The anniversary, 35th edition of the Belgrade Jazz Festival brings plenty of reasons for a great celebration! The mere fact that an international music event has survived in the public eye for almost five decades, successfully finding a new identity in the 21st century, presents the reason for the joy of the entire cultural community in Serbia, of all music lovers, and especially jazz musicians!

If we add the international reputation for years built through carefully selected program, as well as the constant support of the Belgrade Jazz Festival to the affirmation of domestic artists – it is clear that this is the year when we celebrate not only the jubilee of the festival but also the jazz itself in this part of the world.

That is why the Belgrade Jazz Festival will offer this year more than usual to its audience: instead of 5, it will last 6 days, with almost 30 concerts and a string of side programs, as well as a multitude of jazz events planned before the October Jazz festivity. Besides the Festival main venue, the Belgrade Youth Center, we will be again in the Kombank Hall, the place that hosted numerous memorable concerts during the long history of the BJF.

In the program, we will have giants of jazz and young guns of the scene, artists who laid tracks of this type of music, the ones who explore new paths of the genre, performers very well known to our audiences, but the ones that are yet to be discovered, both local and international. The Festival concept remains dynamic and open, appealing to younger and older jazz enthusiasts, but also to music lovers in general – our mission is to present during the Festival contemporary jazz trends to the audience segment that occasionally follows this type of music, thus making top artistic music open for everyone.

For starters, we announce the complete big finale of the 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival: in the Kombank Hall, we will evoke the tradition of jazz and the great history of our event, and in the Belgrade Youth Center Americana Hall, we will take a sneak peek of an exciting future.

The program at the Kombank Hall will open with the Mingus Big Band, the first American large orchestra performing at the Festival since 1990. This ensemble made up of first-class New York musicians under the artistic direction of Mingus’ wife Sue, besides keeping the legacy of the legendary double bass player, authentically interprets original arrangement of compositions from Mingus’s opus. Their performance creates a true connection with the beginnings of the Festival: Mingus himself performed at the opening edition in 1970, as well as in 1972 and 1975, and the smaller legacy formation of Mingus Dynasty performed in 1982. Now for the first time, we will hear this famous repertoire in full orchestral lavishness, performed by one of the best big bands on the planet, seven times nominated for Grammy.

Saxophonist and flautist Charles Lloyd is a living icon of jazz, one of the greatest leaders and improvisers of all time, a constant thinker and innovator. The power of his improvisations and his interest in blending jazz and non-Western music styles have established him as one of the key figures in the expansion and advancement of this art form. He was among the first jazzers with millions of sold records, as well as among the few ones who played in front of the rock audience at the legendary Filmore. After two unforgettable concerts at the Festival in 2011 and 2014, reaching the ninth decade of his life with unabated performance energy,  he returns to Belgrade with a new band, featuring guitarist Marvin Sewell.

The midnight program in the Americana Hall represents the top selection of contemporary European jazz. French violinist Théo Ceccaldi, with the Freaks sextet (two string and two wind instruments, guitar and drums), mocks classical smoothness and jazz intellectualism, but at the same time demonstrates classical virtuosity and jazz unpredictability – from a POV of a punk rocker! Voted the Best French Musician 2016 in the Jazz Magazine poll, and selected by Victoire du Jazz as the discovery of the year, Ceccaldi continues the series of performances by the most important French new artists at the Festival, following Vincent Peirani and Émile Parisien.

Another type of sextet, Axes is featured in the same program with the Portuguese saxophonist and composer João Mortagua. The direct association with the saxophonist quartet in the front line is the famous American World Saxophone Quartet, especially due to the eclectic repertoire in terms of the genre. But the two drummers make the substantial difference – adding rhythms of New Orleans brass bands and hip-hop energy to the sound, inspiring the critics to compare them with the famous Steven Bernstein’s Sex Mob quartet.

The Festival’s special challenge lies in the discovery of new talents, such as the British bassist Henry Spencer, who will perform in the Americana Hall midnight program on Saturday, October 26th. Blending classical jazz and Miles-like fusion, rock and minimalism, this young musician has released just one album so far, The Reasons Do not Change, but already has several awards in his pocket, as well as great reviews in All About Jazz and the Guardian. With the Juncture quintet, he brings fresh ideas from the recently revived British jazz scene.

We celebrate another small jubilee, for the fifth time in a row we present the most talented names of the new Serbian jazz wave within the so-called Serbian showcase. Following the established format, three local, new projects performed by younger artists will be presented to our audience, but also to numerous foreign journalists – last year there were thirty – who year after year spread the word around the world about top achievements of the Serbian.

This year, among the hand-picked participants we will watch the young saxophonist and composer Rastko Obradović, who made his first steps at this very Festival (Big Band RTS and Serbian Jazz Bre!), while now he forms a quartet with Norwegian musicians (Martin Gjerde, piano; Alexander Hoholm, double bass; Raymond Lavik, drums) his fellow students from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and they plan to record their first album this year. By including this ensemble into the Festival program, we want to stress out the importance of cooperation of our talents with international artists for the development of the contemporary Serbian jazz scene.

The side programs of the Belgrade Jazz Festival anniversary edition will focus on Serbia’s history and its place on the contemporary global jazz scene, with a special emphasis on panel discussions. With further improvements in production and innovation in the presentation of program content, we look forward to honouring the anniversary of one of the most important international music events in our country – in celebration of jazz music.

The 34th Belgrade Jazz Festival has issued a limited number of vouchers for all-in tickets, granting access to all main program concerts, already available at the Belgrade Youth Center box office,  all Ticket Vision outlets, as well as via www.tickets.rs.

The City of Belgrade, the founder of the Belgrade Jazz Festival, included it in 2007 on the list of events of special cultural interest.

The Festival host is the Belgrade Youth Center.

The Belgrade Jazz Festival is a member by invitation of the Europe Jazz Network.

Patrons of the 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival: City of Belgrade – City Authority – Secretariat for Culture; the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.

Friends of the 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival: Lukoil, Erste Bank, Dunav osiguranje, Staropramen, SOKOJ.

www.bjf.rs

www.facebook.com/BelgradeJazzFest

www.twitter.com/BGJazzFest    

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!!