Ivan Kral

Out of the many Czech musicians that he has worked with, David Koller and the band Lucie are the ones that come to mind first, but his musical input is also very pronounced in the pop-rock group Mňága a Žďorp, the rock talents Walk Choc Ice and Alice, or on the albums of songwriters such as Meky Žbirka and Janek Ledecký as well as singer and guitarist Aneta Langerová, singer Pavel Bobek or Czech jazz legend Jiří Suchý. All of his works, be they domestic or international, always show his trademark musical creativity and his great skill in creating beautiful melodies and perfect harmony between the music and the lyrics. This becomes even more noticeable in his solo projects or collaborations such as Native or Alias, where Ivan Kral’s role is presented as not only a producer and composer, but also as a singer and musician. Ivan Kral stood at the birth of the punk and rock scene in New York in the 70s and captured these genuine moments and compiled them to make the 1976 film „The Blank Generation“, which authentically documents the punk-rock scene in New York and includes footage of the legendary CBGB club and bands such as Blondie, Talking Heads, Ramones, New York Dolls and others. After the fall of the Iron Curtain in the 90s, Kral recorded 10 albums under Universal, Polygram and BMG, winning a Grammy for his solo album „Nostalgia” as well as two Grammies for Rock Producer of the Year in 1995 and 1998. He was nominated for a Czech Lion Award for his 2001 „Cabriolet” film score. His latest album is called „Colors” and was released in 2018 on label Warner Music Czech Republic which also released post-humously two other albums „Smile” (2020) and „Undiscovered” (2021). Ivan Kral passed away of cancer in his Michigan home in February 2020.

Official website:www.ivankral.net