Foto: Sung Yull Nah

Is jazz music popular in South Korea? How did you get in touch with the music of the West, how did you get to like it and decided to study Jazz and chanson in Paris?

Youn Sun Nah: Jazz is not as popular in Korea than it is in Europe but it’s getting there. I started to listen to Western music during my teenage years: American pop and folk music, but also French songs. I discovered jazz at the same time as I was studying it, before I knew nothing about it. I turned to jazz by accident. I wanted to study music, and one of my friends advised and convinced me to learn jazz. I decided to study in Paris because I liked both French songs and culture. I enrolled at CIM, one of the first jazz school in Europe, and right there it was love at first sight.

You are the winner of prestige “Order of Arts and Letters” established by the French Ministry of Culture as well as “ECHO Music Prize” for the best vocal soloist established by the German music critics. How important is the opinion of music critics today and how big is their influence in music world? How important are these awards for the development of a successful music career?

Youn Sun Nah: Awards, as much as the opinion of the critics are important because they bring forward the musicians who are the recipient of them. It’s a privilege to be exposed in a universe where there are so many talented musicians as well as artistic projects. When I started my career, I never imagined receiving awards. I dreamed of singing one day at festivals such as yours. I was very moved to receive awards and distinctions, but I never thought of the impact it could have over my career. I embraced them as a sign of recognition of my on-going journey.

Foto: Sung Yull Nah

 How do you manage to be original and authentic in a world full of musical genres and musicians creating and playing, available to the audience more than ever? What is most important in the creative process and performance, in your opinion?

Youn Sun Nah: I’m still feeling like a beginner. I like to learn and try new things, work with different musicians or producers. I listen to a lot of music; it allows me to keep a healthy distance from what I do. I try to keep an open mind with what surrounds me.

You are from South Korea, you studied in France and you sing in English language all over the world. You are a true ambassador of this year’s BJF slogan “No Limits”. 

Youn Sun Nah: I like your slogan a lot! I did have an epiphany for jazz because it has opened my mind. Music has a language of its own, a universal language with no borders.Two musicians from different countries who meet for the first time, will always be able to create a melody. Their music will be able to touch other people throughout the world, move them, make them dance. Music is a language that anyone can understand, with his own feeling, without being able to speak it.Jazz has been around for a century, I think there are still some nice years ahead and it holds a special role being educational, social, creative or entertaining.

Your performance in Belgrade will also be part of the “Days of Korean Culture 2018”. Did you expect a manifestation dedicated to the culture of your country in Serbia? 

Youn Sun Nah: Absolutely not, I’m very happy and honored.Korea has opened a lot to the world these past years, and it really warms my heart to know other countries are interested in the Korean culture. The country was completely destroyed during the Korean war, but it has a history of 5000 years.

You are visiting Serbia for the first time – do you know anything about Serbian culture and music? Did you have the opportunity to hear any jazz musicians from our country? 

Youn Sun Nah: Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the Serbian culture, and I’m sorry! That’s why I’m really excited to come because I’ll have the opportunity to discover your country.
However, I have had the occasion of working with one of your fellow countryman, Bojan Zulfikarpašić. He has been living in France for many years; I saw him in concerts often. He had impacted me when I was studying in Paris. We recorded a song together for a record in homage to Nina Simone 4 years ago.

What program you will perform at Belgrade Jazz Festival? 

Youn Sun Nah:  My musicians and I will play a few songs from my last album “She moves on” but also many from my previous albums.

Beside their own compositions, they play a wide range of energetic covers, from Albert Ayler to The Stooges, from Steve Lacy to PJ Harvey, collaborating with different artists (Joe McPhee, Pat Metheny, Neneh Cherry…). With dedicated fans in the rock, noise and jazz communities, The Thing continues walk the new, uncompromising paths. Finally, we get to see them at the Belgrade Jazz Festival, on October 28th (10:30pm) at Americana Hall of Belgrade Youth Center. Concert is supported by Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade. Tickets available via EVENTIM service.

Photo: Petra Cvelbar

You have been performing with The Thing for 18 years now. Could you have imagined that you would stay together for this long?

Mats Gustafsson: No one knows ever what is going to happen not even tomorrow. I like it that way. The Thing was important for us at the start and still is. We started as a recording project, but quickly understood that there was more to it. It is still the same vibe! New shit going on at every gig. If our music would be on repeat, we would stop it all, for good.

One of the main qualities of your music is energy, alongside improvisation. How difficult is for you to maintain a balance between improvised parts and composition flow?

Mats Gustafsson: It is ALL connected. It all gives power to each other. Feeding each other.  It needs to be that way in order to be interesting. We need friction in life. And in music. We need material to work with. In music. In life. And we need to improvise. That is how it all works.

