BENA & PTASZEK - CD V KRIMINALE

Popis - V KRIMINALE:
BENA & PTASZEK V KRIMINÁLE (Bena & Ptaszek at the prison) Koncert z veznice Mírov (Concert from the Mirov jail) The ancient castle Mírov, whose medieval walls hide the ill-famed state prison, used to be mentioned in annals as early as the 13th century as a hunting seat of the Olomouc Bishops. In the 14th century the castle was a significant administration centre of northwest Moravia. The castle resisted the Hussites´ attacks but it was badly harmed and burnt down by imperial armies in the Thirty Years War when it was besieged by Swedish troops that had ocuppied it. This originally Gothic castle witnessed a number of renovations and the one which took place in the period of Renaissance has been preserved. The glory of the castle, which once was the seat of the Bishop in Olomouc, gradually faded and as time went Mírov was changed into a crumbling ruin off the main road. In 1761 Mírov became a prison for Olomouc diocese priests. Until 1854 it also simultaneously functioned as a hospital for war invalids. Mainly soldiers injured at the battle at Slavkov were attended to here. In 1855 they established a state prison in the castle, which has been here ever since, through a lot of different political régimes. Mírov has always been considered a rather „ strict and hard“ penitentiary for serious criminals. After 1948, mostly communist régime opponents, such as priests or officers who fought against facism on the side of the Western allies, were imprisoned here. The prison changed its profile in 1990 when those condemned for the most serious criminal offences had been sent to Mírov. The prison has also had imprisoned prisoners serving life sentences. Mírov belongs to the two penitentiaries which have the highest security in the Czech Republic and since 1950 only three prisoners have escaped the walls of Mírov. In the autumn of 2008, Slovak Lubos Bena and his Czech accomplice Matej Ptaszek found themselves behind the bars of Mírov. However, they did not start their prison term here. They came to play Music of the Mississippi River blues. The concert was recorded by Studio Indies to preserve the authentic atmosphere of the performance, which you can become a part of while listening to this CD. The majority of the songs on this CD were composed by African American musicians from the south in America in prisons while sentenced to hard labour or while toiling in cotton plantations during slavery. The imaginery circle was closed when the songs literally returned to where they were born – to the authentic blues conservatory, where Bena & Ptaszek initiated spontaneous final jamming with the prison band Work Therapy.