Vlasta Průchová: The woman who sang with Gott, hosted Armstrong, and raised a world-renowned musical genius
Vlasta Průchová was one of the defining figures of Czech jazz. She was the singer who brought the spirit of American swing and jazz into Czechoslovak homes at a time when the Iron Curtain separated the country from the West. She performed alongside a young Karel Gott, welcomed music legends into her home, and raised a son who would become an international icon. This year marks the centenary of her birth.
In the early 1960s, viewers of the television programme Studio A witnessed a duet that quickly became a sensation: Až nám bude dvakrát tolik. Standing beside the already respected jazz singer Vlasta Průchová was a young Karel Gott, who would later become the biggest star of Czech popular music. At a time when Gott was only beginning his career, Průchová was already firmly established as one of the country's leading jazz performers.
Audiences also associated her voice with another hit, Docela všední, obyčejný den, which became the theme song of a popular television quiz show. The programme helped propel her to the ranks of the best-known Czech singers of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Armstrong in the living room: Jazz behind the Iron Curtain
After the Second World War, Prague became one of Europe's jazz capitals, despite the communist regime's frequent suppression of Western culture. Wherever jazz was played, Vlasta and her husband Jan Hammer, a physician and a pioneer of Czech swing, were likely to be found.
Their home became a legendary gathering place for musicians. The Hammer household's jam sessions were famous throughout Prague, and one of their guests was none other than Louis Armstrong.
When Armstrong's band visited Prague in the 1960s, they treated the Průchovás' home as if it were their own. Drummer Danny Barcelona even gave young Andrea Hammer a cymbal as a gift. Armstrong himself stopped by for "a bowl of soup" after one of his concerts. The evenings often lasted until dawn, with Jan Hammer heading straight from the music-filled nights to his shift at the hospital.
A childhood among horses, dogs, and the forests of Slovakia
Vlasta Průchová was born on 12 July 1926 in Ružomberok, Slovakia. She spent her childhood in Trenčín, surrounded by forests, horses, and three dogs. She inherited her musical talent from her mother, but it was Jan Hammer, her future husband, who ultimately shaped the course of her life.
The two met in Zlín in 1941, when the town was alive with the Film Harvest festival and swing concerts. Hammer, whose medical studies had been interrupted by the Nazi occupation, devoted himself fully to music. Performing with the leading swing musicians of the day, he soon captivated Vlasta as well. Before long, she was sharing the stage with him.
They married in 1947, and their life together became one long jam session – filled with music, improvisation, passion, and a fair share of chaos.
The son who conquered the world: Jan Hammer Jr.
Shortly after their wedding, the couple welcomed a son, Jan. Even as a child, he displayed extraordinary musical talent, sitting at the piano and playing with remarkable ease. He later composed the score for the Czech fairy-tale film The Incredibly Sad Princess.
In 1968, the family travelled to the United States for what was intended to be a one-year stay. Their son received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, while his father began a medical fellowship in Washington. At the end of the year, Vlasta and Jan returned to Prague, but their son remained in America and went on to become an international star.
Jan Hammer played with the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra, founded his own recording studio, and eventually composed the iconic music for the television series Miami Vice. The soundtrack earned him two Grammy Awards, four platinum records, and spent eleven months at the top of the Billboard charts, becoming one of the most successful television soundtracks of all time.
The mother of an emigrant forbidden to record
Her son's decision to remain in the United States came at a heavy personal cost. The communist authorities barred Vlasta from recording in professional studios. She was still allowed to perform live, but she did not release a single album until the 1990s.
During those years she also lost her husband. Dr. Jan Hammer died in 1989, and their son returned to Czechoslovakia for the first time in a decade to attend his father's funeral.
Jazz as the last refuge
Průchová devoted herself to caring for her daughter Andrea, who, because of political discrimination, was denied admission to the conservatory three times. Andrea's life became increasingly difficult, and she eventually developed serious mental health problems. Vlasta became the family's pillar of support, looking after both her daughter and her two grandsons.
Despite these hardships, she never lost her optimism. Jazz remained her greatest source of strength. After the Velvet Revolution, she returned to the stage, performing in the most famous Prague jazz clubs. Every performance attracted a full house.
In 2003, President Václav Klaus, himself a devoted jazz enthusiast, awarded her the Medal of Merit (Second Class). The honour served as long-overdue recognition after years of being pushed to the margins by the communist regime.
Vlasta Průchová died on 16 June 2006, just a few weeks before what would have been her 80th birthday.
