30s era jazz done right!

I've recently been enjoying with renewed interest (via Youtube which abounds with videos and sound files) the efforts of several Czech and Slovak 30s style dance bands: the Bratislava Hot Serenaders, the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra, and perhaps my most favorite, Ondrej Havelka and His Melodie Makers. The efforts of these groups is simply incredible and stylistically far better than just about anything else out there in my opinion. I believe many of their members are actually playing on period appropriate instruments - though I can't vouch for the woodwinds) Sure there are some wonky aspects, not the least of which is the English pronunciation, but these bands have a feel for the style and an energy about them that really seems to tap into the zeitgeist in a way that others don't seem to. For that matter, I have indeed long enjoyed Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester, but I find that compared to these groups, Raabe's has a distinctly "commercial" feel about it.

Anyone else aware of and enjoy these Czech and Slovak groups?

I'm a big fan of Ondrej Havelka. Here's one of his earlier recordings with the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra.


Sám s děvčetem v dešti
(Alone with a Girl in the Rain)