From intensive preparations leading all the way to a glorious finale, the European premiere of the jazz musical Nora’s Ark took place here in Podgorica, performed by the students from Vasa Pavic School of Music and Dance and Eli Yamin Jazz Quartet. The euphoria that Jazz Appreciation Month raised in Montenegro is still not fading. While we savor all the compliments and excellent reviews from both experts and audience, let’s remember some of the best moments of this year’s event: here are some extraordinary photographs along with the story of JAM 2011 in Montenegro, the way jazz critic and senior contributor of Downbeat Magazine Virgil Mihaiu told it. Enjoy!
Exhilarating Jazz Appreciation Month 2011 in Beautiful Montenegro
F. Scott Fitzgerald, the writer who coined the term Jazz Age, mentioned “little Montenegro” in his masterpiece The Great Gatsby (published almost simultaneously with the first hearing of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue). In 2006 that country reemerged on the world’s map. Its tiny size stands in sharp contrast to its endless natural beauty.
But Montenegro also strives to display artistic potential. As has been proven by jazz’s developments during the last half of a century or so, this kind of music is capable of transfiguring the postmodern ethos of various nations into unprecedented sound-aesthetics. Therefore, despite being inhabited by only less than 700,000 people, the old/new country has been acting fast in this respect. Montenegro’s jazz community has found an adequate organizational
body in the Jazz Art Association, based in the capital city of Podgorica. Founded by Maja Popovic in 2009, JAM had a catalytic effect upon musicians, educators, scholars, spectators, through concerts, workshops, festivals, teaching, mass media promotion, etc. Already in that year, the ever persuasive Maja asked American bassist Patrick O’Leary to compose The Montenegro Jazz Suite, made up of Montenegrin folk-songs restyled into a “third stream” work for choir, string ensemble and jazz quartet. The piece was performed on the stage of Podgorica’s Culture & Information Centre (KIC) by some young local choir & string orchestra, plus a combo featuring masterful improvisations by trumpeter Stjepko Gut, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Tom Melito, and the composer himself on the bass. The resulting show is worthwhile watching, currently on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnnwIpW8zhk (and related).
No wonder that Maja Popovic and her industrious team have embraced the idea of organizing each year a Jazz Appreciation Month in their reborn country. The project, originating from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., primarily aimed at spreading the enchantments of jazz towards territories with less previous exposure to this music. Maja herself describes the Montenegrin version of the event as being tailored to suit the needs of the indigenous cultural life, by way of concerts, master classes, workshops, educational programs, films, arts, etc. meant to attract young and old, students and
teachers, amateurs and professionals. Thus, in April 2011, despite the harsh global crisis, Montenegro could once again enjoy a jazz fête. Concerts, workshops, films, exhibitions, lectures were offered not only in Podgorica, but also in some of the country’s gem-towns: Kotor, Cetinje, Tivat, Niksic, Pljevlja.
I had the honor of being invited to give a lecture within this year’s Jazz Appreciation Month in Montenegro, and to attend some of its outstanding moments. The opening night consisted in a press conference followed by a jam session, joining American and local musicians. Host was the Montanaro Jazz Club, a venue of remarkable design, decorated with art photographs of hall of fame musicians, and generously coordinated by jazz promoter Dragan Senic. Podgorica’s emerging jazz scene was represented by guitarist Filip Gavranovic, drummer Slaven Ljuic, and two adolescent vocalists – Iva Kostic and Katarina Bogicevic (unfortunately, the country’s number one jazzman, trumpeter & trombonist Nikola Mitrovic had died in an accident last year). During the press conference it was pleasant to find out about the consistent moral and material support offered to Montenegro’s jazz life by the American Embassy in Podgorica. Its Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Mr. Bennett Y. Lowenthal, proves to be not only a versed diplomat, but also a man of culture and a jazz connoisseur, which is a blessing in today’s strained context.
This year’s main guests were the members of the New York based Eli Yamin Quartet. An apt choice, given their individual improvisational skills, ample stylistic horizons, versatility, homogeneity, and pure joy of communicating with the spectators. And, mind you, the latter were as enthusiastic as any East European jazz buffs. The quartet’s recital began with a paraphrase of the uplifting theme O svjetla majska zora (a folkloric melody whose arrangement by Zarko Mirkovic has been turned into the Montenegrin anthem), in alternation with swing passages evoking the origins of jazz. Most of the pieces were imbued by jazz basics, such as blues, gospel, swing, bebop, with inborn hints to rhythm-and-blues or rock&roll. Pianist/vocalist Eli Yamin didn’t make a secret out of his admiration for Ellington, and truly produced some referential soloing in the vein of his maestro, whilest in other outings he went the entire spectrum from feather light pointillism to heavy-duty ostinati. In the case of alto sax-player Zaid Nasser the major influence came from Sonny Stitt, but the fleetness of his interpretation evinced due respect for Charlie Parker. Bassist Ari Roland’s originality resides in always doing his (very consistent) solos con arco – i.e., using only the bow – while for the accompanying passages he resorted to the customary walking-bass pizzicato. Drummer LaFrae Sci was an alert rhythm propeller, and – in her improvisations – she always managed to suggest melodies and harmonies only through sensitive percussion accents. A nice gesture from the musicians was to dedicate the piece Just One to Maja Popovic, indeed the irreplaceable creator of this beautiful feast.
