Real name: Orchestr Karla Vlacha

Effective period / Period of releases: 1944 - 1982

Members: Gery Scott, Eugen Illin, Karel Krautgartner, Karel Vlach, Felix Slováček, Miloslav Bureš, Milan Pilar, Ladislav Pikart, Václav Týfa, Miroslav Kefurt, Vlastimil Hála, Zdeněk Novák, Jaromír Honzák, Jiří Jelínek, Jaroslav Dřevikovský, Karel Vágner, Zdeněk Pulec, Jaroslav Lautner, Miroslav Krýsl, Jan Arnet, Richard Kubernát, Ivo Preis, Miloslav Ducháč, Pavel Staněk, Leopold Korbař, Vladimír Tymich, Jan Rychlík, Milan Ulrich, Yvetta Simonová, Jiří Jirmal, Kamil Behounek, Petr Valášek, Vladimír Žižka, Vincenc Kummer, Rudolf Výborný, Kamil Hála, Vladimír Hruška, Jiří Baur, Vladimír Tomek, Miroslav Rücker, Milan Chladil, Zdeněk Kopecký, Rudolf Plachý, Václav Irmanov, Josef Vitouš, František Plichta, Kamil Lochman, Josef Poslední, Jiří Verberger, Karel Ptáček, Vladimír Horčík, Jaroslav Král, Karel Šidla, Ladislav Habart, Vladimír Raška, Jaroslav Kopáček, Václav Křehla, Jaroslav Štrudl, Pavel Husička, Jaroslav Kabát, Jan Novák, Zdeněk Barták (3), Miroslav Kloc, Mirek Vrba, Václav Kozel, Ivan Matějček, Oto Hercík, David Holý, Miloslav Novotný, Lubomír Jurníček, Jan Smolík, Miroslav Kopta, Václav Soukup, A. Müller (6), František Sulz

Czech big band. Originally formed by saxophonist Karel Vlach in 1939. Reorganized in 1945, with continuous focus on big band swing à la Glenn Miller And His Orchestra. Engagement at the “Karlín Musical Theatre” 1948–1953, often credited as the Variety Theatre Orchestra, sometimes also as Filmový taneční orchestr or “Filmový jazzový orchestr” (“Film Dance/Jazz Orchestra”). Since the 1950s the orchestra has also backed pop vocalists on records and on stage, they have performed with nearly all “major” Czech singers at one time or another, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Leader and conductor Karel Vlach died in 1986. The orchestra was still actively performing as of 2007.