How much is the saxophone important for jazz music? And how you decided that sax will be your instrument?

Mats Gustafsson: I think the sax has been a dominating instrument somehow, over the course of the jazz history. For good and bad reasons. I love the horn and the sound of it. But I dont expect anyone else to love it like i do. I heard Sonny Rollins play the tenor sax in 1980. live in my hometown Umeå. After that everything changed for me. No more football, no more rifle shooting. Just tenor sax playing!

 

Photo: Kim Hiorthøy

What can the audience at Belgrade Jazz Festival expect of The Thing performance?

Mats Gustafsson: We don’t know ourselves what to expect. You should never expect anything. Expectations are stupid. It can only go wrong. Ideally you come to our concerts with an open mind and open ears. And you go with the flow and let the music take you (somewhere!). Music is to be experienced live – in the moment it is being played. Expect nothing. Expect the unexpected. Expect nothing.

Please tell us more about (jazz) musicians who influenced you during your career?

Mats Gustafsson: Way too many to mention. I am a discaholic. I collect music for my archive. I can’t get enough. I need the sources of information AND inspiration close to me. IN my archive. To move on! And my focus shifts every day. Some musicians have had a huge impact on me over the years. And some to a lesser degree. But they all affect me – in one way or the other. I can only advice people to go and check different things out. Life is full of music that can change the path of what you are and want you want to be. Different kinds of music. We need variety and we need change. We need frictions. In music. In life.

But OK, please don’t miss out on the following artists. Just go with their flow and contents and life will be different and richer: Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, Napalm Death, Warne Marsh, Anna Högberg, Mette Rasmussen, Entombed, Giacinto Scelsi, Ty Segall, Oh Sees, Bengt Nordström, Helmut Lachenmann, Karen Dalton, Mauricio Kagel, Herman Sonny  Blount, Terje Rypdal, Meshugah, 54 Nude honeys, Sofia Jernberg, Polly Bradfield, Frank Wright, Kauro Abe, Mototeru Takagi, Masayuki Takayanagi, Takao Haga, Refused and of course Duke Ellington and Lars Gullin.

What are your other ongoing projects, besides the thing with The Thing?

Mats Gustafsson: Many… way to many. But the new working groups THE END and ANGUISH – is kicking my mind brutally at the moment!!!

New things and old things have to happen parallel all the time. One thing feeds the other.

This year’s slogan of Belgrade Jazz Festival is “No limits”. How do you feel about limits in modern jazz music? Is it important that there aren’t any?

Mats Gustafsson: Well, it actually works the other way. We need limits in order to brake  them apart. To fuck around with them. To change it all. We need limitations in order to find friction. And without frictions I loose interest for the music – or the art. If there were no limits there would be no life. No music.

But I totally agree of the idea of fucking the limits up! We will do our best!

Peace & Fire —— here is The Thing!!

Since foundation in 2009, the band released three albums, a number of singles and a vinyl remix edition, and performed at important Middle European festivals, gaining reputation as one of the most exciting young formations in Austria.

First performance in Serbia Kompost3 will have at 34th Belgrade Jazz Festival, on October 27th at Dom omladine Beograda, Americana Hall. Concert is supported by Austrian Cultural Forum in Belgrade. Tickets are available via EVENTIM service.

PHOTO: Nikolaus Ostermann

Please tell us more about the members of Kompost 3 and what is the connecting thread for your artist personalities?

Benny Omerzell:  Every band member has a different musical background, from classical music, jazz, rock to electronic music. Still, we always shared the same vision of what we wanted to create and were thus able to merge all these influences into a new kind of music. After almost 10 years of playing together, every one of us is still doing lots of other things artistically and all those excursions continue to feed into the music of Kompost 3 as well.

You are recognized as one of the most exciting young formations of Austria’s jazz and improvised scene. From your own perspective, what is different and specific in your music, that audience and critics like?

Benny Omerzell:  We think that one of our greatest assets is our energy on the live stage, the ability to adapt to different rooms and audiences and to always be able to surprise our listeners and ourselves. From the first day we played together there has been this special kind of chemistry between us, which audience and critics highly appreciate.

PHOTO: Nikolaus Ostermann

This September you released a new album titled “Abyss”, please tell us more about it.

Benny Omerzell:  The music of “Abyss” might be darker and calmer than our previous records, but is a continuation of our never-ending quest for finding new sounds and creating special atmospheres for the audience to dive into. “Abyss” is the first part of a double album; the second part will be released in spring 2019.

You received two important awards: BAWAG P.S.K Next Generation Jazz Award 2014 and Bremer Jazzpreis 2014. What do awards mean to a young band?

