In both concerts of the second night of the “Prishtina Jazz Festival” between the works, cheers and applause have erupted as confirmation of the quality music. Both have proven what has been said at this festival: that jazz is democratic when it comes to connecting and combining with other genres. “Dimitris Tsakas Trio”, also travels to traditional Greek music and not only. A completely different energy has been brought by the band “Trickster” from New York
A Greek trio that brings contemporary jazz in its purest form and a four-piece band from New York that unites ideas and motifs were the protagonists of the second night of the “Prishtina Jazz Festival”. Different musical spirits brought to two concerts that connect the Balkan style with that of the other side of the world, have a common language – jazz music.
That the Festival does not need much fanfare was proven on its second night. The hall was almost completely filled, but even if this did not happen, those in the audience seats are true lovers of this music, devoted listeners, and loud in their appreciation.
In both concerts, cheers and applause erupted between the pieces as confirmation of the quality of the music. Both proved what has been said at this festival: that jazz is democratic when it comes to connecting and combining with other genres.
In the first concert he performed the “Dimitris Tsakas Trio”. The saxophone is in the center. Naturally, it creates space for the double bass and the drums, and the burden for the central role falls from one to the other. When Dimitris Tsakas’ saxophone dominates, the other two play more easily. But when it stops completely, the minimal playing of the double bass with a stick comes in, after a long series of sounds produced with the fingers. It transmits the theme of the saxophone to another dimension.
After the first part, the Greek saxophonist, composer and teacher, leader of the trio, greeted in Albanian before introducing the trio, which was also played by Kimon Karoutzos on double bass and Panagiotis Themas on drums.
He announced that the works played at this concert are part of their latest album “Conversation Helps” with works that also intertwine traditional music.
“Graduate, unemployment” was performed next. With the introduction of the solo saxophone and the trio tuning for traditional rhythms, it seems to bring classic jazz. The double bass is also tuned to them in the solo. The drums were unique, with their minimalist, depraved sounds bringing a kind of abstract atmosphere. The audience erupted in applause after each chapter.
They then performed the piece “New Rules”, which seems to convey a kind of courage and powerful performance. The program then continued with “Conversation helps”, from which their album is named, as a conversation between the trio of instruments, “Katie blues” in the blues spirit and closed with “Why”.
Overall, it was an elegant blend of improvisation, rhythm, and emotion.
Dimitris Tsakas has studied with jazz masters such as Andy McGee, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone and Steve Wilson. Over the past two decades, he has become one of Greece’s most prominent saxophonists, contributing to over two hundred albums in various genres.
In the second part, a completely different energy was brought by the band “Trickster”. A kind of musical chaos, especially in the combination of jazz with rock, but precise and full of emotion. It was an aggressive mix of contemporary styles of both genres in the works “Dog star”, “Rick six”, “Caduscus” and “Cadzu”.
The works they performed were written by the band’s leader, Miles Okazaki.
“First time in Pristina. The audience was noticed to love music. We stayed here very briefly, we came last night and we will leave tomorrow. It is only one day, unfortunately, but, I know that in this region in general, music is very important. We started this tour in Sarajevo and now we are here. It is interesting to come and see that the hall is full”, he said at the end of the concert, mentioning the different styles they brought.
“We had rock, funk, we have many styles that we combine with jazz,” he continued. He said that there is no specific theme in these works, other than creating a good energy for the audience with their songs.
“We just try to create energy. It’s not about demonstrating something, just doing something exciting. That’s all, really. It’s based on many types of music, but we just want to do something entertaining for the audience,” he further stated.
Trickster was founded in 2015 as a side project, while Miles Okazaki, Anthony Tidd and Sean Rickman worked as the rhythm section for Steve Coleman and the Five Elements.
The band has released four albums with compositions by Miles Okazaki on Pi Recordings (“Trickster”, “The Sky Below”, “Trickster’s Dream” and “Thisness”) and one live album (“Live in Brooklyn”) on Cygnus Recordings. Trickster features Miles Okazaki on guitar, Matt Mitchell on piano, Anthony Tidd on bass and Sean Rickman on drums.
Drummer Sean Rickman said that it was very challenging to perform in the University Library Amphitheater hall.
“It was very challenging, because things are challenging here. This hall is made for speeches. We tried to do the sound, but it’s really bad. It’s challenging in that way. It’s the first time in Kosovo, so it was challenging from the first time. The band has been together for ten years. It was planned for us to come here earlier and now that we’ve come it’s ‘wow, now we’re here’. Everyone tried to do their job the best they could. We came and everything worked out well,” he said.
It was announced that they played music from their third album.
“We were like a kind of DJ in a nightclub, where we mixed the music, the rhythm kept going and changing. But we don’t have a specific set list. We don’t play the same thing every night. We always change the tempo and that’s very normal for us,” he said.
On the third and final night of the “Prishtina Jazz Festival” on Saturday night, maestro Armend Xhaferi was not in the capacity of director. He took the stage together with Jure Pukl on saxophone, Joshua Ginsburg on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. Like all concerts, it leaves the echo of the 13th edition as a warning for the next chapters.
