A warm evening of a full moon just before the opening of the exhibition which is the first event heralding the Novi Sad Jazz Festival 2014. If it wasn’t for the calendar, we wouldn’t know that the Festival is coming closer. It is warm. There is no wind. It is autumn. There is no hint of the first snow in our city, although in the previous years, it some­times snowed during some of the Novi Sad Jazz Festivals.

  If Novi Sad had its own calendar, the days of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival would be marked with notes, or perhaps im­ages of instruments, or the jazz musicians who have been our guests.

  If Novi Sad had its own calendar, covering many years, many decades, an endless calendar; a calendar that would be go on forever, that could be viewed forwards and backwards, perhaps we could see that November, for the past fifteen years, has had a special colour, more than one colour of its own – the colour of autumn, the colour of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival, the colour of the past important cultural and other events; perhaps one could see further in the past, when there were the Days of Jazz, and further still, when the waves of Radio Novi Sad used to send jazz music to a much wider area, area with limitations, but without limits for art, which always needs more space. And further still, we could see a time when somewhere in the city, jazz was played, so these facts entered a book of a great writer, at a moment just before the storm.

  If Novi Sad had a calendar that could, as some kind of time machine, take us to the future, which would be like a labyrinth that is easy to conquer, we would find the seed of some future announcements of cultural events, we would see the colours of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival, still there at that time, at that place, in the future.

  If the Danube had a calendar of its own, from its beginning till now and in the future, the close one, the far one, the endless one. It, too, changes its colours with the seasons, which we still believe to exist. It is wavy, perhaps from the wind, perhaps from the force of the water that finds its bed to be too narrow and from the rhythm of the music on its banks, along its entire course, from the source to the estuary. The Danube is powerful. It carries stories about people, it brings the sounds of the landscapes it runs through, it has its colour, it is a sign. All of us along its banks recognise the music that brings us together, that brings the world togeth­er. Somewhere, in some far way and invisible, imaginary and real landscapes, the Danube touches the rivers of the world and the seas, on different continents.

  When we dip our hands into this mighty river, the smallest particles of water that we touch, or that touch us, will touch some other hands, which will then belong to some other, far away water and our two beings will thus greet each other without seeing one another. Perhaps they will be touched by this rhythm, perhaps the music of a saxophone player or a drummer will travel above the water at the moment when they touch, or it will be someone’s voice from the Novi Sad Jazz Festival.

Thank you for your support and welcome!

 

Vesna Kaćanski

 

The 16th Novi Sad Jazz Festival proudly presents the jazz greats Kenny Barron-Dave Holland Duo and the Steve Swallow Quintet!

  For jazz/pop/Latin sound lovers we have Matt Bianco from Great Britain. One of the leading singers from Hungary, the charismatic Veronika Harcsa, groovy Peter Beets piano trio from Holland, the big band spectacle featuring the Danish trumpet player leading the Lasse Lindgren Big Constellation and Austrian Mario Rom’s Interzone will contribute to the festival’s diversity.

  A very important task of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival, among other things, is the support to our young and creative musicians and bands. The second release provided an occasion to hear the Novi Sad Majamisty TriO with guests, and the Belgrade quartet Qzama composed of exceptionally talented musicians of the younger generation. And right before the Festival, Studio ‘M’ will host our young drummers Lav Kovač and Aleksandar Škorić who study in Holland, each with his own band.

There is also the traditionally rich side programme with un­forgettable jam sessions, workshops and exhibitions.

All of this for our loyal audience!

Come and enjoy the 16th Novi Sad Jazz Festival!

Adam Klemm