Page 8 - 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. 8
AN ADAMIÈ (1912–1995)
Photo 2: Bojan Adamiè – pianist, 1932 (family archive).
The pre-war period was rather more favourable in terms of dance and jazz music
recognition, particularly in tourist resorts where the ensembles performed popular
sections of classical music and operettas or jazz and dance music at afternoon concerts.
The Ronny ensemble often performed at such venues and events, although it seems that the
visitors to these resorts were not particularly enthusiastic about jazz.13 After the group fell
apart in 1936 Adamiè founded his own ensemble in the company of Samo Hubad and
Vlado Golob; the latter worked for years after war as the principal of Maribor secondary
music school. The ensemble became extremely popular among the Ljubljana young,
especially for their jazz improvisation, which was led by Adamiè. Because of his immense
perseverance and relentless attitude toward the other members of the band, he acquired the
nickname “Master”; it was meant as a joke at first, but through the years he justified it in a
variety of ways until it became his trademark.14 In that period the trumpet was becoming
synonymous with jazz. According to Adamiè, there was only one trumpet player involved
with dance music at that time in Ljubljana; unfortunately, he was not familiar with jazz
principles, which provided Bojan with the impetus to learn and practice until he finally
took the place of the trumpet player in the ensemble. He said that playing the trumpet
“transferred him into heavenly spheres”.15 His ability to develop improvisation, as well as
the accessibility of records and Hollywood films imbued with swing, resulted in the
establishment of new and bigger ensembles (such as the student New Star orchestra that
later developed into the even larger Broadway), which became equally successful. Jazz
started to spread unstoppably throughout Slovenian lands, gaining an ever increasing
number of fans. Before the war, Adamiè and some other first-rate musicians had joined the
Broadway orchestra that played in the prestigious Kazino in Bled, where they caused a
sensation. After Broadway was dissolved at the beginning of the war, he founded his own
group under the name the Bojan Adamiè Orchestra. As regards education, the musicians
13 Ibidem.
14 Bojan Adamiè, accessible at http://www.bojan-adamic.si/biografija#uvodinbio, May 14th, 2012.
15 From Adamiè’s memoirs; typescript is kept in the family archive, accessible at
http://www.bojan-adamic.si/razmisljanja/#o-sebi, October 21st, 2012.
8
Photo 2: Bojan Adamiè – pianist, 1932 (family archive).
The pre-war period was rather more favourable in terms of dance and jazz music
recognition, particularly in tourist resorts where the ensembles performed popular
sections of classical music and operettas or jazz and dance music at afternoon concerts.
The Ronny ensemble often performed at such venues and events, although it seems that the
visitors to these resorts were not particularly enthusiastic about jazz.13 After the group fell
apart in 1936 Adamiè founded his own ensemble in the company of Samo Hubad and
Vlado Golob; the latter worked for years after war as the principal of Maribor secondary
music school. The ensemble became extremely popular among the Ljubljana young,
especially for their jazz improvisation, which was led by Adamiè. Because of his immense
perseverance and relentless attitude toward the other members of the band, he acquired the
nickname “Master”; it was meant as a joke at first, but through the years he justified it in a
variety of ways until it became his trademark.14 In that period the trumpet was becoming
synonymous with jazz. According to Adamiè, there was only one trumpet player involved
with dance music at that time in Ljubljana; unfortunately, he was not familiar with jazz
principles, which provided Bojan with the impetus to learn and practice until he finally
took the place of the trumpet player in the ensemble. He said that playing the trumpet
“transferred him into heavenly spheres”.15 His ability to develop improvisation, as well as
the accessibility of records and Hollywood films imbued with swing, resulted in the
establishment of new and bigger ensembles (such as the student New Star orchestra that
later developed into the even larger Broadway), which became equally successful. Jazz
started to spread unstoppably throughout Slovenian lands, gaining an ever increasing
number of fans. Before the war, Adamiè and some other first-rate musicians had joined the
Broadway orchestra that played in the prestigious Kazino in Bled, where they caused a
sensation. After Broadway was dissolved at the beginning of the war, he founded his own
group under the name the Bojan Adamiè Orchestra. As regards education, the musicians
13 Ibidem.
14 Bojan Adamiè, accessible at http://www.bojan-adamic.si/biografija#uvodinbio, May 14th, 2012.
15 From Adamiè’s memoirs; typescript is kept in the family archive, accessible at
http://www.bojan-adamic.si/razmisljanja/#o-sebi, October 21st, 2012.
8
