Jiří Schelinger – Zemětřesení / Epicentrum (CD)

A legendary project, the final chapter of the singer’s legacy. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, Jiří Schelinger embarked on a different musical and personal path. His hit, album and concert popularity ranked him among the most famous domestic names; he was looking for further challenges. The connection of his already proven compositional talent with the meaningful lyrics of František Ringo Čech reflected his shift in thinking. Add a great band to that, and an excellent project was born. Fate, however, unfortunately decided otherwise and he managed to record only a fragment of the intended album, specifically the songs Dream, Stavros Niarchos and The Alchemist. After his tragic departure (8 April 1981), there was little repertoire left, and F. R. Čech and Jiří’s younger brother, singer/guitarist Milan, as well as Jiří Hopp or the band Projektil, worked with it to complete it. This compilation, assembled by Miloš Latislav, contains the originally recorded songs as well as developed themes, completed by close collaborators in 1980–1984, but also an excerpt from Zemětřesení with Aleš Brichta (1993) and solo treatments of several tracks by Milan Sch. (1996). The originally diverse sound was carefully remastered by Moimir Papalesco, Latislav’s sleeve note explains the context and finds new facts, for example in the line-ups of the bands. The anniversary selection is complemented by little-known photographs documenting the period in which the songs were created and their starting points, and unfortunately also the last days of Jiří Schelinger.