Hanus Berka

Czech saxophonist, composer, producer, arranger, band leader. Born December 15, 1940 in Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, died April 14, 1978 in Munich (Germany).
He was son of a classical musician and was classically educated. As a child, he learned to play piano, later also guitar, clarinet, saxophone and flute. He studied at the Prague conservatory and became an awarded tenor saxophone player in the mid 1960's. At the in 1964, he was awarded best tenor saxophonist of the festival.
In 1966, he worked as arranger for Karel Gott in his Jazz phase and went with him to Las Vegas for some months.
When he returned to Prague, he joined Traditional Jazz Studio and the band The Matadors as saxophonist in 1968. In 1969, he became musical leader of the German version of musical “Haare (Hair)”; its backing group consisted mostly of former The Matadors members, and they recorded several releases on their own as “The Broadway Matadors”. Most of the Broadway Matadors musicians were also the founding members of Jazz Rock group Emergency in 1970. He split the band in 1972, but rebuilt it soon after. With various line-ups, he ran the band until 1974.
After the band split, Berka worked as studio musician and songwriter. In 1978 he tragically passed away in a traffic accident with a tramway.