Artist: Jukič, Robert
Label: Celinka
Release: 2011
Duration: 62:25
Rating: 4/5
Robert Jukič is a pretty well-known name on our jazz scene, since the bassist already has a good number of projects and bands behind him. He’s been showing up on stages abroad for years too, and he’s a generally respected jazz musician. And it’s nice for our little country that not all jazzers just jazz it up on club stages; this time, in true cinematic spirit, Robert Jukič swapped his double bass for a revolver. As an outcast, he jumped on a horse and started firing into the sky, to cries of freedom, wind in his hair and a sheriff on his heels.
That’s how Jukič’s latest project, called Dobrote iz skrinje zarote, kicks off. It’s practically western film music, which is certainly something new on this side of the Alps, especially coming from the hands and sheet music of a jazzer. Singing the praises of freedom, saloon waitresses and the size of one’s revolver while running from the local sheriff is already the opening theme of the album – that’s what the track »Obljubljeni deželi naproti« is about. Andraž Mazi, who helps Jukič out on all sorts of guitars, doesn’t score the clip-clop of hooves with coconut shells, but with authentic string passages that leave no doubt about the surroundings the music conjures up. Ten singers tell their tales of the Wild West, from the outlaw-rough voice of the villain, sung by Jukič, to the somewhat gentler tones of Boštjan Andrejc – Buši. For the most part it’s more spoken word than full-lunged singing, but the heart of it stays in Jukič’s and Mazi’s backdrops, atmospheres of rising dust, scorching sun and overcrowded saloons.
The project is definitely unique. A blend of film-score backdrops, spoken word and a bluesy storytelling approach is not something we expected from a jazzer. Jukič clearly didn’t give a damn about his colleagues, the spiffed-up youngsters churned out by music schools and the Academy, because he’d apparently had enough of drowning in technical, uninspired jazz of the Slovenian mid-range sadness variety. He traded jazz standards for a western, which is reason enough to pay attention. Variety comes, since the atmosphere stays the same, from different instruments such as harmonica, violin, a good helping of string exotica provided by Terrafolk’s Cvetrežnik, and trumpet. The bluesy style of narrating western showdowns is the album’s common thread, which begins and ends with instrumental set-up and a murderous tearing down of the outlaw mood with the closing »Padli junaki«, which is also the album’s peak. The attempt of the whole project is already lovely, western-rough and fun, and it often has plenty of guts, but something is missing. Maybe an epic showdown between two gunslingers, maybe an adrenaline-fueled chase, maybe a bank robbery. One storytelling high point like that, backed by musical western craziness that doesn’t stop at living-room volume but goes full orchestral and wild.
Robert Jukič remains the nameless gunslinger. An outcast drifting from town to town, wanting to make a name for himself. With a gang of outlaws, each with their own scars from the past. And a fine backing that feeds the imagination just enough that we find the substance filling, but not annoying. One more thing worth mentioning is the interesting approach to selling the record: the release comes with an extra CD, onto which the buyer can burn the mp3s of the bonus material, which is of course available for free. A computer-age modernization of the western from a jazzer’s hands on this side of the Alps has never been more interesting. Maybe because this time it’s the first of its kind.
Lineup
Robert Jukič – acoustic and electric guitars, bass, percussion, sound effects, whistling, vocals
Andraž Mazi – acoustic, classical and electric guitars, tres, pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, dobro, harmonica, jug bass
Boštjan Andrejc – Buši – vocals
Metod Banko – vocals
Tonč Feinig – vocals
Aleš Hadalin – vocals
Dušan Jager – vocals
Tomislav Jovanovič – Tokac – vocals
Robert Jukič – vocals
Jani Kovačič – vocals
Pero Lovšin – vocals
Sergej Ranđelović – vocals
Gašper Bertoncelj – snare drum
Bojan Cvetrežnik – mandolin, bouzouki, violin
David Jarh – trumpet, flugelhorn
Kristijan Krajnčan – cello
Saša Lušić – backing vocals
Sergej Ranđelović – drums
Joži Šalej – organ, harmonium, backing vocals
Armend Xhaferi – acoustic guitar
Production
Robert Jukič
Tracklist
1. Obljubljeni deželi naproti
2. Piha brije
3. Svilena tančica
4. Spusti in odpusti
5. Za sabo
6. Brat je bratu brat
7. Me je sram
8. Suha je zemlja
9. Modro nebo
10. Resnica boli
11. Oj moj brat
12. Bang bang
13. Sveta voda
14. Sreča v nesreč
15. Padli junaki
