Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1151507
THIS WEEK MUSIC maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 AUGUST 2019 4 Could you tell us a little bit about the Blue Tangerine project? How did it first come about, and what was the driving philosophy behind it? In 2015, I was awarded first prize at the Malta Jazz con- test. The prize was to play several concerts in Bergamo, which I performed in April 2016. In addition to this, I had the opportunity to play on the main stage at the Mal- ta Jazz Festival in July 2016. For the latter event, Sandro Zerafa, the artistic director of the festival, got an idea for a collaboration between Mal- tese and French musicians. Sandro contacted me to discuss the rhythm section following which he estab- lished a connection between the Edim School in Paris and ourselves. The Fringe Youth Jazz Or- chestra was born. We re- hearsed together for three days and played in the con- cert. Having received very positive comments on the performance and since we all felt that we connected well with each other we were ea- ger to develop this project further. Since then we played at Sunset Jazz Club (Paris) and we were once again in- vited to play at the Malta Jazz Festival in 2018, this time as Blue Tangerine. This led us to further our collaboration by document- ing some of the music we play and record them in a professional album which was recorded last March at Studio De Meudon in Paris. A nine-piece band sounds like quite a challenge of coordination, even more so when musicians from two countries are involved. With this in mind, what is the dynamic between the band members like, and what motivates you to remain on the same wavelength? It is a challenge, especially since we do not meet often to rehearse. We always re- hearse for a few days before the performances. In a way, that's the beauty of it because we manage to communicate and to create something with limited time and can be spontaneous. The music is great, with original com- positions and arrangements by Vincent Jacqz. Beautiful melodies, yet challenging for us to give our best interpre- tation for the arrangements. The motivation to work to- gether and create this syner- gy in performance is high and helps us to grow as a band and also as individual musi- cians. I personally feel it has helped me grow as a person above all. We get along to- gether well since we all have a passion for this music and it's a rare occasion to have a project like this, so it's some- thing I always look forward to. How does the mix of both Maltese and French musicians contribute to the sound of the band? Since we all have a passion for this music, we can relate to each other. We all give our contribution in our own individual ways. For exam- ple, Vincent [piano, arrange- ments, musical direction] shares his arrangements and when we then meet for re- hearsals we encourage each other to give our personal interpretation or suggestions on what can be done on spe- cific parts of the pieces to achieve a great result. Most of us are enthusiastic and compose our own tunes. For example one of the tunes from the album entitled 'Indi Gogo' is composed by our trombone player, Michel Be- relowitch. Also the lyrics for 'April', an original by Vin- cent, are written by our sing- er Angela Vella Zarb. I myself Bassist for the nine- piece jazz ensemble Blue Tangerine, Joseph Camilleri, speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about their freshly launched self- titled debut album Good things happen Teodor Reljic Blue Tangerine are: Vincent Jacqz (piano, arrangements, musical direction), Angela Vella Zarb (voice), Karl Galea (guitar), Dean Montanaro (bass), Joseph Camilleri (drums), Florent Hinschberger (trumpet, flugelhorn), Philippe Lopes de Sa (tenor sax, soprano sax), Benoit Crauste (alto sax), Michel Berelowitch (trombone) and Nils Wekstein (percussion). Photo by Ory Minie