CONCERT | WORLD MUSIC CONCERT SERIES | HARRI STOJKA | INFECTIOUS GYPSY SWING
The Austrian Cultural Forum is pleased to present Infectious Gypsy Swing by Harri Stojka, one of the most important contemporary Austrian Jazz musicians. Claudius Jelinek will accompany him on the guitar and Karl Sayer on the double bass.
One of Austria’s greatest jazz musicians has musical roots that run deep: He comes from a Roma family that surrounded him with rhythm and harmony. When Harri Stojka was only six years old, his dad gave him a plastic guitar he had bought at the fair. Harri was fascinated by it. So Harri’s father didn’t waste any time and bought him a real instrument that was appropriate for his age. From that point on, the classical guitar became the focus of Harri’s attention. From the very beginning, his father told him that he had to practice until his fingers smoked. One day, Harri said, “Papa, I practice and practice, but I don’t see any smoke!” Forty years later, Harri Stojka takes the same approach to the instrument.
“Gypsy Swing is the European answer to American Jazz,” Harri once said. For him, jazz started with bebop. Hearing a solo by Pat Martino was an important turning point in his career. He memorized countless solos by Charlie Parker and George Benson. Guitarists that also influenced him include George Harrison, Joe Pass, and Django Reinhardt.
In 2006, one of his recordings was re-titled “A Tribute to Gypsy Swing” and re-released by Jochen Becker of ZOHO Music in New York. A mere week after its release, renowned jazz legends nominated it for the German Music Critics Prize. 2010’s highlight was the movie “Gypsy Spirit – Harri Stojka on the Road” with Mosa Sisic.
“A lot of blues feeling, immense guitar technique performed with such playful ease that you almost take it for granted.” – Walter Richard Langer, Austrian Jazz expert
Viennese-born Harri Stojka comes from the diasporic Lovara Roma dynasty of the Bagareshtshi clan, which, 150 years ago, came from Wallachia to Austria. His father and all of his relatives who were born before 1942 felt the impact of the murderous reign of the Nazis. Of 200 family members, only six survived concentration camps like Auschwitz. After the concentration camp, his father and his uncle also survived the Death March. Although Harri and his sisters were born much later, they grew up with their parents’ grief and suffering.
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