Benny Omerzell:  Obviously those two awards have been a great honor and reward after many years of dedication and endurance. Awards like these are a great encouragement for a young, hardworking band. We also made good use of the prize money and dedicated it to the production of our third album “Ballads for Melancholy Robots”

What do you know about Serbian jazz scene and Belgrade Jazz Festival?

Benny Omerzell: We have always valued the music of Bojan Z, some of us have also studied with Stjepko Gut in Graz and got to know many very talented young Serbian jazz musicians. We’ve only heard the best about Belgrade Jazz Festivals from colleagues who performed there in the past and are very much looking forward to playing there for the first time!

What audience at Belgrade Jazz Festival can expect of your performance?

Benny Omerzell:   We are very happy be on stage together again after a few month of other projects, so the audience can expect a highly energetic performance with lots of new tunes and surprises.

This year’s slogan of Belgrade Jazz Festival is “No limits”. Is there a limit in contemporary jazz music?

Benny Omerzell:  In our opinion there should be “no limits” in all of the arts in general, but of course every new generation is confronted with all the history before it and has to reclaim the music for themselves and try to bend the rules and norms anew to keep the ball rolling.

Christine is a part of the Montreal scene, she has been awarded the Oscar Peterson Prize of the FIJM 2017 and the same year was voted Rising Star – Soprano Sax in the Downbeat Critics Poll. This joint project won the JUNO (Canadian equivalent of Grammy) in the category Jazz Album of the Year: Group, for 2018. Jensen Sisters: Infinitude (Canada / Sweden) will perform at 34th Belgrade Jazz Festival on October 25th at Dom omladine Beograda, Americana Hall (10.30 pm). Concert is supported by the Embassy of Canada, tickets available via EVENTIM service.

PHOTO: Randy Cole

You have great careers, many prestigious awards and numerous collaborations with different jazz orchestras, but this project is a very special one – is it harder or easier to play with a sister in the band?

Christine Jensen: It is like putting a glove on that fits perfectly.  I always enjoy any time I have to collaborate with Ingrid, as her sound and ideas constantly stimulate me to search for new sounds in this music.

Your collaboration is called “Infinitude”. What does that infinity refer to?

Christine Jensen: Unlimited possibilities: I came up with Infinitude after looking for words related to Infinity. Having no limit or limits. We felt this way with the music we recorded, and every time we get together there is more and more in front of us to explore with a vast open space to bounce around and collect and share new outlooks in our melodic, harmonic and rhythmic ideas through set compositions and improvisation.

PHOTO: Randy Cole

Please tell us more about the program you will perform at Belgrade Jazz festival.

Christine Jensen:  We are excited to collaborate with some Europe-based musicians that are really old friends. They will join us on the music that we have been performing since releasing our album Infinitude with NY guitarist Ben Monder two years ago. In Belgrade we will be joined by our dear friend Maggi Olin on piano and Rhodes. She is one of Sweden’s greatest contemporary jazz artists and composers. We will also play some of her music, as we tour with her with a few other projects including Nordic Connect, where we all collaborate as composers and improvisers. We will also be accompanied by a Paris-based Canadian rhythm section, including Karl Jannuska on drums (also a great composer) and Chris Jennings on acoustic bass. I have known Karl since we attended McGill University’s jazz program in the ‘90s. I met Chris in Paris in 2002, while I was on a composition residency at the Cité des Arts. We ended up performing together and sessioning on any music we were working on while I was there. Ingrid has also toured with Chris in Europe with another amazing Swedish musician, trombonist Karin Hammer.

Both of you have played alongside many great artists. Which collaboration(s) do you remember as something very important for you as a musician, and why?  

Christine Jensen: Anything with Ingrid and Maggi!  There are too many experiences to just pick out one for me, but I think being able to perform with trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler in Banff in the 90’s was one of many highlights, and it motivated me to continue as a composer and improviser.

Do you know anything about Serbia? Are you familiar with Serbian (jazz) scene?

Christine Jensen: I know very little, except for the politics of the early 2000’s.  I now have a student at McGill University that is a jazz pianist from Belgrade named Aleksandar Uzelac. Through his strong performance, he has been introducing me to the idea that there must be some great jazz musicians in this country.

This year’s slogan of Belgrade Jazz Festival is “No limits”. How do you feel about limits in modern jazz music, are there any?

Christine Jensen: Oh, that matches the idea of Infinitude perfectly. We plan on having no limits in our performance. Jazz is all about creating and reacting, and we plan on bringing our artistry and knowledge of this art form to the stage with no limits.

