Boben and Lajna Festival

Contact

Festival Boben in Lajna

Pop-up Dom, Tobačna ulica 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana

Organised byZavod Boben in Lajna

Frequencyannual

Festival dates29.11.2013 - 30.11.2013

The Boben and Lajna Festival was launched in 2011 by the Boben and Lajna Institute as a collective effort of a younger generation of Slovenian jazz musicians and improvisers to develop a platform where they could meaningfully showcase their musical strivings and projects. In Slovenian, boben means "drum" and lajna refers to the "hurdy-gurdy" or "barrel organ". And while you'll be hard pressed to find the barrel organ on the festival's programme, the two instruments are strongly present in the Slovenian cultural consciousness as they are featured in a song from the popular Slovenian (now classic) children's play, Zogica Marogica [Speckles the Ball].

In its first year, the festival was held at the Ljubljana Castle and its three evenings presented a varied musical programme, hosting notable musicians such as the guitarists Jani Moder, Vito Marenče, and Domen Gnezda, the saxophone players Jan Kus and Igor Lumpert, drummers Kristijan Kranjčan, Dre Hočevar, Zlatko Kaučič, and Žan Tetičkovič. The second edition of the festival was staged at the plaza in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (MSUM), again showcasing the current projects on the scene, such as Žiga Murko and his orchestra, the quartet Artbeaters and the Austrian-Slovenian joint project Playgrounds with Tjaša Fabjančič on vocals.

Both years, the festival was accompanied by a workshop which took place at the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory.

Zan Tetickovic Quintet - 57th Day by Jean John on YouTube

The third edition of the festival was set up at the Poligon Creative Centre, yet again bringing a new set of musicians. Currently, the festival is on hold since its main producer, the drummer Dre Hočevar is living and actively playing in New York.

See also

• Poligon Creative Centre
• Ljubljana Castle
• Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory

External links

• Boben and Lajna website
• Article about the 2012 festival on Delo.si (in Slovenian)
• Article (2011) about the founder of Boben and Lajna Festival, Andrej (Dre) Hočevar (in Slovenian)
• Article "Od Lire do Lajne" (From Lyra to Barrel Organ) about the history of the lajna (in Slovenian with English abstract)