By Gajtis Bejleri
TIRANA, July 9 – For six nights in a row, Tirana Jazz Festival entertained its spectators at the Sheraton Hotel. First started in 2000, the festival has now become a tradition, with more and more foreign musicians participating each year.
Artistic director of the festival, clarinetist Fatos Qerimi said the festival aims to promote traditional, creative and modern jazz styles. Qerimi also spoke about the venue, as he saw the Sheraton Hotel as the perfect luxurious place for musicians and spectators alike, matching the kind of music played there.
Like the previous years, among the participants were the likes of Hans-Joachim Rodelius, Tim Story and Leda Atomica, while there was a lack of Albanian artists playing at the festival. According to Qerimi, most Albanian jazz players are still at amateur levels and not ready for such a festival.
However, Qerimi, who is also dean at the Academy of Arts in Tirana, has been insisting in starting the Jazz Department at the Academy. “We should incorporate the jazz music in Tirana,” says Qerimi, who also thinks there are great resources to generate a jazz tradition in the country, especially with the large number of artists playing jazz at amateur levels in the various clubs of the capital.
On the other hand, the International Culture Centre attempted to start a jazz festival for amateur players as well.
The festival started on Thursday 3rd, with Hans-Joachim Rodelius playing. Rodelius is the honorary president of the festival and a pioneer of electronic jazz. During the six nights of the festival, there were also performances from Clementine Gasser on the cello, Tim Story, notorious for composing the soundtracks for Pedro Almodovar’s movies, and Hungarians “Djabe”, who combined modern jazz style with traditional Hungarian music and rhythms.
“Leda Atomica” were back to the festival with their usual fancy performances, putting up a show with music, acting and dancing all mixed together. Prov Stelar was a novelty, bringing to the festival a disco rhythm. His music was a combination of jazz and house music, somewhat attracting the younger generations.
To wrap up the festival on Wednesday evening were “Wiener Tschuschenkapelle”, a band of Bosnians living in Austria. Their jazz, which marked the highlight of the event, offered sounds from the folklore music of Mediterranean Balkan countries, mainly Bosnian, Greek and Turkish.
