The ambiance of Mogren Fortress is perfect for contemporary jazz

The musical program of the XXXIX Grad Teatar festival continued last night at the new festival stage, Mogren Fortress, with a performance by the international jazz trio SeptNoir. The trio consists of Jonas Wall (piano), Damian de Muink (drums) and Matija Mitrović (bass), originally from Budva. The band was formed during their studies at the Conservatory in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and their first significant performances followed at the Le Guess Who, ZeelandJazz and Ujazz Festival festivals, as well as in numerous jazz clubs throughout the Netherlands. This was followed by concerts in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. During this phase, their first album “Entrée” was released, available on CD and all relevant streaming platforms.

SeptNoir combines influences from contemporary jazz authors and performers, including: Avishai Cohen, Shai Maestro, Marco Gillian, Tigran Hamasyan, Lyle Mays i Bred Meldau, with the individual musical experiences of the band members.

At the Budva concert, the trio performed eight compositions: Entrée, 1916, Vivianite, What's Next?, Sly, Minimalistic Etude, Agateophobia and Calm & Dangerous. After the program ended, the audience invited them for an encore, when they played the song Spilosoma, composed by Jonas Wall. The concert was held on the new festival stage inside the Mogren Fortress, an environment that has proven to be extremely suitable for performing contemporary jazz music. The natural acoustics, sea view and intimate atmosphere of the stage contributed to a special experience of the concert. The audience reacted with attention and enthusiasm during the performance, and the final applause and the return of the performers for an encore testified to the expressed satisfaction of those present.

Matija Mitrović said after the concert that he was overjoyed with the audience's reaction. "I'm very pleased with everything, I'm glad that they welcomed us nicely and that they liked the music. I'm also pleased with how we played, there were some new moments that we didn't find in rehearsals, so it was fun for us too," said Mitrović, adding that the stage at Mogren Fortress was excellent, as was the cooperation with the City Theatre.

"They immediately solved the problems we had, fulfilled everything we asked for. I am very satisfied and look forward to new cooperation."

Damijan de Muink said that they have been performing this program for some time.

"Most of the songs are from our first album, which was released last year. We played everywhere, from the Netherlands to Latvia, the Czech Republic, Germany, and I'm glad that we can add Montenegro, i.e. Budva, to that list. We've been around for four years, we had another bass player before, and we're glad that Matija is with us," de Muink revealed, emphasizing how much he likes the people in Montenegro and the scene at Mogren Fortress.

“It’s great when a band member is from here and knows a lot of people, this location is beautiful. The beaches are also beautiful, I grew up next to one so this reminds me a bit of home. The people are very nice, the country is very beautiful. I would like to go back and enjoy it, not just play. I’m very surprised because I’ve never heard anything about Montenegro before, I only knew that it existed and that it was in the Balkans, so I’m very glad that I got to know this country a little better.” Jonas Horman is delighted with the performance and the audience’s reaction.

"We arrived two days ago, I had already been here before, so I knew a little about Budva and was looking forward to the Budva beaches. We had a rehearsal and after some technical problems that were quickly resolved by the people from the City Theatre, everything came together for this wonderful night and we got great feedback from the audience. What more could we ask for?", asked Horman and revealed plans for the coming period.

"We have performances scheduled in the Netherlands and Estonia, where we have been before and where we were received very well. We continue to compose, the two compositions we played tonight are not on the album so we will record them for the new album, we will continue to create new works and meet new audiences. That is a plan and something we are looking forward to," said Horman.

The music program of the XXXIX Grad Teatar festival continues on Saturday, August 9th, starting at 21 p.m. in the church of Santa Maria in Punta, with the concert "Arie per due" Ljubiša Jovanović (flute) i Sandra Belic (cello).