Page 6 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 9, zvezek 18 / Year 9, Issue 18, 2013
P. 6
AN ADAMIÈ (1912–1995)
claimed that it became his favourite instrument. At the age of 15, entirely of his own
accord, he started to play organ in the church of St. Joseph in Ljubljana, which he enjoyed
immensely because the church’s catechist “overlooked” his improvisations on popular
tunes from films that he rearranged in a choral music style. The congregation was very
happy with his performances and his playing apparently enticed young musicians and
grammar school professors to attend the services at St. Joseph more frequently.
Adamiè continued to admire brass band music while attending grammar school. He
would follow the Ljubljana brass band as they accompanied funeral processions on their
way to ale cemetery and then back to the city, where the bandsmen would give way to
playing popular music. His favoured route for a stroll in Ljubljana city centre was around
the Mikliè Hotel coffee room (later the Yugoslav National Army Hall). It was from this
spot that he could hear the popular music that he found so very appealing and that later, at
18 years of age, became his addiction. Adamiè discovered at a young age that he had an
excellent musical memory, remarking: “My memory was already remarkable at that time.
I heard a tune just once, maybe twice and I memorized it along with all the harmonies. But
I never tried to play such tunes at home, because I still worshipped Beethoven, Mozart,
Chopin […]”4. At first he played at dance parties where the Ljubljana young enjoyed
American rhythms, which Adamiè described in the following way: “What we were
listening to at the time was actually not jazz, it was the beginning of a different music,
disconnected from operetta or classical music. That was soon after 1920.”5 The few
records and score editions sold in some shops and publishing houses in Ljubljana were
almost the only existing sources of jazz music. The first Slovenian group to play dance
music (foxtrot, step, swing) and music comprising jazz elements (at the time still without
improvisation) was a four-man band Original Jazz Negode (founded in 1922 in Ljubljana
by Miljutin Negode from Trieste). They were also the first group to contain a saxophone
player (from 1924 the group had five members; the saxophone player was Janko Gregorc,
a composer and versatile musician). It was at this time that the saxophone came to be
classified as a typical jazz instrument, so groups with saxophones were often considered
jazz bands, even though they did not perform real jazz. A scattering of similar bands
played in Slovenia over the following years: Cvirnovi fantje, parlour trio Odeon, and
Sonny Boy Jazz, while Merkur and Jazz Zarja were best known among the bands
originating from cultural societies. All of them looked to film music for inspiration, since
American cinematography had also made its way to smaller cities like Ljubljana.6 As a
young pianist accompanying dance lessons, Bojan Adamiè was one of the first in town to
try musical improvisation: “I would take a refrain and then I would play it to my own
liking […] It was just some kind of improvisation though far from what was performed
later or even today.”7 His interest in music continued to grow; besides learning the piano
at secondary level, he took additional courses in organ (Stanko Premrl), trumpet
(František Karas), and composition (Slavko Osterc). He also took a university degree in
piano and a secondary level qualification in the organ.8 Beside these “compulsory”
4 Ibidem.
5 Cited from: Ana Kajzer, Razvoj slovenskega jazza v luèi dru benih sprememb, degree essay, Ljubljana:
Fakulteta za dru bene vede, 2003, p. 19.
6 Ibidem, pp.19-21; compare Peter Amalietti, Zgodbe o jazzu, Ljubljana: DZS, 1986, pp. 5-7.
7 P. Amalietti »Mojster Bojan Adamiè«, Glasbena mladina 6 (1985), pp. 20-21.
8 School certificates are kept by his daughter Alenka Adamiè.
6
claimed that it became his favourite instrument. At the age of 15, entirely of his own
accord, he started to play organ in the church of St. Joseph in Ljubljana, which he enjoyed
immensely because the church’s catechist “overlooked” his improvisations on popular
tunes from films that he rearranged in a choral music style. The congregation was very
happy with his performances and his playing apparently enticed young musicians and
grammar school professors to attend the services at St. Joseph more frequently.
Adamiè continued to admire brass band music while attending grammar school. He
would follow the Ljubljana brass band as they accompanied funeral processions on their
way to ale cemetery and then back to the city, where the bandsmen would give way to
playing popular music. His favoured route for a stroll in Ljubljana city centre was around
the Mikliè Hotel coffee room (later the Yugoslav National Army Hall). It was from this
spot that he could hear the popular music that he found so very appealing and that later, at
18 years of age, became his addiction. Adamiè discovered at a young age that he had an
excellent musical memory, remarking: “My memory was already remarkable at that time.
I heard a tune just once, maybe twice and I memorized it along with all the harmonies. But
I never tried to play such tunes at home, because I still worshipped Beethoven, Mozart,
Chopin […]”4. At first he played at dance parties where the Ljubljana young enjoyed
American rhythms, which Adamiè described in the following way: “What we were
listening to at the time was actually not jazz, it was the beginning of a different music,
disconnected from operetta or classical music. That was soon after 1920.”5 The few
records and score editions sold in some shops and publishing houses in Ljubljana were
almost the only existing sources of jazz music. The first Slovenian group to play dance
music (foxtrot, step, swing) and music comprising jazz elements (at the time still without
improvisation) was a four-man band Original Jazz Negode (founded in 1922 in Ljubljana
by Miljutin Negode from Trieste). They were also the first group to contain a saxophone
player (from 1924 the group had five members; the saxophone player was Janko Gregorc,
a composer and versatile musician). It was at this time that the saxophone came to be
classified as a typical jazz instrument, so groups with saxophones were often considered
jazz bands, even though they did not perform real jazz. A scattering of similar bands
played in Slovenia over the following years: Cvirnovi fantje, parlour trio Odeon, and
Sonny Boy Jazz, while Merkur and Jazz Zarja were best known among the bands
originating from cultural societies. All of them looked to film music for inspiration, since
American cinematography had also made its way to smaller cities like Ljubljana.6 As a
young pianist accompanying dance lessons, Bojan Adamiè was one of the first in town to
try musical improvisation: “I would take a refrain and then I would play it to my own
liking […] It was just some kind of improvisation though far from what was performed
later or even today.”7 His interest in music continued to grow; besides learning the piano
at secondary level, he took additional courses in organ (Stanko Premrl), trumpet
(František Karas), and composition (Slavko Osterc). He also took a university degree in
piano and a secondary level qualification in the organ.8 Beside these “compulsory”
4 Ibidem.
5 Cited from: Ana Kajzer, Razvoj slovenskega jazza v luèi dru benih sprememb, degree essay, Ljubljana:
Fakulteta za dru bene vede, 2003, p. 19.
6 Ibidem, pp.19-21; compare Peter Amalietti, Zgodbe o jazzu, Ljubljana: DZS, 1986, pp. 5-7.
7 P. Amalietti »Mojster Bojan Adamiè«, Glasbena mladina 6 (1985), pp. 20-21.
8 School certificates are kept by his daughter Alenka Adamiè.
6
