Getxo Jazz 2024
Until a few years ago it was not difficult, when it came to providing the jury of the Getxo Festival band competition with detailed information about the participating bands, to clearly determine the origin of each one: English or German, Italian, Belgian, Spanish… But things have become more complicated nowadays, and -it must be said-, for the better: most of the participating bands have among their members people from different countries, who often coincide in training centers and set up different projects based on their musical and human affinity. This is the case of Nita, a group that brings together no more and no less than musicians of five nationalities: its leader, Anja Gottberg, comes from from Sweden, and next to her are the Irish Micheal Murray on sax, the Spanish Antonio Moreno on trumpet (also winner of the first prize in the category of Best Soloist), the Dutch Siebren Smink on guitar and Magnus Austad, from Norway, on drums. All of them coincided at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and together they form this wonderful quintet that knew how to win the appreciation of the jury and the public with a determined, convincing and lucid defense of their proposal in the context, always competitive and difficult, of a contest in which you have to fight with groups often of good level and that, like you, do not come here to pass the time, but to win.
Nita displayed something that is already a great value in itself: a healthy and intelligent balance between their collective packaging and the personality of each of the individuals that form it, a challenge that every self-respecting jazz group tries to face with greater or lesser fortune. I was struck by the melodic strength and originality of their compositions (all Gottberg’s creation), the healthy intrigue of their developments (that gratifying feeling of not knowing for sure what might happen next…) and the way Anja knows how to extract from each of her colleagues the best of each one, so that everyone has their moment to step forward and contribute their personal touch to the group’s overall sound. That’s called wise leadership: not the one that imposes itself based on ego, but the one that pulls the cart from the inside without you seeming to realize it…
And if I alluded earlier to the goodness of this somewhat plurinational character of many of these emerging bands of the recent European jazz scene (something that is also easily appreciable in much more experienced and veteran formations), it is because, among other virtues, it serves to underline a fact that is becoming more and more consolidated in this music: its innate ability to break down barriers (musical and geographical) and integrate different cultures and sensibilities. It is not in vain that jazz has become a specific global language that brings people closer and unites them because, in its best expressions, it is nourished by the feeling and emotion of those who play it, beyond borders or prejudices of any kind. Congratulations to Nita, and to those who, like them, fight to keep the flame of jazz alive.
Mario Benso
