Luboš Andršt: The Czech blues legend who shared the stage with B.B. King
On what would have been his 78th birthday, Radio Prague International looks back at the life and career of guitarist and composer Luboš Andršt, one of the founding figures of Czech blues and a self-taught musician who performed with some of the world's leading jazz and blues artists.
Born in Prague on 26 July 1948, Andršt's name is inseparable from Czech blues. Although best known as a blues guitarist, his music also drew inspiration from ethnic, classical and rock traditions. In 1996, he co-founded the successful Blues Alive festival in the town of Šumperk, which has since become one of Central Europe's leading blues festivals.
A self-taught guitarist, Andršt picked up the instrument at the age of 14. In 1970, he joined the group Framus Five, which disbanded later that same year. The band had already been promised a recording contract, however, and in late 1970 and early 1971 they recorded the landmark album Město ER, featuring Andršt's first studio performances as well as his first compositions.
Between 1971 and 1973, he played with Martin Kratochvíl's Jazz Q, performing at international jazz festivals in Nice, France, and Pori, Finland. In 1981, Andršt appeared in Bratislava alongside Marián Varga and later recorded the double album Divergencie with Varga's band Collegium Musicum.
Following the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, Andršt accepted an invitation from singer Marta Kubišová, who had long been persecuted by the communist regime, to form her backing band. Their collaboration resulted in the album Někdy si zpívám (Sometimes I Sing) in 1991. Together, they toured Germany, France and Japan, where they also appeared on Japanese television. In 1991, Andršt and his band also performed with Kubišová in the Czech-German television series Flash.
Throughout his career, Luboš Andršt performed alongside many leading names from the worlds of jazz, rock and blues, including Paul Jones, Dana Gillespie, Katie Webster, Jesse Ballard, Dani Robinson and, most notably, the legendary American blues guitarist and singer B.B. King, with whom he shared the stage at Prague's Congress Centre on 28 April 1998.
Luboš Andršt died on 20 December 2021 at the age of 73. He left behind 12 solo albums, numerous albums recorded with various bands and musicians and a profound mark on Czech music scene.