Marino Pelajić: Višežičane gitare, virtuoznost i ekspresija

3.  Gitaristički festival Široki Brijeg

Generalna ocjena Festivala nakon gledanja (i slušanja)  video spotova trojice finalista – Festival je napredovao u kvaliteti, pretpostavljam i u kvantiteti i raznovrsnosti natjecatelja od prvog festivala 2021. U finalu ovaj put imamo i dva strana autora/izvodjaca koji su svakako profesionalizmom i kreativnoscu obogatili Festival, i koji mogu pomoći da se glas, dobar glas (odnosno gitaristicka fraza) daleko, još dalje čuje.

Moja ocjena natjecatelja:

Prvi natjecatelj je i pobjednik prvog Festivala iz 2021, Mejdi Sulejmani, i moja ocjena je da je ušao u natjecanje s  kompozicijom, Usnuli grad, primjerenom za ovakav festival. Izvodjačko umjeće Mejdija je nesumnjivo, ali najviše mi se dopalo fokusiranje na samu melodiju. Svjesno je zanimljivost melodije stavljena ispred izvedbe, dovoljno je vremena u tijeku pjesme da se slušatelj uvede u temu, i da tek kasnije Mejdi to razradi, uzbudljivo i ekspresivno.
Po mom sudu, kompozicija je jača strana ovog uratka.

Drugi natjecatelj, Ben Azar, sa svojim bandom Steroid Puppets, i kompozicijom Earthguest sa istoimenog albuma iz 2022. oduševljava svojom sviračkom tehnikom. A još mu u goste na kompoziciji dolazi poznati gitarist Marty Friedman, pa onda sto reći. Video spot je onakav kakav očekujete za pjesmu koju izvode dva vrhunska gitarista (svaki na svom brdu) plus odličan band, SP.
Naknadno, saznajem da je Ben Azar dobio nagradu za najbolji video. Odlično.

Treći natjecatelj, Jason Carter (sa takvim imenom ne mozes izgubiti) je glazbenik sa klasičnim obrazovanjem, vidi npr. YT video gdje izvodi Asturias Isaaca Albeniza, ali je za Festival poslao originalnu kompoziciju Inside Out. Kako se očito bavi i audio i video produkcijom (Inspire Creative International kolektiv) – rezultat je zaokružena cjelina, odličan video spot, kompozicija i izvedba. Ovo nije rock, ali ima rock estetiku.

Naknadno, doznajem da je  Jason Carter  pobjednik, dobitnik grand prix Festivala za 2023., takodjer osvaja nagradu za najbolju originalnu kompoziciju.

Sve u svemu, moram reći da sam impresioniran natjecateljima i Festivalom.

Generalno mogu zaključiti da su u modi višežičane (više od 6 zica – Azar 7, Carter 6+6 na dva vrata ) gitare te virtuoznost i ekspresija.
Sve su manje šanse za sudjelovanje na Festivalu gitare Široki Brijeg “običnih” gitarista, a kamoli basista. 

Da završim optimistički – kako su natjecatelji sve bolji, virtuozniji i poznatiji, nagodinu uz Vlatka Stefanovskog očekujem i Bucketheada. Pa da vidimo ko je bolji.
Marino Pelajić

#English

3. Široki Brijeg Guitarist Festival

The general assessment of the Festival after watching (and listening to) the videos of the three finalists is as follows – The Festival has progressed in quality, I assume also in the quantity and variety of competitors since the first festival in 2021. In the final this time we also have two foreign authors/performers who are certainly professional and creative. enriched the Festival, and who can help make a voice, a good voice (that is, a guitarist’s phrase!?) heard far, even further.

My rating of the candidates

The first competitor is also the winner of the first Festival from 2021, Mejdi Sulejmani, and my assessment is that he entered the competition with the composition Usnuli grad, suitable for this kind of festival. Mejdi’s performance skills are unquestionable, but what I liked most was his focus on the melody itself. The interestingness of the melody was consciously placed before the performance, there is enough time in the course of the song to introduce the listener to the topic, and only later Mejdi elaborates on it, excitingly and expressively.
In my opinion, the composition is the strong point of this work.

The second contestant, Ben Azar, with his band Steroid Puppets, and the composition Earthguest from the album of the same name from 2022, amazes with his playing technique. And the famous guitarist Marty Friedman is also a guest on the composition, so what can I say. The video clip is as you would expect for a song performed by two top guitarists (each on their own hill) plus a great band, SP.
Subsequently, I find out that Ben Azar won the award for the best video. Excellent.

The third contestant, Jason Carter (you can’t lose with a name like that) is a musician with a classical education, see for example the YT video where he performs Isaac Albeniz’s Asturias, but he sent the original composition Inside Out for the Festival. As he apparently deals with both audio and video production (Inspire Creative International collective) – the result is a well-rounded whole, an excellent video clip, composition and performance. This is not rock, but it has a rock aesthetic.

Subsequently, I find out that Jason Carter is the winner, the grand prix winner of the Festival for 2023, he also wins the award for the best original composition.

All in all, I must say that I am impressed by the competitors and the Festival.

In general, I can conclude that multi-string (more than 6 strings – Azar 7, Carter 6+6 on two necks) guitars are trending, as well as virtuosity and expression.
“Ordinary” guitarists, let alone bassists, have less and less chance to participate in the Široki Brijeg Guitar Festival.

To end – on an optimistic note – as the contestants are getting better, more virtuoso and more famous, next year I expect Buckethead as well as Vlatko Stefanovski. So let’s see who is better.
Marino Pelajić