President of the Fundació Privada Catalana Jazz Clàssic, one of the driving forces behind Barcelona Springtime Swing.
By Marc Amat
To bring classic jazz back to the stages of Barcelona is the main ambition of Barcelona Springtime Swing, the concert series that, for the past four editions, performs very unique jazz concerts in the Catalan capital. These are musicians of great talent and with a strong international projection but who have not yet had the opportunity to visit Catalan venues and festivals. They play classical jazz, a genre that has been cornered in the cultural circuits by fusion and avant-garde jazz, but which retains all the essence, tradition, and history of the musical style of African Americans.
Supporting this program are the Fundació Privada Catalana Jazz Clàssic., the Institute of North American Studies, Industrial Engineers of Catalonia, the Ateneu Barcelonès, International Jazz Productions, the Centre Moral i Instructiu de Gracia, and the Fundació CIC. This year, the events will begin on Friday, March 8, at 7:30 pm at the CIC Auditorium Foundation with the tenor saxophone of Michel Pastre, accompanied by Gerard Nieto on piano, Ignasi Gonzalez on double bass, and Martí Elias on drums. The second date will be in a new location for the series: the Sala Bohigas of the Ateneu Barcelonès. On Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m., pianist Luca Filastro will play, accompanied by double bass player Giuseppe Campisi and drummer Esteve Pi. Closing the series will be three great artists of the international jazz scene: guitarist Ulf Wakenius, double bassist Pierre Boussague, and pianist Ignasi Terraza. The concert will be on Thursday, May 9 at 8 pm in the Centro Moral e Instructivo de Gracia.
This month we talk about the programs of this fourth edition, the objectives of Barcelona Springtime Swing and the keys to classic jazz with Ricard Gili (Barcelona, 1948), president of the Fundació Privada Catalana Jazz Clàssic.
The Barcelona Springtime Swing cycle is back this spring, what makes it so special?
Our main attraction is that we schedule classical jazz musicians who usually do not perform in Barcelona and who, if it were not for us, might never visit. They are performers who are not well known to the general public, who do not usually have a chance to perform in the halls and festivals in the city, but who are very interesting. They are all incredibly talented. This year, for example, on March 8, we will be visited by Michel Pastre, a talented French saxophonist, who has never performed in Barcelona as a soloist. On April 18, Luca Filastro, a very young Italian pianist who is very familiar with classical jazz styles, will take the stage. We have been able to see him very little in our city. The final performance will be a trio of three internationally renowned figures: the guitarist Ulf Wakenius, the double bass player Pierre Boussaguet, and the pianist Ignasi Terraza from Barcelona. They will close the cycle on May 9.
What exactly is classic jazz?
It is the music created by African Americans following very specific metrical, rhythmic, and expressive parameters that have been kept alive for decades and have conquered the whole world. Around classic jazz, new variants have appeared as a result of fusion with other styles. This has caused the original jazz to fall into oblivion. However, among the interpreters of classic jazz there are great names in music, such as guitarist Wes Montgomery, pianist Errol Garner, saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, or singer Ray Charles. Each one has taken the genre towards his own personal style, but always maintaining the resources that define it.
Why is it that classical jazz is not usually played on Catalan stages?
Most jazz venues in Barcelona and the big jazz festivals held in the city have been turning towards avant-garde or fusion jazz for decades. There are not many spaces for young musicians or established performers who still preserve jazz in its original and classical form. In Catalonia, classical jazz can only be heard very occasionally and in isolation. We, with Barcelona Springtime Swing, want to change that.
In the United States, it has also lost prevalence…
Yes, it’s a global trend. The consumer society, in which Americans are the leaders, creates a need for constant change. This has condemned jazz as a popular genre to be unable to develop fluidly: the dynamics of the industry have caused the public to constantly demand new things and, from there, fusions and avant-garde have arisen. Consumerism has greatly corrupted classical jazz, but so has racism. In this original style, black people were the kings. When jazz became part of the more intellectual, elitist, cold, and imaginary society, white people gained access on a larger scale, with styles such as cool-jazz being more measured and subtle.
Despite this, are we experiencing a revival of classic jazz?
We could put it this way. At least, we are in a time of recognition. Every genre has its golden moment, and that of classic jazz was a long time ago. However, there are always people who preserve its charm. I have also detected that there is less and less rejection by the younger generations towards original jazz. This is very good news because they have a very strong pressure from the media: the words innovation, progress, and evolution can turn everything upside down and make anyone lose sight of the world. At the moment, we have managed to neutralize the rejection and it is no longer scary to play or to listen to a style that was played a hundred years ago.
Are jazz schools not told about this classical genre?
Very little. Now perhaps it is changing, but until recently they still explained that jazz made before 1940 was a purely folkloric and prehistoric element. This is a huge mistake: it is as if in classical music conservatories wonderful composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or Wagner were not taken into account because they appeared before Stravinski.
Thus, young people have a hard time rediscovering jazz…
Attracting new audiences is our big problem, but gradually we are getting ahead. We believe in the slow mechanism of building trust little by little. We want everything that bears our seal to be synonymous with quality. There are young people who are attracted to dance, for example. In fact, classical jazz allows us to have a great time and everyone who comes to listen to it has a great memory and leaves with a good taste in their mouth. If people don’t know about it, it’s because the media don’t talk about it much. In the showcase of jazz there are very bright parts, which occupy pages in the newspapers and major festivals, but there is also the dusty and dark corner where classic jazz hides. We want to illuminate it and make it so that, once discovered, the public can choose which one they like the most, on their own terms.
Barcelona Springtime Swing has already aroused the interest of several entities and organizations. Does it open new doors for you?
Yes, this helps us a lot to reach new audiences! We started by collaborating with the Institute of North American Studies and, over the years, we have added the culture section of the Industrial Engineers of Catalonia and the Centre Moral i Instructiu de Gràcia. The latest to jump on the wagon has been the Ateneu Barcelonès. In fact, Luca Filastro’s concert will be held in the Sala Bohigas of this entity, in Canuda Street. Extending the cycle to places like this helps us to bring classical jazz to audiences we might not have reached.
