Label: Self-released
Production: džeZZva
Rating: 9.0 / 10
As the name itself hints, džeZZva is a jazz quartet that sounds young and fresh on the scene going by the name alone, but behind that very name stand enormous mileage and a wealth of experience from four seasoned, talented musicians from Prekmurje.
In 2014 the band released a self-titled studio debut, a foundational step that gives them full credibility, not only in homegrown, original artistry but also when it comes to conquering concert stages. Since džeZZva are a quartet of musicians who have each played a huge amount in the past, and have written a pile of their own, original music as individuals (here I’m aiming especially at the extraordinary keyboardist and the band’s chief visionary Dejan Berden), the studio debut was already a document of a special musical adventure: an exceedingly bold and successful cruise through the worlds of free-spirited jazz experimentation, neoclassicism and folk music. Of Prekmurje geographical origin.
Over the last two years džeZZva have played a whole string of venues, building up their position not only at home but on international stages too, where they toured the Balkan Peninsula, among other places, and were also hosted by towns north of the Slovenian border. But it’s best when you play at home, in front of a home crowd, especially if you can record a gig and save the tape for a potential live album.
džeZZva are an institution unto themselves, working in a true “do it yourself” spirit. They operate completely independently, and that’s how they put out their albums, too. A second studio record is on the way, the little birds on the rooftops are already singing about it, but the guys decided to bridge the gap between the studio debut and its successor with a proper live document. So in mid-November this year they (again) self-released the live album “Live From the Hidden Courtyard”, recorded on August 20, 2016, in Murska Sobota. The repertoire covers almost the whole studio debut, and džeZZva added two more pieces: their take on Zorn’s Ariel and, at the very end of the show, an excellently arranged jazz-fusion dessert in the form of their version of the traditional (Prekmurje folk) Ne orji, ne sejaj, in which, through a big concert finale, they delivered one of the performance highlights of this live album.
The studio debut was already recorded in one take, like a concert in the studio. That’s what makes it unique and unrepeatable. At the August 20, 2016 show džeZZva ran through those tracks again, and of course played them in a unique, unrepeatable way once more. In other words, differently. All that needs adding is that the moments when the quartet stokes the improvisational fire are stretched out even further, and come across as especially playful, cheeky and unbridled in their experimenting. This will please above all those gourmands who are drawn to complexity and unusualness in musical expression, that is, to eclecticism.
If we’re looking for the peculiarities or most interesting moments of this document, the standout is definitely the excellent IndinA, which runs over sixteen minutes and takes the listener straight to the heart of the band’s whole musical essence. It’s a remarkably successful accumulation of homegrown jazz dialogue, developed and put into practice by the band in its vision, to which they add, very subtly (and at times barely perceptibly), elements of folk music on one side and neoclassicism on the other. Within all that jazz-improv seasoning, the quartet drifts so far in this track that in its closing stages the whole thing borders on avant free-jazz habits. Yet džeZZva are a band that stays listenable throughout their playing. Even when the solos, the building blocks of the sonic picture, hit their peaks, those blocks always return to a perceptible format of musicality (however “loosened” it may be), even when their sharp-witted improvisations carry them almost over the edge. That’s why their music has no moments of arrangement fragmentation.
džeZZva are also masters at evoking feelings, which they use to speak to the listener very effectively. One such track is Spring, which džeZZva develop through a build-up of moods in which it’s not hard to imagine spring buds opening or the gentle babbling of brooks full of melting snow from a winter that is slowly saying goodbye, with the first spring flowers peeking out on their banks. It also has to be pointed out that all the tracks are played with extraordinary fire and enjoyment, excellently balanced with sophisticated moments. Even though the music is instrumental, džeZZva interpret it in such a way that you can pick out the passion of simmering emotions in it, along with a real, predatory moment of mysticism. All the building blocks of the soundscape come through intensely, and in the improvisational moments they sensually open up space for one another. Leading the execution of all the material is the piano of the maestro Dejan Berden, excellently complemented and supported by the soulful, organic, often sweetly dreamy sound of Rodež’s guitar (which at times sounds a bit Metheny-esque). Nor do the contributions of the constantly active, dynamic rhythm section stay indifferent, especially the drumming escapades of Miran Celec.
“Live From The Hidden Courtyard” is an excellent live document that shows remarkable courage and confirms the adventurous, homegrown jazz-art rhetoric of one of the more interesting instrumental bands in Slovenia, one that operates completely autonomously and, at the core of its relentlessly truthful, exploratory musical expression, couldn’t care less about any trends. Given everything this live document has to offer, expectations for džeZZva’s new studio record are very high.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Če bi jes bijla fčelica
2. Ariel
3. A Little Game
4. East
5. Spring
6. IndinA
7. Ne orji, ne sejaj
Lineup:
Dejan Berden – piano
Iztok Rodež – guitar
Mojmir Wolf – double bass
Miran Celec – drums, percussion
