Traband

In the wake of communism’s fall, numerous daring and innovative groups surfaced across the Czech Republic during the 1990s, and Traband ranks among them. Although thoroughly acquainted with native Czech traditions, the musicians refuse to limit themselves to purist interpretations. Instead they fuse those traditions with an assortment of outside genres, allowing their music to become steadily more experimental, wide-ranging, and ambitious. The band maintains a distinctly multicultural stance, absorbing klezmer and East European Jewish wedding music alongside Balkan and Macedonian strains, as well as punk, alternative rock, jazz, ska, blues, funk, and occasional Irish-Celtic touches.

At times Traband recalls the Klezmatics or neo-klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer; moments later the group channels Toots & the Maytals or Madness before pivoting toward the Pogues or the Chieftains. This restless eclecticism renders the ensemble consistently unpredictable, yet the musicians have continued to write and perform solely in Czech. Jarda Svoboda launched Traband in Prague in 1995. As lead singer he also plays clarinet, mandolin, accordion, electric and acoustic guitar, and electric bass; his animated vocals occasionally evoke Russell Mael of Sparks, and he has composed the bulk of the band’s repertoire. The project began as a power trio limited to vocals, electric guitar, electric bass, and drums, but within a few years the lineup expanded to include acoustic wind, string, and brass instruments such as tuba, trumpet, accordion, euphonium, mandolin, and banjo. As a result, a hornless outfit came to be viewed as a horn band in Czech alternative circles.

Clarinet entered the palette later, and Svoboda’s vigorous playing on the instrument soon became emblematic of the group’s far-flung sound. Additional members have included Jana Modrácková on trumpet, flute, lead vocals, and background vocals (though Svoboda handles most lead singing), Evzÿen Kredenc on banjo and background vocals, Robert Sÿkarda on tuba and background vocals, Jakub Schmid on euphonium, cornet, and electric guitar, Petr Vizina on drums, and Václav Pohl on drums, percussion, and background vocals.

The debut album O Cÿem Mluv Muzÿi appeared in 1997. The second release, Kolotoc, arrived on the Black Point label in 2000 and was followed by another Black Point title, Road Movie, in 2002. Traband then moved to Indies Records, the compact yet prolific Brno-based imprint that has documented the Czech alternative scene since 1990, issuing Hyje!—the band’s first Indies album and fourth overall—in 2004.