“A sense of freedom, that’s what unites the diversity of European jazz,” said Prof. Virgil Mihaiu when we spoke following the lecture he held at Europe House titled: Fascinating Diversity of European Jazz. The lecture was organised within the framework of Jazz Appreciation Month.
Jazz is spontaneity, jazz is a conversation, jazz is a sense of freedom.
“All of the musicians we had a chance to head tonight are free people who wanted and still want to celebrate their freedom through their music,” said Mihaiu.
During the lecture, swing took us through the countries of the European continent from Latvia to Portugal, from Iceland to Georgia.
Recalling his teenage days, Mihaiu told us: “When I was a teenager, Eastern Europe was a place where dissatisfaction could not be freely expressed in the streets. Music was a means of resistance; resistance through culture.”
He first visited Montenegro in 1965.
“I always saw jazz as a kind of seismograph of the cultural potential of a country,” emphasised Mihaiu.
For him, Montenegro is a paradise on Earth, totally unique, with a fantastic jazz scene.
“I couldn’t imagine that this little piece of the Adriatic coast could offer so much to music,” concluded Mihaiu.
Jazz lives on because it’s not a genre, but a language.
Together with Professor Virgil we discovered a musical kaleidoscope called European jazz.
A jam session was organised after the lecture, during which the audience had the chance to enjoy music by Šule Jovović, Ivan Marović, and Enes Tahirović.
