I was looking at the web site of the Java Jazz Festival in Indonesia ("jazz" in the loosest Asian sense, Stevie Wonder is the headliner!) and saw that the great German drummer Dejan Terzic was with one of the acts, Nils Wogram's Nostalgia. Possibly one of the only true jazz acts on the bill, they actually play acoustic instruments and improvise. Nils plays trombone, another form of crazy bent brass tube.
I first met Dejan back in 2007 when he came to Penang with Anke Helfrich to perform at the Penang Island Jazz Festival courtesy of Germany's Goethe Institute, again one of the only jazz acts on the bill of a festival heavy on pop music and guitar wacka-wacka. I recognized Dejan from a recording he had done with George Garzone on Naxos from back in the days when people actually purchased CDs; I had picked it up to hear Garzone who is a monster on tenor.
Turns out Dejan was born in Banja Luka, one of the obscure places I'd worked way back when, so we started to talk and he and Anke ended up hanging out with my family for the few days they were on the island. I managed to acquire a friend who is not only supremely talented musically - a drummer with his own sound - but wise beyond his years. A couple of things he told me back in '07 stuck in my mind and have had an influence beyond what he can imagine:
1) Late late at night we were in my practice room and I was bellyaching to Dejan about how well I could play the sax was a direct function of how many hours I put behind the horn practicing. He said I was wrong, how good you are is a direct function of how many hours you spend on the bandstand playing gigs! How right he was. That was like a cold slap in the face - and then I woke up. From that point onwards for a couple of years I took any gig I could, from bar bands playing whiny Lionel Richie songs with a vocalist to straightahead jazz bands to highlife in Africa where I was one of 15 on stage to country and western rock on the beach to big bands, jam sessions, and Chinese weddings (seriously). I'm kind of beyond that now and am confident enough to play what I want to play because I managed to get on-stage experience playing all kinds of music all around the world. Dejan, whether you know it or not you woke me up as a musician with your late night words. Thank you.
2) Dejan also told me that if you want to gig all the time, play the drums. Bands always need a drummer. Everyone wants to play lead. If you think there are a lot of horn players out there, we are 1 in 100 compared to guitarists. To be a sax player on a gig you have to be really, really top notch. Rhythm players always have a home. I have found this to be exceedingly true since I reached the point where I can front my own bands. It is always a struggle to find a drummer. The drummer controls the band - the drum kit is not portable so the rehearsal venue is controlled by where the drums are, for one thing. Young players take heed!
In any event, we have stayed in touch on and off through the years and Dejan generously supplied us with a batch of his recordings. Dejan will be performing in Asia the next two weeks in Jakarta, Bandung, Singapore, and Bangkok. Catch him if you like creative improvised music and look out for him in Europe. Check out his web site too.
I first met Dejan back in 2007 when he came to Penang with Anke Helfrich to perform at the Penang Island Jazz Festival courtesy of Germany's Goethe Institute, again one of the only jazz acts on the bill of a festival heavy on pop music and guitar wacka-wacka. I recognized Dejan from a recording he had done with George Garzone on Naxos from back in the days when people actually purchased CDs; I had picked it up to hear Garzone who is a monster on tenor.
Turns out Dejan was born in Banja Luka, one of the obscure places I'd worked way back when, so we started to talk and he and Anke ended up hanging out with my family for the few days they were on the island. I managed to acquire a friend who is not only supremely talented musically - a drummer with his own sound - but wise beyond his years. A couple of things he told me back in '07 stuck in my mind and have had an influence beyond what he can imagine:
1) Late late at night we were in my practice room and I was bellyaching to Dejan about how well I could play the sax was a direct function of how many hours I put behind the horn practicing. He said I was wrong, how good you are is a direct function of how many hours you spend on the bandstand playing gigs! How right he was. That was like a cold slap in the face - and then I woke up. From that point onwards for a couple of years I took any gig I could, from bar bands playing whiny Lionel Richie songs with a vocalist to straightahead jazz bands to highlife in Africa where I was one of 15 on stage to country and western rock on the beach to big bands, jam sessions, and Chinese weddings (seriously). I'm kind of beyond that now and am confident enough to play what I want to play because I managed to get on-stage experience playing all kinds of music all around the world. Dejan, whether you know it or not you woke me up as a musician with your late night words. Thank you.
2) Dejan also told me that if you want to gig all the time, play the drums. Bands always need a drummer. Everyone wants to play lead. If you think there are a lot of horn players out there, we are 1 in 100 compared to guitarists. To be a sax player on a gig you have to be really, really top notch. Rhythm players always have a home. I have found this to be exceedingly true since I reached the point where I can front my own bands. It is always a struggle to find a drummer. The drummer controls the band - the drum kit is not portable so the rehearsal venue is controlled by where the drums are, for one thing. Young players take heed!
In any event, we have stayed in touch on and off through the years and Dejan generously supplied us with a batch of his recordings. Dejan will be performing in Asia the next two weeks in Jakarta, Bandung, Singapore, and Bangkok. Catch him if you like creative improvised music and look out for him in Europe. Check out his web site too.
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