Skopje Jazz Festival 2005
Joyce with the remembering of the legendary Masters and his own compositions – was irresistible to the wide auditorium, and Lenine was acceptable only for the distortion-lovers
#1 With the music that only seem different in their rhythmic structure, although they come from the same part of the globe, the third evening of the Skopje Jazz Festival fully justified the long-year engagement of the Festival organizer to insist on involving the rich and dynamic Brazilian music stage at this Festival…
Skopje simply pulsed together with the seductive Karaoke rhythms that night. At the stage of the Universal Hall in Skopje, the two great stars – Joyce and Lenine, as two typical represents of the regions they live and work in, in incredibly simple way explained and expressed the all-presence of the Latino musicians through the world in the last decade.
The fun began with Joyce and her band. This singer, guitarist and the first female-composer in Brazilian music, who has 35-year career as a professional and who has over 25 albums behind herself, at first performed in honor of the old Masters, playing and singing the classical bossa-nova of her mentor – Vinicius De Morales, Allice Regina, Ney Matogrosso, Milton Nashimento… And slowly, accordingly to all master ways of the great star manners, she introduced us into the world which we started to recognize by the overwhelming positive emotional outbreaks. That way, even the fact of not-knowing the Portugal language (and accordingly, the impossibility to absorb the wholeness of the specific poetics off this music) couldn’t harm the general impression. Joyce, at the same time left enough space for her musicians to express themselves, especially the drummer Tutty Moreno and the sax & alt-clarinet player Nailor Proveta, accenting her capabilities of vise and great band-leader. The segment with the bossa-nova classics culminated with the music of the great Jobim, and then turned into the selected choice of the greatest hits from her opus, which is larger than 300 songs (from her singles and albums). At this moment, the concert got its new dimension – it entered the waters of the contemporary glorious and strong music genre (very popular in the last decade), known as “New Bossa-Nova”, or more accurate: “Drum’n’Bossa” Then followed the few music-numbers from her latest album “Rio Bahia”, and finally, the concert ended with the reappearing of the band on the stage on “bis”, as an embryo of the desire for a next music encounter between her and Skopje audience.
#2 On the other hand, Lenine, one of the most prominent representatives of the contemporary Brazilian pop-music, cleared any possible dilemma at the very start of his program. This guitarist and singer, the author with cosmopolitan spirit, with the rich cultural tradition of the Pernambuko area within his veins, bases his music upon the constant inner-evolution, entered this performance of his with a lot of energy and ‘resources’. Matrixes, sound effects, distorted guitar sound, the games with the light, the smoke encircling the musicians, etc. Instead of the mild sound of the music, we saw the band with hellish Rock’n’Roll. Sounds that could make you think you’re listening to “Sepultura” – filtered through the Juke Box of the Brazilian traditional music, or maybe “Red Hot Chilly Peppers” originated from Resifi, the Lenine’s place of birth. He himself, aware of the need to be original and to be true for himself, with the clearly drawn attitude about the music he plays, acted accordingly – as a genuine great music star that emanates potential of a great scale.
In this intent, even the surprised audience didn’t made him hesitate; this kind of music expression wasn’t expected on a jazz festival, so it was transferred at the second manifestation held by the same organizer: the “Heineken Off-Fest”.
Finally, the Lenine concert and his promotion of the album “InCite” finished in triumph before the Skopje fans (with dance and adoration) although in the Hall remained not more than 300 visitors.
Translated by: Petar Volnarovski