Interview. It’s definitely the jazz time in Romania | Simona Maxim, Sibiu Jazz Festival

46 editions of jazz festival in Romania. Yes, you read it right: we are fans of jazz since 1971, when in Ploiesti city the first three editions of the National Jazz Festival were taking place. Due to some problems, the Festival moved to Sibiu, in 1974, being organized by the dedicated team of the Sibiu Jazz Club, the most powerful jazz club in the country at that time.

And since then, Sibiu has one of the greatest lineups of jazz music, where Ron Carter, Toots Thielemans, Archie Shepp, Didier Lockwood, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jan Garbarek, Bill Evans, Charles Lloyd, Birelli Lagrene, Chucho Valdes, Arturo Sandoval have performed.

Business Review talked to Simona Maxim, the director of Sibiu Jazz Festival, to find out how the experience in organizing jazz festivals is translated into today’s Sibiu Jazz Festival.

From my point of view, the jazz scene is blooming in Romania. We have more jazz festivals & special jazz concerts than ever before and the jazz events continue to grow. Does the Romanian audience start to listen to more jazz? Is the same public who travels from Bucharest to Timisoara’s JazzTM to Garana Jazz festival, to Sibiu’s Jazz Festival or to Cluj’s Jazz in the Park? 

Jazz music and Romania have a long-standing relationship dating back in the early 1920s. This is one of the reasons that explain the growth in the number of jazz festivals and events. As the organizer of the oldest jazz festival in Romania, I can only be glad and flattered by the loyalty of the audience for this music.

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In my opinion the attraction for jazz events comes also from the artistic perspective. Nowadays jazz music is very open and welcoming towards other music genres that can be included in jazz projects. And here we are in Sibiu Jazz Festival, enjoying blues, world music, funk, soul, R&B, rock, folklore and ethnic music interpreted in contemporary arrangements. You cannot but find yourself invaded by very good and diverse music with a jazz component, that absolutely incorporates the key jazz element of improvisation that gives so much freedom and an inedited and provocative atmosphere. If you like good, high-class music, it’s impossible not to fall in love with a jazz festival and, why not, with Sibiu Jazz Festival in particular.

Speaking of the audience I can only give accurate information about ours. First of all, we are very proud to still have loyal fans that come every year beginning with late ‘70s, wonderful people that we respect very much. Of course, there is the local audience but every year we have a lot of fans from all over the country. Lately, the number of international tourists is increasing partly due to the fact that the city of Sibiu is included in the top 10 European cities and partly because SJF is the only jazz festival from Romania included in the international tourism program “Jazz Across Europe”.

What is really welcoming and encouraging is that from one year to another I see more groups of teenagers and young people coming to our event and this makes me believe that jazz will stay forever young.

Interview. It’s definitely the jazz time in Romania | Alin Vaida, Jazz in the Park

How about the local scene of jazz? Are new artists/bands coming on stage with jazz music? Is there a place for them while more and more great names from the jazz world are arriving to our country and offer absolutely amazing gigs?

Sibiu Jazz Festival always supported young and talented Romanian jazz musicians. In 1979, the Sibiu Jazz Competition was created to serve this purpose, and we continue up to this day this tradition.

The talent of Romanian jazz musicians needs promotion. We have great bands and musicians, some voices are absolutely fabulous and I can see a great international future for them. This is the reason why Sibiu Jazz Festival has created the project called “Romanian Jazz Meeting”.

We hereby invite five Romanian jazz bands to perform on the stage of our festival to promote their music nationwide and internationally, in front of international promoters, critics and journalists. The concerts will be promoted in Europe Jazz Network and live broadcasted on YouTube, Facebook, Livestream.com

Interview. It’s definitely the jazz time in Romania | Marius Giura, Garana Jazz Festival

You have the experience of organizing a jazz festival. It’s been a while now since you are doing it. Did jazz music become a trend within the cultural organizations that provide this type of entertainment? Is jazz trendy in Romania nowadays? 

For more than 16 years jazz music is part of my life. In my opinion, jazz is not trendy these days, but is flexible, innovative, highly creative and therefor fresh and challenging.

You either feel it, or you don’t; there is no halfway. One cannot organize a long lasting jazz event if this kind of music isn’t running through his veins. This is the reason why important jazz events all over the world have a background of decades.

Sibiu Jazz Festival takes place between May 18-21. This year, Jeff Herr Corporation, Yilian Cañizares, Natalia M. King Quintet, Black String among many others will take the stage.

Interview. It’s definitely the jazz time in Romania | Oltea Zambori, JazzTM