Between July 11 and 14, Garana Jazz Festival 2024 goes through its 28th edition with a spectacular lineup. Over the course of 4 days, across 2 stages, 21 concerts will feature 77 musicians from 17 different countries. Business Review goes behind the scenes with Simona Giura, the executive director of the festival.

Having grown up with the Garana Jazz Festival, what does this it represent to you personally? How about professionally?

Legacy. After so many years, with so many wonderful memories and difficult moments, we feel like it’s our duty to continue. I have huge respect for everyone on the team and I know many of them feel the same. Professionally, I’ve learned and experienced a lot and I know how many things we must change to make it better. In the past few years the stars have aligned, and we can start doing what we’ve been planning to do for years.

Can you share your very first memory of the Garana Jazz Festival?

I guess it was 1997 or 1998. We were all travelling together from Valiug to Garana when the rain started, as it always seems to do during the festival. When we arrived at La Rascruce Inn, the artists were already playing, despite the rain. Playing with the other kids there always had jazz in the background, whether it was during sound checks or actual concerts.

When and how did you make the decision to join forces with your family in running the festival? Were there any other career paths or options you considered?

I never made a decision. It was a summer activity for all of us, to help our father with “the job.” Year after year we took on more responsibilities on our shoulders. I cannot say whether this was a conscious decision or whether it just snuck up on us. Now Garana Jazz Festival and the other festivals we organise (ORA Jazz and Timisoara Jazz) are a full time job. But I still freelance with other projects—mainly cultural events and graphic design.

What makes Garana unique compared to other jazz festivals around the world?

Location, location, location! And the people of course. In 27 years, the people who attend GJF became experts in jazz music and the way they listen and react it amazing, beyond anything I could imagine.

What goes into planning and organising the festival each year?

Funding the festival and “selling” it to the sponsors is the biggest challenge. There are a few who understand how important it is to have this type of event when it comes to young generations, especially in Romania where the educational system is the way it is.

What are some of the logistical challenges of hosting a festival in a rural area, up in the mountains?

Accommodation for the artists and staff and all the transfers from the Budapest, Belgrade, and Timisoara airports. It’s difficult for artists who are on tour to get there in time for soundcheck, sometimes right before the concert, and after a few hours to get in the car and go back to the airport. I respect them for that and for agreeing to travel all the way to Garana. Then there’s the weather: it’s something we can’t control. We and the attendees are mostly used to it, but sometimes it is just too much—like last year. We had 3 weeks of heavy rain prior to the event, and the ground was soaked with water. I remember the first years when we had to change the location from La Rascruce to Poiana Lupului, when there were no interventions underground. Hopefully this year is going to be easier in terms of weather.

Can you highlight some of the most iconic or unforgettable jazz performances in the festival’s history?

For us, Eberhard Weber was “THE” unforgettable one who took Garana Jazz Festival to the next level. He was the “ambassador” who convinced other artists to come and trust us. During the first editions it was extremely difficult to book international artists.

The first Jan Garbarek Group performance was also unforgettable for us and the audience. Rebekka Bakken was so special that I started crying after the concert, backstage… a very special lady whose concert will always be in my heart. Arild Anderson in 2016 was just perfection. The list can continue.

But there is one concert that made something in my brain click and got me very attached to what we are doing there: Tryge Seim’s performance in 2012, under project PURCOR by Trygve Seim and Andreas Utnem.

In a 2017 interview, Marius Giura was asked whether jazz had become trendy in Romania in the context of the growing number of festivals and concerts across the country. How do you perceive the current state of jazz in Romania?

I would say it depends on what you consider to be jazz. In the strictest of definitions, it has become mildly more popular, but a big part of the audience is the same, travelling from festival to festival. But in a broader sense, of improvisation and fusion with other genres, it has become hugely popular. The freedom of expression that jazz embodies has captured the hearts of both artists and listeners.

How do you think the Garana Jazz Festival has influenced the jazz scene, both locally and internationally?

Locally, the influence has been immense. It has allowed young musicians to experience something that had been almost impossible in the 90s, before the Internet and easy travel. It allowed listeners to broaden their horizons and allowed other organisers to see that niche genre festivals can be successful even in Romania. Internationally, it is harder to say. But many artists remember our festival fondly and many more Romanian bands are touring the world nowadays. It might not be solely because of the Garana Jazz Festival, but it may have lit the initial spark.

What impact do you believe the festival has had on the appreciation and understanding of jazz music in the region?

Growing up with it, it became normality—this is what happened with my generation and is now happening to the younger ones. We were kids when it started and now we are taking our own kids to jazz festivals. Appreciating and understanding the music is our normality.

And it has changed the region too. Not just in the tourism sense. Garana is a lively village now, with more full-time inhabitants than it had when we started. Many people from Resita grew up with the festival and it’s been part of their summer tradition. And Garana Jazz Festival opened the gates to many other cultural events in a region where very few things would happen back in the day.

Credit Photo: Mircea Albutiu