I t’s always funny to me when people use the phrase the best guitarist in the world, but if I had to choose one it would be Tommy Emmanuel, said famous guitarist Steve Vai, about a man for whom even the legendary Les Paul foretold that one day will be great. The audience in Serbia will once again have the privilege of hearing this legend of the guitar play live on March 23 rd at the Sava Center as part of the 18th In- ternational Guitar Art Festival (20th-25th March). We will also have an opportuni- ty to hear, for the first time, some of the songs from his latest album “It’s never
da sam u 4/4! Trebalo mi je malo vre- mena da uđem u fazon, ali jednom kad sam razumeo Vlatkovu muziku, više nije bilo problema. On je ipak iz Make- donije, misli na drugačiji način i čud- na krv teče u njegovim venama. Bila je to velika lekcija koju sam naučio. Danas ste možda i najbolji gi- tarista na svetu, a sve je počelo kada ste bili dečak. Prvu gitaru ste dobili sa samo četiri godine, a Četa Atkinsa prvi put čuli kad vam je bilo tek sedam. Da li taj momenat zauvek odredio vašu sudbinu? – Mislim da sam znao ću svi-
this out, but it really worked once I un- derstood Vlatko’s music properly. Com- ing from Macedonia, he thinks in a differ- ent way to me and odd times are in his blood. It was a great lesson for me to learn. You are arguably the best gu- itarist in the world today, and it all started when you were a little boy. You got your first gu- itar at the age of just four, and you first heard Chet Atkins play when you were only seven. Did that moment determine your fate? - I think I knew I wanted to play gui- tar, not only as a job, but as a career by the time I was ten. Up until this point, I had been a member of our family band and played rhythm for my brother to play melody over. Once I started playing fin- gerstyle, I could play songs on my own that needed no accompaniment. I think listening to Chet Atkins’ records pointed me in a direction I was destined to go in anyway, and I will always be grateful for his inspiration and guidance. Your father sold your house and took you all on tour. Was such a childhood exciting or actu- ally tough? - My childhood was both exciting and tough. There was a lot of travelling and no money, which meant no fancy food and a simple life. My mother took care of all of us and was always encouraging us to do better. My father was a disci- plined task master who expected us to play flawlessly on stage. We were afraid that if we made any mistakes, we would feel his wrath. So my brother and I were always careful which side of the stage we ran off when we messed up! You are known as a “one man band”, and many people wo- uld like to be able to give the kind of performance that you create on stage. Do you have any advice for those who would like to attain that skill? - If you have a desire to play that way, then you need to start work now and learn as many arrangements of good songs as possible. If you want to move the bass around and add a percussive rhythm to it, then you will need to work it out bar by bar and practise it for the next 25 years! Like any musical style, the “one man band” style starts with simple songs and as your skills improve, so your arrangements will become more interesting. You have spent decades bur- ning up the stage, playing wi- th incredible passion and, as you say yourself, you are sur-
too late”, for which Tommy Em- manuel went on a world tour. For “Elevate” this Australian virtuoso says that he is always happy to come back to Belgrade. - I first came to Belgrade and played at the National Theatre in 2006. It was one of the most emo- tional nights of my life as the au- dience were full of great spirit and showed a lot of heart. I did five encores and finished with John Lennon’s “Imagine”, and the whole audience took the song and sang it while I accompanied them. The whole Serbian expe- rience was surprising to me, as I expected people to be more re- served. I was delighted by their joy in music. What are you most looking forward to in Belgrade? Is there anything in particu- lar that you like and that you can always only expe- ct in our city? - Belgrade is a fast-growing
rati gitaru zauvek kad mi je bilo deset godina. Do tog momenta sam bio tek član našeg porodič- nog benda i udarao ritam preko kojeg je moj brat svirao melodi- je. Kada sam počeo da sviram „fingerstajl“, mogao sam sam da sviram i nije mi bila potreb- na pratnja. Mislim da je sluša- nje Četa Atkinsa samo ukazalo na pravac u kom sam već sud- binski bio predodređen da kre- nem. Uvek cu mu biti zahvalan za inspiraciju i smernice. Vaš otac je prodao kuću i sve vas poveo na turneju. Da li je takvo detinjstvo bi- lo uzbudljivo ili ipak teško? – Moje detinjstvo je bilo i uz- budljivo i teško. Bilo je mnogo putovanja i malo novca, što zna- či jedan jednostavan život. Moja majka je brinula o svima nama i uvek nas je ohrabrivala da radi- mo bolje. Otac je bio perfekcioni- sta i očekivao da se na sceni sve
The whole Serbian experience was surprising to me, as I expected people to be more reserved. I was delighted by their joy in music Iskustvo u Srbiji me je veoma iznenadilo jer sam, iz nekog razloga, očekivao stegnute ljude. Nisam mogao da verujem koliko su se radovali muzici!
odvija besprekorno. Mi smo se bojali da ćemo, ako pogrešimo, osetiti nje- gov gnev. Tako da smo brat i ja uvek bili svesni na koju stranu treba pobe- ći sa stejdža ako zabrljamo! Poznati ste kao „one man band“ a mnogi bi voleli da mogu da izvedu takvu predstavu na sce- ni. Imate li neki savet za one koji bi da dohvate tu veštinu? – Ako imate želju da svirate na taj način, onda morate odmah da počne- te da radite i učite što više aranžmana dobrih pesama. Ako želite da ubacite bas i perkusije u jednu gitaru, krenite da svirate od bara do bara i nastavite tako narednih 25 godina. Kao i svaki muzički stil, i „one man band“ počinje jednostavnim pesmama, a kako vaše veštine bivaju veće, tako i aranžmani postaju zanimljiviji. Decenijama gorite na bini, svi-
city and I love the fact that there are many restaurants and clubs with live music be- ing played on a nightly basis and there are lots of bands and jazz groups around the city, all working a lot. Do you miss “Kings of Strings”? - I certainly enjoyed the challenge and the fun playing with Stochelo and Vlatko. I thought we really got a good show together in a short amount of time. They are both great musicians in their own right and I’m glad I got a chance to hang out with them. Is there anything you learned from Vlatko Stefanovski? You once revealed that his Macedo- nian rhythm tormented you... - Tormented is not the right word - in reality, I had to find a way to accompany Vlatko in some of his ethnic pieces where he was playing in 7/8 and I was thinking in 4/4. It took some time for me to work
| 49
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator