Fragment plays bluegrass from the heart

If there was any doubt whether the Czech band Fragment really can play bluegrass it was wiped away Wednesday night, just like the tears lead singer Jana Dolakova pretended not to dab from her eyes at the end of her haunting reading of the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger."

The liquid and occasionally fiery playing of mandolinist Milan Marek, the sweet harmonies of Dolakova, Marek and resonator guitarist Henrich Novak, and the band's obvious joy at making music all measured up to the finest bluegrass traditions in their concert at the University Center Ballroom in Cape Girardeau. The audience of more than 80 was the largest in the history of KRCU FM 90.9-sponsored musical events.

U.S. tour

Fragment is part-way through a four-month tour of the U.S. that will end in October and includes performances at numerous bluegrass festivals. They will play tonight at the Twin Bridges Bluegrass Festival in Glenallen, Mo.

Comparisons of Dolakova's voice to bluegrass star Alison Krauss' are not exaggerated. Both squeeze notes between their tongue and palate, creating a tone that flies out high and lonesome.

Marek's playing was particularly graceful on "Fields of Gold," the Sting song Fragment transformed from laconic to breezy in making it their own.

The band's youngest member, 19-year-old guitarist Tomas Jurena, showed considerable speed on the hyper-driven "Black Mountain Rag." Jurena's playing occasionally suffered from not projecting as well as the other players'.

Banjo player Richard Cifersky is the band's newest member and is still being worked into the lineup. A song he co-wrote with Novak was one of the standouts during the first of the band's two sets. His plaintive banjo was just the right touch on "Last Goodbye Today," a song on the band's newest CD.

No-frills

Though the band has a no-frills stage presence, each personality came through in the performance: Jurena emerged as the skinny buffet hound who plans to become an engineer, Novak as the single man whose bachelorhood may be traceable to his pet iguana, and Cifersky as the unpresidential president of the Slovak Bluegrass Music Association.

When Dolakova introduced Novak as the best dobro player in the Czech-Slovak republics, she added that "He's not the only one."

You know he gets that a lot.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182