Last year the jazz double bass player Vincenc Kummer celebrated his 75th birthday. On that occasion he wrote a book in which he described his artistic and personal life.
You decided to recount your long musical career as well as your private life in your book Medvědí stopou (Bear Tracks). Why did you choose that title?
Medvěd (bear) is the nickname I was given during my time in Prague by my colleague, the popular trumpeter, Laco Deczi. So I was then also known as Medvěd in the Orchestra of Ladislav Štaidl.
This “Prague phase” is not only an important phase in your professional life, but is also an important part of the book.
Yes, I divided the book into three phases. The first was in Brno. After graduating from the conservatory in Brno I began to play with various orchestras including the radio orchestra and the Brno Philharmonic. Then I left for Prague where I spent sixteen years. I worked in the Semafor and Apollo theatres, played with Václav Hybš, accompanied Waldemar Matuška and other pop music stars and I also worked in radio. After that I moved on to Láďa Štaidl and Karel Gott, where I spent ten years, up to my departure into exile in Switzerland. That was the third phase.
And in that case the return to Brno is the fourth phase …
In Switzerland I had the chance to accompany the best American musicians. I spent some twenty-five years there, but eleven years ago I returned to my native Brno, which I have always loved and still do.
How did the idea arise of writing a book about your life?
During my long life I gained so much experience that it had to come out somehow. On 21 May 2016 I sat down at my computer and I began to write. I poured out of me in the space of three months and by 21 August it was practically done. I wanted to give the younger generation, who did not have the chance for example to play with the giants of jazz, and now never will, the benefit of my experience.
Did you have a tendency to write earlier? A diary for example?
It came to me all of a sudden. But now that I’ve had a taste of it I would like to carry on writing. Only as yet I am not sure what.
Of course in the book you do not write only about yourself, but also about the people that were around you. Did you consult anyone on any specific passages?
I didn’t consult anyone and I don’t know why I should have done. I tried not to write anything ‘tabloid’ or vulgar. I wanted to offer a picture of my life in a decent manner and I hope that I managed it.
Was it clear from the start that the book would deal not only with your professional career, but also your private life?
Yes. And one of the most important passages is linked to the departure of our whole family into exile. It was such a powerful experience that it can only be understood by those who have gone through something similar. In the book I wrote not only about music but also about my family life, children and my wife. My wife always supported me in the difficult times. We have been together for more than fifty years and I also wanted to write of our life together.
Looking at the years you spent in Switzerland what do you remember fondly and what do you see as the biggest drawback?
The worst experience was not being able to attend my mother’s funeral. But before that I was in contact with my parents and they were even able to visit us several times. A number of friends from Prague also came. To start with it was not so easy to find our feet in the new environment. But like everyone else who has gone through such an experience, we tried to “swim from the icy water quickly to the bank”, settle down and start to work. And we managed. I am very grateful that the Swiss state helped us and especially the evangelical church which in the worst moments looked after us provided financial and material help, and never asked for anything back from us. For that reason I regularly contribute to various collections for poor countries and hungry children. That is the only way I can pay back that aid.
You have two daughters, and you have produced two disks for one of them, Lada. Was it clear from the start that she would be a musician?
I led her in that direction from the start. She studied in Vienna at one of the best music schools, where she studied dance, singing and playing. I wanted to help her from the start and so I arranged two CDs for her, two projects – one with swing music and one with Christmas songs. After quite some time she has followed in my footsteps, even playing the main role in a major musical. After that she got married and had a kid but now perhaps she would like to return to the artistic world.
And the other daughter?
The older daughter is a successful company manager in Switzerland and is not involved in music. But I also have grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Life goes on.
You’ve had and still have a rich musical life. You mentioned that you were in major orchestras and accompanied popular singers, but you also have experience in smaller jazz ensembles. For example you recorded an album in a duo with the pianist Karel Růžička. How does it differ for you to play in a small group or a duo and to play in an orchestra?
It is always different. In a chamber line-up, for example in a duo, there is a different kind of concentration. You listen closely to the others and have a better chance to react to them. When I play with a big band I have to concentrate on my part and of course at the same time listen to the others. I always preferred playing in smaller combinations, but I have nothing against playing in an orchestra.
Did you have time to play in small groups even when, before you left for Switzerland, you accompanied pop stars?
It is true that in Prague with the Czechoslovak Radio Dance Orchestra we accompanied pop stars and I also played with the Pragokoncert Orchestra, led by Milivoj Uzelac. But I spent the other half of my time in Prague clubs with small groups – with Laco Deczi, Karel Růžička, and with the drummer Láďa Žižka.
What was it like to play in small jazz groups several decades ago and what is it like today? Do you feel a difference?
It is different because music has developed. I still see myself as a traditional player. Young guys I work with at JAMU have a slightly different relationship with modern music, which is of course good. Today I have more chance to concentrate on solo playing. It is also easier to say to the others that when I want to play a solo that they should not accompany me.
And have audiences changed? Are the people that go to jazz concerts different to those before?
Already from Switzerland I have had experience with two types of audience and I think it works the same here. One type is those who go for more traditional music, which in Switzerland for example was primarily Dixieland. And then there are modern listeners, who go for newer music.
Here Dixieland does not get played much. So what do more traditional audiences listen to?
Here there has always been a strong liking for swing music. And against that younger audiences are into bebop, hard-bop and all kinds of modern jazz.
But I have seen a revival of interest in swing even among younger audiences …
I see that as a good thing, since it is good to maintain and deepen traditions.
You play with the generation younger musicians Vilém Spilka and Radek Zapadlo in the project Two Generations Trio. What specifically does this cooperation bring you?
I share my experience with my younger fellow players, but at the same time I learn from them. Today this trio plays rather sporadically, but earlier it worked really well. We played well, even without drums, because Vilém Spilka is an excellent accompanist and Radek Zapadlo a great soloist. It was a lovely era.
Your most recent album you called Blues ze Zapadákova (Blues from a One-Horse Town). Why did you choose that name?
I don’t really know what was going through my mind. I certainly didn’t intend to say that Brno is a one-horse town. There was a time when Brno was seen as provincial and everything happened in Prague or Bratislava. Brno was out on the margins. Today this is no longer true, among others thanks to Vilém Spilka and his team. Today Brno is a blossoming metropolis, and not just in jazz.
No comment added yet..