It is common that some of the best journalists escape notice. Their writing works to channel their subjects in such a captivating way that it makes a direct contact with the audience. It’s an important skill, but it often renders the work of the journalist as part of the background. But arts journalism, in particular, is not just an invisible, honed skill for the entertainment of its audience; it is also one of the integral gears in our machine, opening our eyes and ears to music and culture that would otherwise have never reached us. For this reason, it is important that we honour journalists for their crucial work. Petr Dorůžka is a shining example of the role that great journalists play.
When Petr was growing up, his father was already celebrated in the Czech music scene as the country’s premier jazz expert. Lubomír Dorůžka’s career in journalism started clandestinely during the Nazi occupation, publishing illicit magazines with the latest news from the jazz world. Being brought up in that environment, it is little surprise that the young Petr gained the same enthusiasm for music. His father was that early influence, “especially in realising the importance of music,” Petr says. “When I was a teenager, I remember he had to leave our skiing vacation and return to Prague to stage a concert with Ella Fitzgerald.”
Such influence notwithstanding, Petr’s tastes were different. His personal musical journey started with Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground. The sort of bands you would imagine for someone coming of age in the 1960s. The difference was that most of these artists, world-famous as they were, had not yet managed to reach many ears in what was then communist Czechoslovakia. That urge to tell people and talk about exciting bands eventually led to the start of his journalism. His first experiences of writing were about off-kilter, less well-known rock artists. Like many of his generation, Petr came to ‘world music’ (before such an idea existed) through the Beatles, or, more specifically, George Harrison, through the film of his 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, which featured North Indian classical music: “I remember watching [Indian sarod player] Ali Akbar Khan. To play classical music and smile on stage – that was such a sweet shock 50 years ago.”
From that spark a passion ignited and the direction of his work reflected it. Now he is well-known for his world music programmes on Czech national radio, as well as writing for many publications and maintaining his own website full of material. His work is always meticulously researched – no fake news here! – and with clear passion and knowledge. It is obvious why he is regarded as the leading expert in world music within the Czech Republic. His expertise and reputation have led to him becoming a member of many important panels in world music – he has been a part of the World Music Charts Europe almost since its inception (he came on board in 1992), has served in fRoots Magazine’s critics’ poll since 2001, and several times on the jury of the Sayan Ring festival in Siberia…as well as serving as one of WOMEX’s 7 Samurai in 2007.
Petr doesn’t see the journalists’ place in the musical party as in their own bubble, observing the various happenings but never deigning to interfere. Instead he sees them as part of a wider group, bound by a common cause. Into this group he puts eclectic radio DJs such as John Peel and Charlie Gillett, as well as researchers/producers such as Francis Falceto and David Lewiston: “In general, [journalists are] people who build bridges between as yet unknown music and the adventurous audience. We should also include artists like Sam Lee. When he sings old travellers' songs, in between the lines we read: here are the values that should be respected!”
At the core of journalism is a delight in giving people new information – whether to excite and tantalise or to expand world-views and pose interesting questions. With this outlook, it is natural that Petr is also an educator. He approaches this role with that same delight as his journalism, bringing new aural and cerebral experiences to his students. He developed the course entitled ‘World Music for Non-Musicians’ at Univerzita Karlova in Prague. “I wanted to offer a kind of ‘cultural vocabulary’, explain how specific genres function in the original context, and offer a key how to understand them. David Lewiston once said: "I think of an ethnomusicologist as someone who takes wonderful music and analyses it until all the joy has been lost." In my lectures I wanted to issue a warning against this method, and present the music in a more friendly way.” And the passing on of musical knowledge is not just Petr’s job, it is his life. He is now the middle rung of a celebrated musical family. While he and his father found their acclaim in the journalistic spheres, Petr’s son David Dorůžka is considered one of the Czech Republic’s foremost jazz guitarists – in fact he will be performing at WOMEX 17 with Marta Topferova & Milokraj.
Petr is a well-known and well-loved face in the world music community. In honouring the journalists in our own branch of the music world, his name can never be far from the lips. The high esteem in which he is held across the scene is both hard-earned and much deserved, yet he retains a profound and genuine modesty. In that way, he represents those deeply committed but often little-noticed communicators that open ears around the world. It is for all these reasons that Petr Dorůžka is an ideal recipient of the WOMEX 17 Professional Excellence Award.
Photo: Petr Dorůžka receives the WOMEX 17 Professional Excellence Award, by Yannis Psathas.