InTune: Music Reviews from the Heart of Bratislava

The first in a series of interesting music reviews and interviews with local and visiting talent to Bratislava and beyond, with some tips for upcoming events, all from our resident ear AVM.

Tama (NZ) + Stanislav Pocaji (SK), -U Zlateho Bazanta-, October 6, 2013

On this particularly rainy Sunday afternoon, my mission consisted of attending a metal concert, having a few beers, and keeping my relatively old shoes relatively dry. Though I did eventually succeed in completing most of the mission, my evening took an unexpected turn when I saw a couple of familiar silhuettes in the incredibely large windows of U Zlateha Bazanta on Kamenné námestie. The Bazant hub/pub offers live music every night, though there’s not a lot on the program that I would be  interested in hearing. This evening, however, I was in for a treat, as I had stumbled in to a concert of guitar players Tama (New Zealand) and Stanislav Pocaji (Slovakia).

Their set consisted mostly of jazz standards and pop covers, but the feeling was truly something special. Both are incredible guitar players with years of professional experience under their shared metaphorical belt, and this didn’t go unoticed as they effortlessly traded solos and walking bass lines, shared vocal harmonies, and supported each other musically in a way that not all musicians know how to do. Familiar melodies vibrated in new ways for me with Tama’s soulful voice that floated gently along the melodic stream created by the guitars. I caught myself thinking that I would rather be in an underground jazz bar, though as I looked out of the incredibly large windows onto the growing streams of Sunday night rain, the atmosphere felt right after all. “I like playing with Stano” Tama told me during a break, “we have creamy and eclectic musical conversations”. He wasn’t kidding.

Tama and Pocaji will be playing again in U Zlateha Bazanta on 3.11.13. Funny date.

By: AVM