Eurojazzist Randomizer #19: Chisholm, Ekincioğlu & Škorić | Naïssam Jalal | Summer Bummer
One concert and jam session, one album, one festival
A few months ago, after an interview with Esat Ekincioğlu, I mentioned a new trio in the making, featuring the bassist alongside saxophonist Hayden Chisholm and drummer Aleksandar Škorić. They first played together in early May in Novi Sad and Belgrade, and have now continued working together, presenting their progress at Jazz Club BAM Belgrade.
It is an interesting venue run by Hayden Chisholm, a New Zealand musician who has left a significant mark on the European and global jazz scene and who lived in Germany for many years. Due to personal circumstances, Chisholm has now been living in Serbia for quite some time, which is an exceptional thing for the local jazz scene, since my country is hardly a major European jazz hub attracting renowned musicians from all over the world – quite the opposite.
Over the past three or four years, BAM Belgrade has organized a number of interesting jazz concerts by international bands, but it would be difficult to say that it has managed to establish a consistent jazz program. A few weeks ago, however, Chisholm also brought part of the very active Russian jazz diaspora in Belgrade into the story, and they enthusiastically got to work, establishing a regular jam session program. Since very little information about Russian jazz reached Serbia over the past couple of decades, these “new” musicians are mostly unfamiliar to me, but that is, of course, my problem. In any case, I plan to learn as much as possible about our new fellow citizens, many of whom arrived in Serbia after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I missed the trio’s previous performance for personal reasons, but this time I was there and genuinely enjoyed the concert. I had no information about how much of the material had been rehearsed or whether any of it had actually been written down, but what I heard had the structure of free, yet thoroughly melodic improvisation. From the perspective of (this) listener, it meant enjoying the individual talents and distinctive personalities of each musician – and each of them truly has a recognizable playing style. It was equally clear that all three possess an outstanding sense of collective improvisation, listening, and reacting to what happens in a fraction of a second. These are all excellent starting points for further development of their original music, something I am already looking forward to.
After about 45 minutes, their performance seamlessly slipped into a jam session. First, the trio was joined on stage by American trombonist Corey Wilcox (yet another talented foreign musician who moved to Serbia for personal reasons), followed by Russian pianist Oleg Belov. After my initial disappointment that the part of the concert I had come for was over, things very quickly moved into deconstruction and a freer improvisational discourse, rather atypical of jam sessions of this kind in Serbia. Probably because drummer Aca Škorić simply does not like to bop, and quickly redirects the rhythmic structure toward his own improvised terrain, leaving the others with no choice but to follow him at full speed. After the first part of the session, more musicians gradually joined in until the Russian crew had completely taken over the stage, continuing to maintain a high level of intensity and energy throughout the performance.
Interestingly, apart from Aleksandar Škorić, there were no Serbian jazz musicians at this session at all. They mostly perform at Bluz i Pivo, currently the most active jazz club in Belgrade, but that alone is hardly the full explanation. I would rather not engage in unfounded speculation about what the problem might be (although I do have a few ideas), but it is a pity that, on such a small scene, musicians are not a bit more connected beyond their usual circles and combinations.
New listens
I first heard flutist, vocalist, and composer Naïssam Jalal a few years ago at jazzahead! in Bremen. I enjoyed the concert, but simply never found the time to include her albums in my listening rotation. Earlier this year I read an excellent interview with her in We Jazz magazine, which reminded me of her talent, and I have finally started listening to her new album, Landscapes of Eternity. It is a repertoire the composer wrote “while traveling through the landscapes of north India, exploring the connection between spirituality, music, and nature.”
The lineup features Naïssam Jalal: flute, vocals; Samrat Pandit: vocals; Sougata Roy Chowdhury: sarod; Leonardo Montana: piano; Zaza Desiderio: drums; Nabankur Bhattacharya: tabla; and Flo Comment: tanpura. A quick look at both the concept and the list of musicians immediately makes it clear that this is music deeply rooted in Indian musical traditions. But even more interesting is the extent to which listening to Naïssam Jalal reminds us that the finest traditions of modal, free, and spiritual jazz owe many of their greatest moments to Indian culture.
As Naïssam Jalal herself says, she worked on the album for six years. She has lived on different continents and possesses a profound understanding of the musical and cultural discourses of both “Western” and “Eastern” civilizations. That is why her music feels genuinely organic – you can simply sense it. Spiritual, emotional, meticulously arranged, recorded, and presented to the listener.
Jazz Across Europe
Ever since I launched the Eurojazzist Instagram page, the algorithm has been serving me posts from countless festivals and concert venues across Europe. Every now and then, I find myself amazed by just how many exciting jazz events are taking place all the time—events I had never heard of before, yet which are no less impressive than the best-known ones within their particular subgenre niches. That is how the delightfully named Summer Bummer festival appeared in my feed one day, featuring an outstanding two-day program.
Just to highlight a few concerts as an illustration: DaughterDaughter (Camila Nebbia – Amalie Dahl – Sun-Mi Hong – Elisabeth Coudoux), Erosão Septet (Mariá Portugal – Angelika Niescier – Lotte Anker – Carl Ludwig Huebsch – Moritz Wesp – Matthias Mueller – Reza Askari), Rodrigo Amado – Joëlle Léandre – Gerald Cleaver, Marta Warelis – Mariá Portugal, Alexander von Schlippenbach – Paal Nilssen-Love…. Wow.
The festival takes place in the Belgian city of Antwerp, and you can find the full program here. Highly recommended if you are anywhere nearby.