Tomás Kocko's follow-up to his wonderful 2001 CD Hodovnice is not quite up to the task, but it remains a solid, enjoyable album. The recipe remains mostly the same, so does the lineup, but the group has decided to raise the level of frenzy, focusing on busy folk dance tunes, and in exchange has lost some of the emotive force of the previous album. And so, paradoxically,
Do Tanca! is less moving, even though it aims at making you move. The CD still has plenty of fine moments.
Kocko's arrangements of traditional Moravian and Silesian tunes still have the same crossover appeal. The core musicians are Michaela Lipárová (cimbalom), Petra Václavíková (flute), Radim Havlícek (violin), and Petr Hladík (percussion), with newcomer Dusan Strakos on double bass. There is also an impressive cast of guest musicians and singers adding strings, percussion, and bagpipes, among other instruments. Highlights include "Hratke, Ze Mi Hrajte," an invitation to play and dance, the instrumental "Gigula," "Tanecnica," featuring 11 backing singers, and the title track. The latter is an irresistible call to dance, dominated by
Kocko's troubadour voice (one can easily imagine him urging the crowd on their feet at a medieval party). Havlícek's violin lines and Václaviková's flute melodies often lead the way, but it is Lipárová's cimbalom (a kind of dulcimer) who dazzles, her mallets bouncing everywhere. A CD-Rom portion also includes a video for the song "Tanecnica," and a dismissible dance remix by Boris Carloff. ~ François Couture