Performers: Edna, Ethnotrip
Location: Ljubljana / Ljubljanski grad / Slovenia
Date: Thursday, May 30, 2019
The second day of this year’s GodiBodi, the festival of contemporary original and ethno music, devoted to showcasing the insightful, homegrown spirit of its musical creators, had a distinctly Prekmurje flavor, which happily coincided with this year’s marking of the 100th anniversary of the region’s union with the homeland. Two Prekmurje bands took the stage, Edna and Ethnotrip, each presenting a fresh record: Edna their debut “Ajnc, cvaj, draj” (released last October), and Ethnotrip their third, “Preden se zdani”, which beat Edna’s release by exactly one month.
After a charming address by the head of the Celinka cooperative, the main driving engine of this lovable yet hugely important festival and an exceptional musician and artist, Janez Dovč, everyone on day two sat dutifully in their chairs, and even more dutifully alert, like kids at school desks in the mid-sixties, as they first listened to Edna. The lineup: chief visionary, bandleader, vocalist and keyboardist Tjaša Cigut, plus saxophonist Jasmina Dajčman, guitarist Luka Sraka, percussionist Blaž Korez and double bassist Luka Ščavničar.
Sure, the band only has a studio debut under its belt, but right from the start it made it clear that this is a crew of technically and performance-wise tight, seasoned, polished musicians who don’t lack for ideas or expressive insight, in a breadth of bubbling aesthetic artistry. The group is devoted to reworking old folk songs from Porabje and Prekmurje, which is hardly a new surprise for Slovenes, and yet they’ve reshaped those ditties from “times long gone” so that very little of the original melos remains, if any. Yes. The way of singing (Porabje dialect, Prekmurje dialect) is the one element of the band’s retro-sounding statement; in every other principle of musical expression, Edna come across as fashionably aesthetic, fresh, teasingly special and homegrown, even eclectic to a degree. The chemistry between the players is simply one of a kind, the element of reconciliation between five musical worlds is strong, and in this mutual tolerance it reaches a hugely interesting, distinctive, elastic and, as said, even eclectic range of expression. The band needs no classic drums; the double bass and percussion provide a strong backbone for the mostly acoustic weave of building blocks that make up the group’s soundscape. Tjaša Cigut’s concise, powerful, charismatic and attractive voice is placed front and center throughout in this setting, and with her depth of feeling adds that all-important final touch of great expressive color and punch to the songs themselves. Edna can be very cheeky, even playful, and yet when they gaze into the bosom of the melos that unfolds in minor keys, they quickly conjure up that melancholy and mysticism typical of the geographic musical roots they belong to. They also know how to stir up a nice dose of burlesque. A quintet of great manual dexterity and great tightness. Rhythmically too they’re very dynamic, and not just when it comes to setting the lead motifs. The band played the whole album “Ajnc, cvaj draj”, added a cover of the folk song Preozke so stezice (in their own arrangement), and repeated the “mini hit” Pika poka as an encore. Definitely a memorable show, and a band you’ll want to keep a very close eye on in the future.
Compared with their predecessors, Ethnotrip are a very experienced lineup. Especially with the new album, which is entirely original material, the band proved they’re a truly talented musical outfit, dealing in traditional folk melos and adding, in a very subtle way, pinches of jazz and world music; the result is a homegrown, self-made musical calling card. When Edna left the stage, Ethnotrip carried on with “Edna”. That’s one of the new songs from the current album “Preden se zdani”, and for that first number the barefoot singer Tjaša Šimonka was joined at the front of the stage, accordion in hand, by the band’s silent patron (“from the background”) and its producer, the superb Dejan Berden (džeZZva), renowned as one of the best keyboardists, composers and arrangers, not only in Slovenia but further afield.
Ethnotrip really went all in on their show at Ljubljanski grad. They thought of loads of details. Over the course of the concert, a few more guests rotated on stage besides Dejan, such as the women’s choir Bele Tinke and guitarist Aljaž Gyurica. Alongside Tjaša’s very present and charmingly pretty voice, the bulk of the sound comes from the interplay of the refined virtuosos Miha Kavaš (violin) and Primož Kramberger (keyboards), while the band rests on the wonderfully supple kinetics of a light yet penetrating rhythmic framework, held down by Tomi Dosen (who wove a few very effective transitional acrobatics through the show) and, in the background, the “hidden and shy” bassist Aleksander Varga. You can feel the quintet is razor-sharp, plays often and is used to standing in the concert spotlights. Ethnotrip seemed extremely relaxed and went at the performance with real zeal. Engaged. They came at it with a big run-up, creating their own unique musical world, which the audience enjoyed to the fullest that evening. The band played songs from all three albums. They’ve superbly internalized their feel for and sympathy with Balkan melos, even Arabic rhythms (the Serbian Stamena, Žubor voda), and of course wove in some characteristic musical structures that ring “Gypsy”. As said, it all culminates in a distinctive musical statement.
Bele Tinke backed it up with drama theater and, with their presence, widened the atmospheric depth and the expressive reach, or character, of the songs. With the choir on stage, one could (to put it bluntly) declare the song Veter šumi a brilliant blend of traditional folk melos and the legacy of the Slovenian popevka (a sort of “ethno Pepel in kri”). Tjaša Šimonka and guest guitarist Aljaš Gyurica performed the seductive pop number Za vedno as a duo. In short. The closer the concert got to the end, the more it grew in mood-grabbing intensity and overall stage theater.
The second day of this year’s GodiBodi once again delivered a ton of music, and with the concert brilliance of two bands devoted to creating from the bosom of Prekmurje’s geographic musical roots, left a big, concise and memorable mark. Exactly what the festival’s basic guiding idea and vision is all about.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Ethnotrip setlist:
1. Edna
2. Kama ideš
3. Preden se zdani
4. Radule
5. Kaplja rose
6. Sama
7. Včasih se spomnim
8, Odeta v plašč noči
9. Za vedno
10. Veter šumi
11. Žubor voda
12, Stamena
13. Slalom
14. Tebi špilam
—encore—
15. Vsako noč, ko mesto spi
