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Pavol Bodnár - A World-Class Jazz Pianist

Pavol Bodnár is a famous jazz pianist, composer, arranger and teacher known not only in Slovakia but around the whole world. In 1996, the Slovak Jazz Association awarded him the Ladislav Martoník Prize and the title Jazzman of the Year in Slovakia. In 2006 he was awarded the Aurel prize for his CD Ecce Jazz.

In 1990, Pavol was a finalist at the international jazz competition Concours Internationale des Thémes de Jazz in Monaco with his composition Cheerful Afternoon. This success resulted in his winning a full scholarship for study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in 1992.

As a pianist, arranger and composer, he has been working over the years with outstanding musicians and groups of diverse styles. His latest release – CD Ecce Jazz – ( Hevhetia, 2006 ) has been very favourably received and praised by journalists from Slovakia, Czech and USA as well as by listeners of the relevant American radio stations.

Nowadays, Bodnár alternately teaches both jazz and improvization at the Conservatory of Church Music in Bratislava as well as working as a music manager on the AIDA Aura cruiseship in the West Indies.

;reklama;

What brought you to jazz music?
I was introduced to jazz music by my father who, when I was young, had many phonograph records with recordings of giants such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. I listened to them until they were totally worn out. As I had a so-called “Gipsy ear“ my father challenged me to learn by ear Tenderly for example, which he had recorded on his cassette player from the Voice of America radio station. I did learn it and he then compared me with the pianist on the radio. Other significant people who opened the world of jazz piano to me were my teachers at music school in Banská Bystrica, Lumír Štefánek and Róbert Tatár.

Did you have any music idols when you were a child?
Of course. They included pianists Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and Duke Ellington as well as classical composers such as M. P. Mussorgsky, Dmitri Shostakovich or Eugen Suchoň but especially Johann Sebastian Bach. As a pianist I found the greatest inspiration in the playing of Oscar Peterson. I tried to imitate his playing until I was twenty.

The glorious era of jazz is probably over, not only abroad but also in our country. Do you think we will live to see the renaissance of Slovak Jazz?
I don’t have a definite answer to this question. The fact is that, in the past, jazz was popular for many reasons related not only to its artistic and expressive quality but also to political and historical circumstances around the world. We mustn’t forget that in the 30s jazz intimately expressed the masses through the simplicity of its tunes and rhythmic contagiousness. It was, literally, dance music. This is no longer true. Musicians often revel in long and complicated solos which only musicians themselves and experienced jazz listeners find very interesting and inspiring. That puts jazz on the outskirts of the music scene. However, I see a chance of its renaissance and wider popularization again if some of the clarity and simplicity of the 30s’ jazz should come back whilst retaining a contemporary focus on music techniques acquired during the last 80 years.

How important do you think is luck in a music career?
Luck, meaning being in the right place at the right time, is very important for ensuring that a talented person develops and makes it in show business. Just think how many undiscovered or undeveloped talents there are in the world. New York is still unofficially considered the music capital of the world; so all who try to build their music career there have a greater chance that someone will discover them and put them in the spotlight. Of course, this is not true of Slovakia. We are on the periphery of the music scene in the world, culturally and geographically. Here, in our small world, even greatly talented musicians – of whom there are a fair number – must hammer away at their careers by playing for little money in clubs or for those who are more fortunate at generous company parties. There is no point in talking about making money through composing music for films, theatres or commercials in Slovakia. In view of the small number of productions these are monopolised by a few people. To return to your question, these few were lucky in our circumstances.

What did you get from your studies at Berklee College in Boston?
I have enhanced my knowledge of arranging work and jazz composition; I met many exceptional people and came to recognize that without a doubt I belong to the world of jazz or modern American music and that I can appear on any stage around the world. This awareness is still very important to me.

How did it feel to be awarded the Aurel prize for your CD Ecce Jazz in 2006? Did it challenge you to reach for new professional goals?
I was happy to be awarded the Aurel and at the same time it was a confirmation that what I am trying to do I do well. However, I must contradict a myth here. The Aurel is not a financial prize. Therefore, as a jazzman, investing not only sponsorship money but also my own savings in the production of a CD, I am back where I started. Nobody in Slovakia will offer me the opportunity to record another CD guaranteeing full coverage of costs because of the Aurel. Jazz is a minority genre and CD business is currently in recession all around the world. It is different in pop music. For example, a BMG publisher may say: You won the Aurel, so produce a CD for us. You will be given this much money for it. Don’t do anything but write. In my heart of hearts, I would obviously like to record another CD but I would have to convince my sponsors again, most of whom are my friends, to support me in it, as well as save my own money, if I don’t succeed in raising enough funds from sponsors.

What are your future plans?
I will soon be busy in my job as a music director on a ship belonging to an Italian and German company. I don’t have much time to write. But once this time is over I would like to prepare material for another CD similar to Ecce Jazz and would record and publish it. I am also tempted to set music to selected Biblical Psalms. These compositions should also include much improvisation. An offer has even been made to me to present them at classical music festivals.

More info: www.pavolbodnar.sk