LAN Trio will play within 34th Belgrade Jazz Festival on October 25th at Dom omladine Beograda, Americana Hall. Concert is supported by Embassy of Portugal in Belgrade and Instituto Camões. Tickets available via EVENTIM ticket service.

LAN trio is a project formed from three well-experienced musicians. Other than yourself, there are saxophonist Julian Argüelles and drummer Helge Andreas Norbakken. How did this project come to life?

Mário Laginha: I’ve been playing with Julian Argüelles for a long time. He played in several records of mine and I played in two of his, so we feel a huge complicity in the music we both do. With Helge Norbakken I started playing almost 20 years ago, together with Maria João. Since then, he played at least in 6 of our (me and Maria) records, and we probably did more than a hundred concerts together. They are both incredible, creative and unique musicians!

What is the main idea behind LAN trio project?

Mário Laginha: The main idea is to play our music, combining freedom and structure, lyricism and power… Actually this is the most difficult task ever, to describe music in words.

You are one of the most popular jazz musician in Portugal. How difficult is to maintain the freshness and innovation in today’s jazz?

Mário Laginha:  It is difficult indeed, but I think it comes with keeping the curiosity about the world around you. Then you must be authentic with what you do, just after that, the result can be (or not) fresh and real.

How do you comment on contemporary jazz scene in Europe?

Mário Laginha: Actually, I’m one of many (I hope) that thinks jazz became really universal. You can find incredible and innovative musicians all over the world. That’s a very good sign.

This is not your first time in Belgrade but it is the first time at the Belgrade Jazz Festival. What are you expectations from LAN trio performance?

Mário Laginha: The music LAN trio does has a kind of energy, strong rhythm and melodic identity that people easily embrace. I would love this could happen at Belgrade Jazz Festival!

This year’s slogan of Belgrade Jazz Festival is No limits. How do you feel about limits in contemporary jazz music?

Mário Laginha:  I totally agree. Limits cannot exist in music, but at the same time, the freedom to choose whatever each person likes or not.

At 34th Belgrade Jazz Festival he will present his solo concert performance on October 26th at Dom omladine Beograda, Main hall. Concert is supported by Spain Embassy in Belgrade and Instituto Cervantes de Belgrado. Tickets available via EVENTIM ticket service.

At age 31 you have already managed to record over 50 albums, perform all over the world, to have many important music awards. Did you expect such a successful career so early in life, when you were at the beginning of your professional career?

Marco Mezquida: I really didn’t expect it. It’s a dream came true, because when I was a student in Menorca, the small island where I’m from, I couldn’t imagine that thanks to the music I would have been played concerts in 30 different countries before being 30 years old, playing in such beautiful halls and amazing cities as Belgrade.

Your music is a mixture of different genres, combination of classic and contemporary music expressions. What influenced your music the most? Or, whom?

Marco Mezquida: I love (and I have studied) many styles of music. I started studying classical piano music when I was 7, but from the beginning I needed to be more creative so I started improvising and composing songs. When I discovered The Beatles music I became really a fan, and I was into the popular music from the radio. I could transcribe and play by memoir many different songs from rock and pop groups. Because I understood how the music worked I could be creative both in classical and modern music. When I was a teenager I discovered Ella Fitzgerald, Keith Jarrett and I really fell in love with jazz music, as well as with Brazilian music thanks to Gal Costa and Egberto Gismonti. And after I rediscovered classical and contemporary music listening Ravel, Ornstein, Stravinsky, Berio, Bernstein… so at the end, I think my music is my personal cocktail of many influences.

Besides the concert activities and albums, you also write music for TV and theatre. What is more difficult thing to do? And what do you enjoy more?

Marco Mezquida:  As a musician I’m open to work in different aspects, for example teaching or composing music for theater or TV or some short films. It’s a different pleasure than the concert activity. I love to combine music with other artistic performances. Everything can be difficult or easy, it depends on the moment or the project. But what I really enjoy the most is playing concerts all over the world, because it’s the intensity that I prefer in music: giving the best of me every day and receiving the feedback from the audience.

You have performed at many jazz scenes and festivals, but this will be your first concert at Belgrade Jazz Festival, do you know anything about it?

Marco Mezquida: It will be my first concert in Belgrade and in Serbia, and I’m really looking forward to meet new people there and to offer my best at my solo performance. I have seen, however, beautiful posters of great line-ups from other editions, I know Belgrade Jazz Festival is one of the greatest in Europe, and lasts since 1971, so it’s the festival with a long history.

This year’s slogan of Belgrade Jazz Festival is “No limits”. Is there a limit in contemporary jazz music?

Marco Mezquida: I don’t think so, the music has no limits itself, it depends of the passion of the musicians.