BACHELORS FROM PRAGUE

Bachelors from Prague were formed in Melbourne in 1985 as an R&B, jazz and funk band. Their initial line-up was Henry Maas on lead vocals (ex-Busby Berkleys, Buddy Lowenstein Big Band), Bruce Haymes on keyboards (ex-Richard Clapton Band, Russell Morris and the Rubes), Chris Minko on trumpet, Andrew Philipp on saxophone, Jeff Raglus on trumpet (ex-Escalators), Tom Roberts on guitar, Justin Stanford on percussion, George Friml on bass guitar, and Russell Cook on drums.

Their first album, 'Live at Sing Sing' (1987), was recorded live-in-the-studio in December of the previous year, with David Williams producing. In May 1988 they issued an album, 'The Energetic Cool', which provided two singles, "Go" (July 1988) and "Tightrope" (February 1989). To promote the album they appeared on SBS-TV and on Nine Networks' Hey Hey It's Saturday. Kathryn Whitfield of The Canberra Times described "Go", "these boys are a little jazzy, a little bluesy and a little like the one-time band The Bureau. Brassy sounds, lots of oomph and plenty to offer."

They toured Europe in 1990, which "proved that there was a market for new original music and convinced the band that setting up base in Europe would be essential." By November 1991 Maas told Ian Watt of The Canberra Times that they was providing, "jazz meets dance." He explained how they had, "started out playing traditional jazz covers but over the years the band's style has developed into a livelier hip hop style, ideal for live entertainment." By that time the group were a seven-piece with Cook and Minko having left and Friml replaced by Thiery Fossemalle on bass guitar.

In June 1993 they had returned to Australia after playing at the "Edinburgh Festival and sold-out houses in London" while "the success of their last album, 'Great', broke ground in France and Italy." According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they played "a stylish and infectious blend of 1940s jazz, 1950s R&B;, 1970s funk and salsa. They] never achieved widespread commercial success, but always lived up to its audience's high expectations." The group disbanded in 1993 with Haymes joining Paul Kelly Band in 1994. From 1999 to 2002 he joined Kelly in Professor Ratbaggy. Their 1989 single, "Get Smart", was later covered by Melbourne Ska Orchestra, which issued it as a single in 2014.

Bachelors from Prague reunited in September 2016 for a limited run of shows with an eight-piece line-up: Maas, Philipp, Raglus, Haymes, Roberts, Friml, Cook, Stanford. Martin Boulton of The Sydney Morning Herald observed, "the band suited up and blew the roof of Fitzroy Town Hall. Demand to see the original eight-piece jazz, funk and salsa-infused line-up was so strong that two more shows at Maas' other old haunt, The Nigh Cat, soon sold out." They followed with more shows in October of the next year.The Bachelors From Prague never achieved widespread commercial success but for a few years, they guaranteed cool Melbourne audiences a hectic, fun and enjoyable way to dance themselves silly.

Members

Henry Maas (vocals), Bruce Haymes (keyboards), Chris Minko (trumpet), Andrew Philipp (sax),
Jeff Raglus (trumpet), Tom Roberts (guitar), Justin Stanford (percussion), George Friml (bass),
Russell Cook (drums), Thierry Fossemalle (Bass)

References

Bachelors from Prague - Wikipedia