Eli Yamin’s Quartet engendered similar enthusiastic response from the audience in two other performances: at the charming Royal Theatre in the ancient Montenegrin capital Cetinje (situated under Mount Lovcen, on whose peak 19th century king & poet Njegos lies in his mausoleum, designed by the great sculpturer Ivan Mestrovic), and at Porto Montenegro/Yacht Club in Tivat, on the country’s fabulous Riviera.
The autochthonous Baltazar Kvintet rendered its post-modernistic version of jazz, with some ECM-sound tinge and a healthy dose of individual creativity, in three cities – Podgorica, Kotor and Niksic. The group is made up of Montenegro’s most promising instrumentalists of today: Filip Gavranovic/guitar, Ivan Markovic/piano & synthesizer, Blazo Tatar/drums, Nebojsa Miletic/double bass. One can only hope that they will succeed in maintaining alive the flame of jazz interpretation in these inspiring realms. And I am sure that some invitations from foreign festivals would be helpful for their future development.
In fact, what impressed me most in Montenegro – besides the eternal natural beauty – were the vitality, young energy and artistic potential of its rather scant population. Such features were properly revealed by the culmination of the Jazz Appreciation Month 2011: the European premiere of the jazz musical Nora’s Ark composed by Eli Yamin and written by Clifford Carlson. That play had been conceived, about a decade ago, as part of The Jazz Drama Program, a NY based nonprofit organization which strives to use musical theatre as a way to engage middle school students and introduce them to jazz music, as well as explore topics that are relevant to them. Premiered in 2000, Nora’s Ark is based on a funny scenario about a scientist named Nora who predicts the flooding of the Earth. Rescuing the animals at the Bronx Zoo, Nora and her daughters rent a cruise ship. It seems all are saved, except that daughter Fitzi forgets to bring food. Fortunately, all animals discover that freedom is a greater sustaining force than food, and ultimately cooperate in finding an edible solution. The “educational aim” of the play was to tell a tale about living harmoniously, working together and empathizing with others. But its major gain is, by far, the musical one.
Maja Popovic had the commendable idea of re-creating this swinging and youthful musical play on Montenegrin soil, involving Eli Yamin’s Quartet for the instrumental part, and at least 50 youngsters, pupils of Podgorica’s Vasa Pavic School of Music & Ballet, to whom the choral and vocal solo parts were assigned, plus some simpatico in-between stage movement. Obviously, the grand choir – excellently coordinated by Mira Popovic – had to study its score in advance. Yet the more challenging aspect of this long-distance collaboration occurred during the first week of Jazz Appreciation Month 2011, when the American instrumentalists and their Montenegrin alumni met for daily rehearsals. Considering the brief amount of time allowed for these on-the-spot workshops, the results were amazing: on April 8th 2011, the overcrowded hall of KIC Podgorica witnessed an exhilarating performance, with dozens of teen-agers and children singing in English so naturally as if they had been a part of the show’s previous representations in Santa Fe, Moscow/Idaho, New York and other American cities. There was admirable coordination among the performers of this jazz musical for children (a work due to become a reference in the field). Fact is that the author never lowered the musical standard of his composition. On the contrary, he raised his young disciples to the condition of lively participants to the singing & swinging on-stage-adventures (by the way: the show ought to be repeated in a larger space, allowing better “mass movements”; to my mind, it would also deserve to be “exported” to Western countries, as a proof of this little nations artistic capacities). Eli Yamin has employed here his vast knowledge as pianist, singer, educator, showman, and has creatively processed the traditions that once made the glory of the American musical, dating as far back as the Jazz Age. This is a real service to America’s greatest contribution to contemporary arts: spreading the message of jazz music throughout the world. As the musician himself confessed, during the elated aftermath of the show: “We felt the spirit of jazz when we arrived in Podgorica.” The public’s tremendous reaction just confirmed that statement.
As jazz always implies vivid connections to other artistic fields, Maja Popovic also took care of the collateral planning. Thus, various jazz-inspired films were presented in Podgorica, Tivat and Pljevlja. Their selector and commentator was Misa Nedeljkovic, a professor with the Oklahoma University. Here are some of the titles, just to prove the high standard of the selection: Thelonious Monk/Straight No Chaser and Ella Fitzgerald/Something To Live For, both by Charlotte Zwerin; Short Cuts and Kansas City both by Robert Altman; Bird by Clint Eastwood; Sweet and Lowdown by Woody Allen; Charles Mingus/Triumph of the Underdog by Don McGlynn, etc. Two exhibitions of posters dedicated to Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, respectively, were presented in Tivat.
Croatian jazz-journalist & avant-garde promoter Vid Jeraj spoke about the connections beween literature and jazz at the lecture he gave in Podgorica, at Karver bookstore. The American Corner that functions in the same building as KIC Budo
Tomovic was my host. My task was to deliver the lecture entitled Jazz in the Beginning of the 21st Century – Between Universal Language and Ethnocultural Identities. Strangely enough, I had already presented the essentials of that study at the headquarters of the Smithsonian Institution in 2005, in response to the kind invitation that I had received from John Edward Hasse. Actually, this dear friend of mine had played a decisive role in the establishment of the Jazz Appreciation Month project worldwide. For such typical jazz occurrences, a fitting Romanian saying would be: Cine se aseamana se aduna (French: Qui s’assemble se ressemble; English: Birds of a feather flock together).
Virgil Mihaiu