Defonija

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Defonija

Nominally put, Defonija is a concert cycle dealing with free and unbound musics, around which gravitate signifiers like free and avant jazz, improvisation, experimental music, avant-rock, noise and other similar musical aesthetics. In 1999, Defonija started as a weekly series of DJ evenings, where interesting, peripheral and challenging music was presented to the interested crowd. With time, these "defonic" evenings evolved into a regular, if sporadically set series of music events, that contextualised themselves into something beyond a mere concert cycle.

The elusive and often unpredictable musical selection by the concert series organiser and presenter Miha Zadnikar brought to the Slovene audiences a wide palette of outstanding, fresh, intriguing and 'in-between' musics. As such, the Defonija cycle has much expanded the cultural scopes of its relatively small but dedicated audience; it also enriched the field of musical critique, demanding a development of journalistic language for the numerous abstract musical forms. Defonija also acts as an archive and has been recording and storing its concerts almost since its start, making them available to the performing artists and also setting up a historical fund. For its cultural impact, the series was awarded the Golden Bird Award award in 2010.

Last but not least, the concert definition is transcended by presenting not only sonic artists but also bringing those dealing with the visual and cinematic. Furthermore, the intimate setting of Klub Gromka (where Defonija has settled and from where it only occasionally ventures to other Metelkova venues) and the type of music hosted on its stage constantly defy a one-way presentation, allowing for a more interactive, lively and spatialised musical communication.

Hosted artists

Presenting the currents of musical history in the making as well as artists of historical importance, a random selection of hosted acts by Defonija could include Charles Gayle, Joëlle Léandre, Marc Ribot, Trevor Watts, Ingrid Laubrock, The Ex, Otto Lechner, Peter Brötzmann, Gerry Hemingway, Assif Tsahar, Eugene Chadbourne, Ken Vandermark, Henry Grimes and Jérôme Noetinger. Sometimes almost seen as residents of the club and thus seperately enlisted are also a few excellent Swedish artists like Mats Gustafsson, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love (who, in 2010, released a record containing excerpts of his two evenings long Defonija concert with Frode Gjerstad). Of the few local musicians that are up to Defonija's standards, Zlatko Kaučič, Bratko Bibič, Vinko Globokar, Tomaž Grom, Alzheimer3, Lolita and Kraški solisti appeared on 'defonic' evenings.

Considering a limited budget and a DIY approach, the aforementioned intimate concert setting and acoustics, alongside the knowledgeable crowd, a well connected organiser and an artist friendly policy amount a lot to the the relatively 'big' names that were brought to the stage of Klub Gromka.

Collaborations

Besides occasionally collaborating with City of Women Festival and complementing their programme, Defonija has since 2009 also integrated into the program scheme of Ljubljana Jazz Festival. It also associates itself with other protagonists of intriguing music and thus actively works and promotes the advancement of the scene.

Marc Ribot live at Klub Gromka, Slovenia. by sabinadogic on YouTube

A short video of a 2011 Defonija performance by Marc Ribot.

See also

• Klub Gromka
• Metelkova mesto Autonomous Cultural Zone
• Ljubljana Jazz Festival
• City of Women Association for Promotion of Women in Culture

External links

• Interview in Dnevnik with Miha Zadnikar (in Slovene)