
Eli Yamin with Nora's Ark singers in Montenegro 2011
What an unbelievable week we had in Montenegro at Jazz Art Jam, celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month, a co-production with Jazz Art Montenegro and The Jazz Drama Program with support from the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, the municipality and Porto Montenegro. I never dreamed that this production of Nora’s Ark could take off the way it did. The kids were fantastic! 40 students from the Middle School for Music, 20 students from the High School for Music and 8 ballet dancers made the show come alive. When I arrived all the kids were singing the songs from memory with great gusto and spirit. We spent the days staging and refining the music while integrating ballet dancers into the instrumental solo breaks and narration in English and Montenegrin. In the evenings my jazz quartet of LaFrae Sci, drums, vocal Ari Roland, bass, Zaid Nasser, saxophone and myself on piano and voice played concerts-3 in total. By day we rehearsed with the students. What a spirited week it was. The kids rose the occasion and worked like professionals improving their pronunciation of the lyrics in English and deeply imbibing the feel of swing and the expression of the blues. The spirit of jazz is alive and well in Montenegro!
Hats off to my right hand–the amazing LaFrae Sci for stepping in as choreographer and more. Also thanks to Ari Roland and Zaid Nasser for taking the week out of their other extensive cultural ambassador duties to lay down the spirit of the blues so soulfully for the kids and roll with our extensive theatrical and musical schedule.
Thanks to the unbelievable vision and resourcefulness of producer Maja Popovic and all the teachers and staff who partnered with us along the way including Irena Radenovic, Vjera Nikolic, Tamara Vujosevic Mandic, Mira Popovic, Sonja Dragovic, Slobodan Bob Stanisic, Miroslav Stanisic, Mili Malovic, Nemanja Klikovac and Goran Brnovic. Also thanks to our friends at the U.S. Embassy for supporting the project!
- LaFrae and Boban teach the audience that the shuffle is the heartbeat of the blues.
- Iva and Dragana teach the audience to sing "There's Blue All Around Me"
- Bugsy(Andrija Maric) sings "Swingin' On the Family Tree"
- Prey animals sing "This flood has been a blessing 'cause my freedom is here to stay."
- Mr. Elephant (Lazar Lazarevic) sings "The night when I was taken..."
- Mrs. Zebra (Nemanja Petrovic) sings "When I was a youngster, I'd wake up with the sun..."
- Mrs. Lion (Katarina Bogicevic) looks out in the moonlight
- Mr. Lion (Luka Djurdjevic) sings "They told me to be happy, to put away my rage..."
- Mr. Cheetah (Andrej Sedlak) sings "I'm nobody's housecat..."
- Mrs. Lion
- Narrators-Vuk Vukovic (Montenegrin), Kristina Dedic (English)
- Irena Radenovic (djecji hor) directs "We knew this day was coming..."
- Mrs. Tiger, Dragana Rakcevic
- Zaid Nasser of Eli Yamin Jazz Quartet
- Ari Roland and LaFrae Sci
- LaFrae Sci, The Eli Yamin Jazz Quartet
- Zaid Nasser and Ari Roland of The Eli Yamin Jazz Quartet
- LaFrae Sci opens concert in Montenegro with "Montenegro to Mississippi" her arrangement for the quartet based on Montenegro's national anthem.
- Entrance to Theatre, Podgorica Cultural Center
- Eli Yamin with Nora's Ark singers in Montenegro 2011
- Ballet Dancers express the animals struggle for freedom
Leave a Reply