This week’s show is devoted to the Czech, maybe betweer described as Czech-Canadian, swing pianist, composer, lyricist and arranger Jiří Traxler.
Jiří Traxler, Jaroslav Ježek, photo: archive of Czech Radio
Traxler perhaps personified the boom of swing music in Czechoslovakia before WWII and even during the war. He was born in the South Bohemian town of Tabor in 1912 and perhaps came to music by accident. His sister studied opera singing and his older brother helped found a band, the Red Ace Players. Young Jiří was pulled into the musical scene in spite of the misgivings of his father. The basics were ironed out at Tabor’s musical academy, an exceptional institution at the time. Jiří started to study law at university but quickly dropped those studies and devoted himself to his musical future. He was first noticed playing the piano for the Gramoklub Orchestra, the first Czechhot jazz orchestra. The club itself was founded as a sort of forum for swopping gramophone records and playing the latest hits with Karel Čapek as one of its lead members. The orchestra followed on in 1935 until its breakup in 1937.
