The sixteenth White Field Jazz Festival opened last night in Bijelo Polje.
Opening the festival, State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Media, Vatroslav Belan, said that during the past fifteen years, the Bjelopolje Jazz Festival has shown how much the greatness of other musical genres can be recognized in the landscape, which has always been characterized by the special opulence of colors and sounds of folk music.
"The idea and concept of the festival correspond in many ways with contemporary movements on the music scene of Montenegro, which, among other things, is characterized by the appearance of artists who have confirmed their interpretative ranges outside of our territory. The program expansion of the festival, from early jazz to rock and pop music, was accompanied by debates, exhibitions and book promotions, mainly intended for the younger population and generations stylistically close to these musical genres. New musical projects, both from the standard jazz repertoire, and the appearance of new works, which ranged from ethno to jazz expressions, resulted in the positioning of the White Field Jazz Festival in one of the central places in the region," Belan emphasized.
During the fifteen years of the festival, jazz fans had the opportunity to hear, in addition to top jazzers and bluesers, many important pop and rock names from the former Yugoslavia.
Welcoming the guests and the audience that filled the courtyard of the former house of the first Montenegrin novelist on the first evening of the festival, the director of JU Ratković's evening of poetry Kemal Music said, among other things, that the White Field Jazz Festival was born from the need to improve the cultural and tourist offer of Bijelo Polje, the region and our countries.
"Bijelo Polje, as the regional cultural and economic center of the north of Montenegro, lacked a cultural event that would carry with it an 'urban' story, especially when it comes to music. It is actually a musical direction that deviates from what dominates in the media, a direction that has an educational character and contributes to the general raising of the level of awareness about culture and attitude towards life. In these 16 years, we have managed to achieve that, we have shown how even small communities can be the bearers of important cultural events", pointed out Music.
The first night of the White Field Jazz Festival was opened by the group "Acoustic therapy" from Bielsko-Biała, and after them the audience enjoyed the sounds of the Montenegrin band "Kind of Blues" with Šule Jovović. The Bjelopol audience did not forget the high-quality performance of Đorđe Obradović at earlier festivals, so they accompanied his performance with enthusiasm. The first evening of the festival was closed by the Macedonian jazz band "Svetlost".
Tonight, the second night of the festival, will be dedicated to the band "Osvajači".
Before them, the ethnic group from Rožaj 'Teferidž', the orchestra from Podgorica 'Jesenjin', 'led by the famous poet Svetaln ia Kalezić', will perform.
Bonus video:
