C & K VOCAL

C & K Vocal biography

In 1969, long-time collaborators Jiri Cerha and Ladislav Kantor had the idea to get together talented vocalists for a multi-timbered vocal ensemble, and so was born C&K Vocal. At first their style was folk-based and they often participated at folk & country festivals. By 1973 though, with their new concert repertoire, they started exploring rock. The line-up included Lubos Pospisil, Zdena Adamova, Milena Cervena and Helena Arnetova besides the two co-founders. In 1976 they released an English LP called Generation, which was mostly comprised of unique covers of rock artists such as Uriah Heep, Flamengo and Marek Grechuta. The czech version was released a year later containing a considerable number of originals as well. The style was hard prog, quite similar to Flamengo but with voices replacing saxophones and strings/synths replacing hammond. The prog influence was likely brought to the band by guitarist Ota Petrina, who was a co-writer and producer and also the leader of the instrumental segment which included top Czech musicians such as Pavel Fort, Guma Kulhanek, Jan Kubik and Anatoli Kohout. During the late 70s and early 80s the band focused on audio visual programs, combining music with photography, visual arts and film. They also recorded a considerable amount of singles and another English-sung LP Growing Up Time. During the late 80s they recorded two more albums, Balada o zemi (1985) and Causa Krysar (1989), the latter of which had a modernized 80's new wave sound but also abundant symphonic elements. Ladislav Kantor left the ensemble in 1990, but despite this they have still been sporadically active.


Biography written by Magor.