This page contains a selection of music videos, a list of recordings I’ve participated in, and a gallery of photos from my colourful musical journey largely based on coincidences and synchronicities – at least in my eyes.

I’ve always been intrigued by the phenomenon of synchronicities, especially since reading the intro to the I-Ching (‘The Book of Changes’) in my late teens. The intro was written by C.G.Jung, who, alongside his theory of the collective unconscious, personality types and the dream theories, devoted a large number of his studies to synchronicities or ‘meaningful coincidences’.

In the intro to the I-Ching Jung describes a synchronistic event experienced by him and one of his patients. The patient was telling him about her dream from the previous night, where she was given a golden scarab, and as she kept describing the dream, Jung heard something gently tapping on the window. It was a scarabaeid beetle Cetonia aurata, whose gold-green colour resembled that of a golden scarab.

Since reading this story I’ve been looking out for synchronic events in my life, and, interestingly, since the time I had consciously focused on this phenomena, they started to happen more frequently. Or – they had been happening all the time, but I simply started paying more attention to them.

I’ve long stopped counting all the events that paved my musical path without me ever having to plan anything. One of such events was walking into a random music club during my very first time in London, and meeting a group of magical people who had come to this club for one purpose that night – to look for a keyboard player. The group was Instant Flight – my soon-to-be band.

Another coincidence: The outrageously talented leader od my new band, Marco Magnani (previously a member of the Italian band Gli Avvoltoi), and his back-then wife and a really cool drummer, Ai Niikura, introduced me to the album’ The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’. It became one of my favourite albums after hearing just a couple of songs. I loved Arthur’s voice and expression, and the Hammond organ by Vincent Crane cast a spell on me. I couldn’t get the haunting sound out of my head.

About two weeks later I was busking with my keyboard at Monument Underground station, and who else wouldn’t pass by then Arthur Brown. I immediately started playing his smash hit ‘Fire’ (I’ll take you to burn!). This somehow caught his attention, and just a few weeks after this semi-surreal encounter I was hammering ‘Fire’ with Instant Flight at our very first gig with Arthur. 

Last, but not least: My favourite place to busk with my keyboard was Kings Cross. I developed an interest in psychogeography of London, Kings Cross in particular. One day, a friend invited me to come to an evening dedicated to William Blake, one of my favourite poets. I wasn’t very well that night but decided to go nevertheless. There was a poet reading a poem with the topic of my great interest – the psychogeography of Kings Cross. Listening to the poem made my evening, but I was too shy to approach the tall, rather enigmatic author. I would have never imagined back then, that a few years later, through a string of strange synchronicities (of course…) this poet would become my main musical partner, as well as marry me at St Pancras church, where else than in Kings Cross. It can prove useful to read books’ prefaces.

Biog

Lucie Rejchrtová (Dun) is a UK-based pianist and keyboard player, born in Prague. Classically trained and influenced by her father’s love of jazz and gospel music, she enjoys playing different styles including jazz, blues, rock, ambient/electronic and her own compositions.

Shortly after her arrival in the UK (2000) she started busking with her keyboard, accordion and blues harmonica in the London Underground and in the streets of London and other UK and European cities such as Berlin or Amsterdam.

In 2001 she joined the London-based psychedelic rock band Instant Flight and recorded two albums with them.

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They have toured extensively and shared the stage with bands like Eric Burdon and the Animals, Yardbirds, Focus (Thijs Van Leer), Country Joe and the Fish, Hawkwind, Procol Harum, Pentangle, or Art Wood (The Artwoods). They’ve performed at festivals including Glastonbury, ‘Ray Davies’ Meltdown’ in London, or ‘Legends of Rock’ in Poland.

Lucie has also played with Joe Carnation, the guitarist of the legendary Czech underground band ‘The Plastic People of the Universe’, celebrated by Tom Stoppard in his play ‘Rock’n’Roll’.

Other musicians/bands she has gigged or recorded with include Phil Shoenfelt, Eggnoise, Mark Steiner, Tony Rose (Two Dollar Bash), Jimmie Bozeman (Lazy Pigs), Cleanhead Phil – Big Daddy Blues, Philip R. Holmes, Oskar Petr, Eva Turnova, Florence Joelle, The Lysergics, Milla Gems, Federico Zig (My Juliette), Victor Peraino, Paul Martinez, or Steve McNerney (The Pleasers).

Since 2009 she’s been working with the poet Aidan Andrew Dun known as ‘Voice of King’s Cross’, with whom she plays compositions influenced by Debussy, Stravinski, and Satie, but even nu-jazz and hip-hop. Aidan’s poetry reflects influences by e.g. Arthur Rimbaud or William Blake. He has toured the States and met the key poets and writers of the Beat Generation including Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti or Michael McClure. In 1995 his epic poem Vale Royal was launched at The Royal Albert Hall, where he performed alongside Allen Ginsberg and Paul McCartney.

They’ve released two albums – ‘Psychogeography’ and ‘Honeyland’ and they’re currently working on new joint projects.

Video

Recordings & Releases

Influences

I listen to any kind of music that resonates with me, but the following selection shows albums that particularly influenced my early keyboard playing. I only started playing keyboards in my twenties; until then, I played the piano – mostly classical, or a bit of jazz and blues. I had always wanted to play in a band, so listening to these albums and learning the songs helped me to make my ‘on stage’ visions true.

Recommended

Find out more about Phil Shoenfelt’s work here.

Gallery

A set of pictures from my musical life, including my blues piano beginnings in Prague, my first UK band Instant Flight, various stage antics with Arthur Brown, and hanging out with some wonderful people, such as Thijs van Leer (Focus), Sky Saxon (The Seeds), or Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru).