Radim Hladík
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Radim Hladík (13 December 1946 – 4 December 2016) was a Czech guitarist, composer and producer. He was known primarily for his trademark rock and jazz-fusion electric sound, although his early style was more blues-oriented, and Hladík also played acoustic folk. Since the second half of the 1960s, he has been considered one of the best and most influential Czech guitarists, and has won awards in the "beat rock" category.


Biography

Learning the piano as a child, Hladík later studied classical guitar at the
Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...
for two years. At the age of 15 he began playing guitar in the rock group Komety, before joining The Matadors with his friend
Vladimír Mišík Vladimír Mišík (born 8 March 1947) is a Czech musician and politician. He is the founder or co-founder of the bands The Matadors, Matadors, Blue Effect, and Etc (band), Etc.... Career Music Mišík founded his first band, Uragán, as a teena ...
. In 1968 Hladík and Mišík established the
Blue Effect Blue Effect was a Czech rock band, also operating under the names M. Efekt, Modrý efekt, or the Special Blue Effect, since their formation in 1968. The band's main and only permanent member, from its founding until his death in 2016, was guitar ...
(later called Modrý Efekt and M. Efekt), which initially played more mainstream, blues-influenced "
Beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...
" music, quickly gaining recognition as a dominant force on the rhythm-and-blues scene in Czechoslovakia. After Mišík left the band, Hladík became the band's leader, and steered it away from the spotlight into
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
(yielding two jazz-orchestra accompanied albums ''Nova syntéza'' and ''Nova syntéza 2''), and eventually into
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
territory through the 1970s. During that period, he also collaborated with some of the key protagonists of the Slovak music scene,
Marián Varga Marián Varga (29 January 1947 – 9 August 2017) was a Slovak musician, composer and Organ (music), organist. In the context of Czech-Slovak musical culture of the second half of the 20th century, Varga was a significant figure in the field of au ...
and
Pavol Hammel Pavol Hammel (born 7 December 1948, in Bratislava) is a Slovak musician, singer and producer. Pavol Hammel was born to a family of musicians. His father played violin in the Slovak National Theatre, and influenced Pavol to become a promising vi ...
, contributing to their ''Na druhom programe sna'' and ''Zelená pošta'' albums, and worked with bass guitarist
Fedor Frešo Fedor Frešo (6 January 1947 – 26 June 2018) was a Slovak rock music, rock and jazz music, jazz bassist and singer. He was the son of composer and Slovak National Theatre conductor Tibor Frešo. His mother was director and editor at the Czech ...
(album ''Svitanie'', 1977). His jazz-rock playing was also featured on instrumental collaborations with the
Jazz Q Jazz Q is a Czech jazz fusion band from Prague. It was established in 1964 in the former Czechoslovakia by musicians Martin Kratochvíl (keyboards) and Jiří Stivín (flute) but didn't gain recognition until the next decade. In 1970, Jazz Q re ...
members,
Martin Kratochvíl Martin Kratochvíl (born 22 May 1946) is a Czech jazz / jazz fusion keyboardist and businessman born in Prague. He cofounded the Jazz Q quartet in 1964. During his career, he has performed in various countries around the world, launched his own ...
and
Jiří Stivín Jiří Stivín (born 23 November 1942 in Prague) is a Czech flute player and composer. Biography He graduated from the Film Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). He also studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music a ...
. Hladík's electric style is uniquely recognizable, and relies primarily on fast ascending and descending scales alternating with his signature bending, particularly at the ends of phrases, and frequent use of
hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. Thi ...
and
pull-off A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate ...
techniques. In the late 1960s, he was strongly influenced by the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
and
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and became one of the pioneers of the electric blues-rock sound in Czechoslovakia, particularly the use of various effects. From the early 1970s his playing incorporated jazz phrasings, although Hladík's sound remained mostly rock-oriented, especially in his later years. The majority of Hladík's recordings and live performances feature his favourite
Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...
Custom 1959. Hladík is probably best known for his instrumental composition "Tearoom" (), originally intended as a "filler" on the 1975 album, ''Modrý efekt & Radim Hladík'', but re-recorded in several variants (albums ''Czech Masters Of Rock Guitar'', ''Na Kloboučku'' with
Michal Pavlíček Michal Pavlíček (born 14 February 1956) is a Czech guitarist, musical composer, singer, lyricist, and producer. He is considered to be an accomplished guitarist and holds numerous awards. Career Pavlíček, a FAMU graduate, broke onto the mu ...
). In 1979, with singer Lešek Semelka and drummer
Vlado Čech Vlado () is a Slavic masculine given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Vlado Babić (born 1960), Serbian politician *Vlado Badžim (born 1964), Slovenian football player and football coach * Vlado Bagat (1915–1944), Croatian and ...
, Hladík recorded the winning song of the annual music contest
Bratislavská lýra Bratislavská lýra was a Czechoslovak festival of popular songs that took place every year from 1966 until 1990 and was held in Bratislava. It was renewed in 1997 but cancelled again in 1998. The festival involved national and international co ...
, "Šaty z šátků". He remained active in the studio and continued performing until shortly before his death in 2016 following a prolonged lung illness.


References


External links


Radim Hladík
at
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Czech guitar great Radim Hladík looks back on 50 years in spotlight (Radio Prague)Czech music world mourns loss of rock guitarist Radim Hladík (Radio Prague)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hladik, Radim Czech guitarists Czech male guitarists 1946 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Prague Prague Conservatory alumni