Venue: Dvorni bar, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Concert date: 12.01.2009
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: 0 €
Gal Gjurin, a contemporary Slovenian singer-songwriter best known to the wider public for his projects “Olivija” and “Gal in galeristi”, presented his first solo album, “Srce”, on Tuesday, January 13. The CD launch, which serves up innovative, high-quality musical pampering even for the most hardened soul, took place in the cozy atmosphere of Ljubljana’s Dvorni bar. Besides journalists and friends, the crowd was packed with a few established names from the music scene, including Anđa Marić, Marko Vozelj, Vlado Kreslin (who played harmonica on the album), Severa Gjurin and Janez Bončina – Benč. The latter later grabbed the mic himself, too.
The launch, which kicked off almost an hour late, didn’t follow the usual script this time. To start, Gal filled everyone in on the musicians and the rest of the crew involved, though it turned out that he did the lion’s share of the album himself: producer, composer, arranger and lyricist. On top of that, he recorded most of the instruments too: piano, Rhodes, synths, acoustic, electric and bass guitars, percussion, accordion, Hammond, double bass… Gal is a multi-instrumentalist and is known in music circles as a perfectionist. All of which deserves a ton of praise, because the Slovenian music scene is short on musicians like that. The result of the so-called “superficiality” is albums made of instant pop mush, copies of music from abroad and lyrics that dumb people down. And, let’s be honest, plenty of people fall for it. Sad, but true.
After this short “lecture”, the journalists snapped Gal up, while his backing band used the time for a jam session. Not a single soul in the room stayed still. The positive vibes spreading through the place got an extra boost from a fine drop of wine. And of course nobody went hungry either, as guests could nibble on excellent canapés with fish pâté.
The pleasant mood, which carried on into the presentation of songs from the new album, was then spoiled by bad acoustics, and Gal soon left the stage. Even so, the guest of honor played some of the album’s most talked-about tracks, notably “Čas bo na moji strani”, “Jaz ne pripadam”, “Kaj vse bi dal” and the title track “Srce”. The evening then carried on and wrapped up with another jam session.
Like I said, the album “Srce” is innovation and quality packed into twelve “heartfelt” tracks. And don’t forget: “I’m where the heart is. And I do what you’re not supposed to… And even if you take everything from me, I’ll be where the heart is.”
Photos: Barbara Milharčič
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