Location: Jamski dvorec / Postojna / Slovenia
Concert date: 15.11.2012
Attendance: 400
It looks like the charming Serbian-born guitarist Ana Popović, an excellent blues/rock player, is becoming a regular at the Blues Festival in Postojna. This was her second appearance at the event.
In front of a crowd that included a sizable number of people who were hardly locals or Postojna residents, Ana Popović this time showed up with a three-piece backing band. The sound, and even more so the visuals, were led by the energetic bassist Ronald Jonker. For a few moments I was scared that all that wild enthusiasm, dancing around between the strings of his bass and flailing about, would make his head fly right off. With his antics he laid down the rhythm line for Ana’s interpretations more than superbly, and at the same time made sure we all fell into the trance of the melodic jamming we were treated to. Keyboardist Mike Papadia and drummer Stephan Avellarzed backed him up more than splendidly, too.
Over a good two and a half hours, the long-legged Ana Popović laid out a rich repertoire of her musical mastery. And no wonder, since in her career she has shared the stage with blues legends like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke and Robert Cray, not to mention legends of the younger generations such as Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. She wowed us with her slide guitar playing, which she obviously loves, and at times it even recalls her great idol Bonnie Raitt. You can tell from a mile away that she comes from an excellent blues/rock school, but in her slide approach there’s still a hefty dose of her own personality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYtpN5VsA
Her guitar playing, which doesn’t hide a generous helping of melodic seasoning, is full of passion, as the blues tradition demands, and above all leaves a ton of room for improvisation. Her show doesn’t need surgical precision, let alone circus tricks. Ana speaks through music, through chattering across the strings of her guitar, adding an extraordinary emotional charge that she carries in her Serbian genes. In her deft hands the guitar turns into a wild, frisky minx that either whispers with a tremble or groans thunderously.
In the second part of the show, she even decided to set her trusty Fender on its stand for a few songs and focus purely on vocals. She has a voice that’s at times raspy, which is of course fitting for this kind of music and more than welcome. It also shows her musical range and her wish to eventually become an excellent blues/rock singer too, adding even more weight to her superb guitar chops.
Ana Popović undoubtedly deserves more attention and, above all, a bigger concert stage. Her music is not only top quality but also attractive enough to draw a much larger crowd of music fans. Ljubljana, for one, would be very happy to have her. Ana herself says she’d love to play in our capital one day.
Fans of guitar jamming in Slovenia have been doing well lately. After Steve Vai’s guitar wizardry at Cvetličarna and Ana Popović’s charming show in Postojna, at least two more treats await us next year: Mark Knopfler and Joe Satriani.
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