak jazz musicians faced significant obstruction by the Communist regime, Stivín’s cross-border activity may be surprising, but the results were nonetheless spectacular.  His Jazz Q quartet recorded a trailblazing session with Radim Hladik’s Blue Effect.  Later collaboration with guitarist Rudolf Dašek also gained notoriety on the continent.

By mid-1970s, Stivín achieved a remarkable level of synthesis between electric jazz and baroque music.  He used his versatility to create a poetic idiom of the highest standard.  For many, such shameful heterodoxy would amount to little more than an artistic cul de sac.  Yet Stivín’s luxurious arrangements are not only cosmopolitan and multifarious, but often entirely counterintuitive.  It is therefore not surprising that in later years Stivín specialized in Vivaldi’s and Telemann’s repertoire. (sonicasymmetry)