Bojan Z, An Evening of French Jazz

Bojan Z

The Ayala Museum was once again the most happening place during the Philippine International Jazz Festival when the Embassy of France to the Philippines, Alliance Française de Manille presented Bojan Z, An Evening of French Jazz. This concert launched FrancoPhil, the French-Philippine cultural programme, for the year 2013.

A capacity crowd gathered inside the museum to watch jazz pianist Bojan Z (Z for Zulfikarpašić) perform. He played on a Steinway & Sons grand piano and on a Roland keyboard as well. The keyboard had some foot pedals attached to it that enabled Bojan Z to employ different audio effects like distortion and digital delay. These effects gave the music a unique character and vibe. There were numerous times that the notes he played at the keyboard were sustained, forming a chord that accompanied him as he went on to play at the grand piano. There were also instances that the sound from the keyboard mimicked that of a distorted electric guitar.

In between pieces, Bojan Z discussed and introduced briefly the music that he plays. And during these brief spiels, he revealed that he wished that he was a black man from Africa since he is very fond of the music and the rhythms that came from that continent. And he did play music that was very reminiscent of Africa. He also explained that there was no specific way to play his music and that he could go on playing for a long, long time if he chose to.

A lot of the music that he performed came from his latest album, Soulshelter and also Solobsession which are unfortunately unavailable locally. At one point, he played In My Life by The Beatles. But this popular tune also went through variations that showcased the improvisational skills of Bojan Z which is a must for any jazz pianist. And during his last piece, he also did some whistling that fascinated the audience.

This concert by Bojan Z proved to be a good start for FrancoPhil this 2013 and this only made me excited to find out more about the upcoming music events that the Embassy of France and Alliance Française de Manille have in store for the rest of the year.