French jazz pianist and composer Baptiste Trotignon in a duet with Argentinian percussionist Mina Garaja will perform tonight in the Great Hall of KIC "Budo Tomović", on the occasion of the Music Festival.
The concert organized by KIC, NGO Jazz Art and the French Institute will be held at 20 p.m., and the entrance is free. The music festival has been traditionally celebrated since 2002, it is celebrated all over the world, and the idea was born in France in the early 80s.
“Let's enjoy the music together tonight. I am very happy about my first guest appearance in Montenegro", said the French jazz pianist and composer at the beginning of the conversation.
The presentation to the audience in the capital of Montenegro will be used to promote the album "Chimichurri", which was recorded in Buenos Aires last year, and Trotignon reveals what that word means.
"It is the name of a famous sauce used in Argentina, in dishes with meat. It's a little spicy, but not too much, just like the music," Trotignon points out.
The mentioned album has received excellent reviews so far, and it contains fifteen compositions. In addition to Trotignon and Minin's songs, there are also their arrangements of well-known names of classical American composers such as Leonard Bernstein, songs from the musical "West Side Story", jazz standards by Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, as well as the music of Hermet Pascoal and Paul McCartney.
"I think that our music will be enjoyed by everyone, not just jazz fans. Also, when we perform on stage we like to share energy with the audience, it's a very intuitive and communicative experience, and I think it's a common feedback that the audience sends us. We work very spontaneously on music, I brought in some ideas from my European culture, and Minino from his South American one. It is a real exchange of cultures", he boasted.
In addition to the compositions from the aforementioned album, the two will perform several new songs composed by Trotignon recently in front of the Podgorica audience.
"There will also be a wonderful French song called 'Helene's song' (La chanson d'Hélène) from the famous French film 'Things of Life' in our arrangement," said Trotignon.
The two of them have been playing this repertoire for some time on stages around the world, and Trotignon boasted that the audience adores him. He previously worked with tenor saxophonist Mark Turner from New York, with whom he released a joint acoustic album, and he reveals what kind of lineup he will perform in the future: "I like a duet because it's a very fresh dynamic between two individuals, a real conversation. Playing in a duet also often allows you to get as close as possible to an acoustic musical concept, without too much sound, which in my opinion is a limiting factor to getting to know the 'real sound' of musicians. The next album will be a piano solo with several guests with whom I will play in a duet," promises Trotignon.
"Today, jazz music has become more international, and many musicians sound good on both sides of the Atlantic, although New York remains the main center of great bassists and drummers," Trotignon believes.
Since 2001, he has received many awards for music, his favorite being the French Association of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SACEM) award he received a few years ago.
"It is my favorite because it relates to my work as a composer. Creating is definitely my obsession, my need and my passion. I couldn't live without creating something, I'm bored without it," the musician points out.
The performance of jazz music today, as he emphasizes, is different when compared to the time when he himself started playing.
"In the past, especially before I started playing, things were much simpler: if you play well you have a job, if you don't play so well, you don't have much of a job. Everything is different today, you have to be aware of many parameters, that you are versatile and work in several directions, so much so that sometimes you wonder if you are still a musician", said Trotignon, who started his career as a classical pianist, but into improvisation that is characteristic of jazz he fell in love with as a teenager.
Notable role in the movie "New World"
During his professional career, Trotignon is not only a distinguished pianist, but also had the opportunity to try his hand as a musician and actor in the film "Le Nouveau Monde" by Alain Cornot.
"It was very exciting to work on the film, to see how the film looks from the other side of the camera and to hang out with such a wonderful person as the director Alain Cornot. I was lucky enough to meet him," says Trotignon, admitting that he would like to compose music for a film one day.
"Those who are already in this market are not ready to give way to others. I think that market is very closed, and it's hard to approach that world when you're not part of it," explains Trotignon.
An unusual duo for jazz
Trotignon and Minin Garaj have been collaborating since 2011. “We've both lived in Paris for a long time, but we've never played together before. It's an interesting fact that we performed our first joint concert in Minin's hometown, Córdoba in Argentina," recalled Trotignon.
A duo ensemble of piano and percussion is not common in jazz music, and as for what inspired him for this kind of repertoire, Trotignon says: "Well, there is no bass! I'm used to playing solo - piano recitals, where of course I play the bass part and rhythms alone, so this duo is very natural and relaxing for me, because Minino brings a lot of fresh ideas in improvisation. In a way, I would say that, comparing to solo piano playing, the challenge is where I can play rubato without a groove - it's true that Minino plays in the groove most of the time, so I always have to be in the groove, more or less intensely ", Trotignon points out.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
