Svatopluk Košvanec

Svatopluk Košvanec (born January 2, 1936 in Velké Březno , † May 29, 2013 in Ústí nad Labem ) was a Czech jazz trombonist .

Career

Košvanec attended a primary school in Prague from 1942 and received violin lessons from 1943. In 1948 he returned to his home village and started school there. After a moderate school leaving certificate, where the grades in music were only average, he received training as a painter. At the age of 17 he began playing the trombone and took lessons at the Volksmusikschule (LŠU). After his teacher left after six months, Košvanec perfected his trombone playing autodidactically and played in various dance and swing formations after completing his military service . From 1959 Košvanec belonged to the formation Combo 59 founded by the pianist Pavel Štolba , which from 1962 called itself Jazz Combo Ústí . Through regular appearances at dance events in the city hotel, Košvanec familiarized himself with the intricacies of modern jazz and became the main soloist of the band. He saw his role model in JJ Johnson .

With the jazz combo Ústí he had his first appearance in 1962 at an international jazz festival in Karlovy Vary . During the tour through Denmark, Norway and Germany in 1965 Košvanec was named the best soloist at the German Amateur Jazz Festival . The following year the band performed for the first time at the Zurich Jazz Festival , where they were honored with the Grand Prize of the City of Zurich. In addition to four other participations in the Zurich Festival, the jazz combo Ústí made appearances at festivals in Vienna, Helsinki and Viersen as well as at the Wiener Festwochen, in East Berlin and finally in 1971 in San Sebastian . Since the late 1960s, Košvanec has been counted among the best jazz trombonists in Europe.

In 1970 Košvanec became a member of Laco Déczi's band Celula , of which he was a member until 1981. In 1972 he became a professional musician as a member of the Národní divadlo orchestra . Two years later Košvanec switched to the dance and jazz orchestras of the Czechoslovak Radio ( TOČR and JOČR ). At the Jazz Festival of Sanremo Svatopluk Košvanec played in 1987 in the International Orchestra della Pace of Gerry Mulligan . His first solo album was Košvanec and Friends . In 1997 he played at the 38th Ljubljana Jazz Festival in the Euroradio Big Band under the direction of Jože Privšek and in 2010 in the Gustav Brom Big Band.

Svatopluk Košvanec also taught trombone at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague ( Konzervatoř Jaroslava Ježka ). Přemysl Tomíček was one of his students.

As a result of a malignant bone tumor, Svatopluk Košvanec's right hand had to be amputated. Martin Šulc from Česká jazzová společnost organized a collection together with Přemysl Tomíček in 2012 for the benefit of Košvanec, who then played with a specially constructed trombone.

Awards

1965: Düsseldorf amateur jazz festival, best soloist
1966: Jazz Festival Zurich, Grand Prix of the City of Zurich (with Jazz Combo Ústí)
1967: ČAJF Přerov, best soloist

Discography (selection)

Československý jazz , Supraphon
Petr Kořínek: Porta Coeli , Český rozhlas 1997
Košvanec and Friends , Metier Sound & Vision Ltd./ Cube Cz, sro, 1998
Košvanec Quartet: Just Sqeeze Me , Metier Sound & Vision Ltd./ Cube Cz, sro 1998
Unforgettable , 2009

Web links

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Košvanec, Svatopluk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Czech jazz trombonist
DATE OF BIRTH	January 2, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH	Velké Březno
DATE OF DEATH	May 29, 2013
Place of death	Ústí nad Labem