Karel Černoch - Letiště flac album

If I were to pick the single best Czech pop (not rock) album of the 20th century, this would be the one. Be it for the excellent choice of material which includes both cover versions as well as original songs co-written by the protagonist. Be it for the backing orchestra comprising of experienced jazz and rock musicians able to cross between the said genres seamlessly. Be it for the well crafted lyrics which surprisingly neither managed to offend the communist censors in 1975, nor do they sound silly to me thirty-seven years later. Be it for the solid arrangements which were on a par with contemporary Western pop releases. Be it for the imaginative cover artwork by the then unknown, today world-famous Peter Sís. Be it for the probably first ever trace of rapping (i.e. in the later sense of hip-hop) on a Czechoslovak record in “Tržnice světa”. Be it for one of my most favorite cover versions of a Beatles song ever, the soul-jazzy ballad “Přijď co nejdřív” (And I Love Her). But mainly, be it for the above it all floating voice of the most accomplished Czech pop singer of all times, Karel Černoch, one of the very few non-Afro-Americans in the world able to cover a Marvin Gaye song so effortlessly, yet absolutely credibly. (Nomen est omen: “černoch” translates literally as “blackman” in Czech.) Six stars out of five.P.S. (2016-01-28) I just finally figured out where the jazz arrangement for “Přijď co nejdřív (And I Love Her)” came from (no, Czech arrangers were not necessarily that inventive): Grady Tate - By Special Request