From Montreal to Mostar with Love

You the type of person into crazy fun shows for good causes? If you’re around Montreal, CA, on April 22 you should check out the Mostar Benefit concert happening at Cafe Sarajevo:

Nirvus Rex, a primordial rock duo, will start off the night, followed by Lake of Stew, that rambling group of folks who fill the streets and stages of Montreal with their soulful stew of old-timey Americana and gorgeous vocal harmonies. Then, Nomandika will play some Bosnian songs, followed by Klezmer joyful revivalists Balebuste. After Balebuste, The Fat Tuesday Brass Band will bring on the party with their marching band-iferous New Orleans-ified mix of old time Jazz and modern Funk.

Big brass band, klezmer, sweet rockin sing along folk, the press release for the Montreal Mostar benefit has even more details on this sweet night, and below you’ll find an interview with Emily Doolittle, the producer of this madcap snazzy evening…

hey Emily, how did you get involved with Mostar?

My friend Tim Dunne, an American pianist and composer currently living in Russia spent some time in Mostar, got to know a number of musicians there, and had the idea to start a music festival there. I was really lucky that he asked me to be a part of it!

does your time thinking about and traveling to Mostar inform your compositions?

Not yet — but I find that influences and ideas often show up in my music several years after I am exposed to them, so I expect that anytime now some aspects of Mostar will start showing up in my compositions.

how did you get these bands involved?

I play in Balebuste (a klezmer band), and all the other bands playing are friends of mine or friends of other people in Balebuste. We’re feeling really fortunate to have such a great line-up!

what’s it like there? can you tell us a story from your time there that will give us an idea?

I’m going to tell you how to make Bosnian coffee:

You need an “izbrik” or “cezve” — a small, long handled pot, and some very finely ground coffee (usually called “Turkish,” “Arabic,” or “Greek” coffee — it’s pretty easy to find in Montreal).

Boil some water in another pot. When it’s boiled, take it off the burner and leave the burner on.

Put some sugar (usually a fair bit) and a tablespoon or so of coffee in the izbrik. Pour boiling water on it until the izbrik is about two thirds full. Stir, and place it on the burner.

Let the coffee rise (don’t look away, or it will spill all over the stove!) Remove it until the coffee falls. Do this three times.

Pour in a little more boiling water. Stir.

Serve in small cups. Distribute the foam on top equally in all the cups. You can add some milk if you like (I don’t think they do in Turkey or Greece, but they do sometimes in Bosnia).

There are lots of methods, but that’s the one I learned!

why focus on bringing music there, what difference does music make, what role do you see it playing?

Life in Mostar is still quite difficult after the war — there’s still lots of unemployment, and lots of the infrastructure is still a big mess. There are many fantastic musicians there, but they don’t have the means to travel, and are often struggling just to keep things going at a basic level. So Tim’s idea was that if we brought musicians from elsewhere to Mostar, we’d be able to form relationships and work together with the musicians there, and give free concerts, and workshops and lessons for music students to complement the work that the Mostar musicians are already doing.

Music is a great basis for forming international friendships, since everyone likes music, people can participate in it at all levels (as learners, teachers, listeners, creators, etc.) and people can play music together whether or not they speak a common language.

Tuesday April 22 2008
Cafe Sarajevo, 6548 St-Laurent Blvd., corner Beaubien.
Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8pm.
Admission is $6-12 (sliding scale)
All proceeds go to music students and teachers in Mostar.

For music samples see www.myspace.com/lakeofstew, www.myspace.com/fattuesdaybrassband.