Peter Lipa was born on 30 May 1943 in Prešov and from a young age he showed a deep passion for music. He began to learn the violin at the age of twelve and later added the trumpet, trombone and guitar to his skills. After graduating from high school in Prešov, he studied at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava and later worked as an editor at Czechoslovak Radio. Between 1975 and 1976 he completed postgraduate studies in journalism at Comenius University.
His musical journey began in the early 1960s with the Strings, followed by Istropilana, Blues Five, Gustáv Offerman Orchestra, Revival Jazz Band, T+R Band and Lipa Andršt Blues Band. With the Blues Five he won the Discovery of the Festival Award at the 2nd Beat Festival in Prague in 1968. Throughout his career, he has actively collaborated with pianists, the instrument he finds most compatible with his voice. His musical partners were Ladislav Gerhard, Milan Svoboda, Gabriel Jonáš, Emil Viklický, Peter Breiner, Boris Urbánek, Juraj Tatár, Pavol Bodnár and his son Peter Lipa Jr.
In 1978 he founded his own band Combo, which evolved into today's Peter Lipa Band. Over the years he has been involved in many short and long term collaborations including current projects such as the Visegrad Blues Band, EU4 and Traditional Club. He was the first artist in Slovakia to introduce the Slovak language into jazz. He draws on the natural rhythm of the language and transforms it into musical phrasing. His repertoire ranges from traditional melodies and swing standards to modern jazz.
In 1990, the Slovak Jazz Society was founded, with Peter Lipa as its founding president, a position he still holds today. Over the years he has performed on all continents. Although most of his songs have been recorded and released, it is a strange fact that due to communist censorship his debut album was released only in his 40th year of life. One of the most unforgettable moments in his musical career was a spontaneous duet with Bobby McFerrin, who invited him on stage at the end of his concert in Bratislava in 1986.
Source: Peter Lipa (Online: https://www.peterlipa.com/en/biography/)
Photo sourceAuthor: Jindřich Nosek (NoJin) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115005958
Information
music, vocal, composer, ponikanie, dramaturgy
