Lucie Rejchrtova and Aidan Dun

Biography

Lucia Rejchrtova is a pianist and keyboard player from Prague. Her style ranges from old blues and boogie-woogie to modern jazz, rock and funk. She often performs with the 60's icon Arthur Brown, ("The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, No.1 Hit "Fire",1968). They have shared the stage with Eric Burdon and the Animals, Yardbirds, Country Joe and the Fish, Hawkwind, Procol Harum, Pentangle, Focus and many more. They played Glastonbury 2010. Lucia also plays with Prague-based Kansas City blues singer Cleanhead Phil, and Joe Carnation, the guitarist of the legendary Czech band the Plastic People of the Universe, celebrated by Tom Stoppard in his play Rock'n'Roll. Another act she is involved in is performing with the "Voice of King's Cross", the legendary underground poet Aidan Andrew Dun, with whom she plays compositions influenced by Debussy, Stravinski and Satie, but even nu-jazz and hip-hop. Lucie is also a licenced busker for the London Underground. Aidan Andrew Dun is a poet and composer, psychogeographer. His exploration of the mysteries of Kings Cross in the epic poem Vale Royal (launched in the Albert Hall, 1995 and re-published by Dark Star, 2010) has caused a strong groundswell of interest in this zone of London. A second epic, Universal (launched City Lights, San Francisco, 2002) is set in India, the West Indies and Morocco. McCool, a verse-novel in nearly 300 rhyming sonnets, has its background in both London and Lebanon, the story of a love-triangle set against world-conflagration and the ‘clash of civilizations‘. The Uninhabitable City, a collection of short poems, appeared 2005; Salvia Divinorum, an alchemical text in four movememnts, 2007. AAD performs his work with the magical Czech pianist Lucie Rejchrtova. Grooves, impressionistic Satie-esque soundscapes support the words of a man who has been called a visionary, a Blakean messenger. AAD and LR have performed e.g. at the British Library, Kings Place, London Canal Museum, the ‘Fiery Tongues‘ poetry festival in Amsterdam, in Prague and in Paris. Quotes: Vale Royal moves with the ease and clarity of a fresh spring over ancient stones, making its myths casual even colloquial - An impressive achievement Derek Walcott - on Vale Royal He has an extraordinary sense of the past. He’s one of those people, along with Blake and Chatterton and others, who are like a divining rod for history. Peter Ackroyd - on Vale Royal Dun stands apart from all schools and schisms...He is the carefully regulated trickle of water that cracks stone. Iain Sinclair - Lights out for the Territory Dun’s technical virtuosity and compelling sense of place underline a unique poetic vision, well worth exploring. Josephine Balmer – Agenda, Vol 45 No 3 ‘It seemed until recently that the long poem in English was not possible any more; then there suddenly appeared a series of celebrated poetic narratives and sequences. Aidan Andrew Dun reinforces this development with McCool: a sequence of enormous power that welds together myths and stories in a form that speaks to our times. It is an energetic and compelling magnum opus, striking out in new directions.’ Bernard O‘ Donoghue, poet and professor of poetry at Wadham College Oxford

Samples

Dear Poetry Lovers, Here's a link to 'Her Feet As Two White Swans' on Youtube. This love-poem rides on the old (but ever-young) tarantella rhythm associated in Italian folklore with the mysteries of the White Goddess. My composition/setting is played in this video by the magical Czech pianist Lucie Rejchrtova. 'Royal birds on the river went sailing, a slow white navy in peacetime.' Enjoy...

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