“Gurzuf” were heading out to Rennes, the capital of north-western province Brittany, where the musicians used to perform at the festival “Le Grand Soufflet” in autumn 2008. That’s when they were invited to take part in other 2 festivals – in Rennes and Strasburgh.
  

 “Les roulements de tambour” had been here in Rennes 8 times by then and had been intended by students and for students. Indeed, we can only be jealous of French students as they have an actual possibility to organize their leisure time on quite a decent standard and invite to their parties not just well-known bands from their region or country, but foreign ones as well. However even though there is a possibility, the lack of experience shows through, as the staff changes from year to year and every time the same old problems are solved by new students. By virtue of their youth many problems are not considered as ones. This might be the reason of some kind of confusion and chaos at the festival.
  

 Every festival is held in a certain vein – electromusic, jazz, world music, percussion, vocal experiments, East-European music. This year’s festival united musicians with the motto “Tapage nocturne” which can be metaphrased from French as “violation of public order” hence the vast diversity in music genres – from klezmer to hip hop. The major criteria during the applicants selection was not “what” but “how” – loudly, mightily, strikingly, provocative and tameless. In this perspective “Gurzuf” was firmly in position.
  

 Strange enough “Gurzuf’s” performance was scheduled not for 27 February when the bands close to them in style were playing. Those were Yom, the king of klezmer clarinet, “Le Gros Tube” – funk-jazz band, ska-punk-crew “Santa Macairo Orkestra”. “Gurzuf” was performing the following day in the students’ club when Rap and DJ Night was on. And naturally the people who were present were not easily entering the heartbreaking instrumental spirit of “Gurzuf”. Pitch (a rap singer) has offered a kind of rap-jam and it’s surprising how easily and eurhytmically it set to the music of “Gurzuf”.
  

 On the way back home “Gurzuf” gave 4 gigs in Poland. The co-op performance with the band “Nagual” in Warsaw only proves the fact that Belarusian musicians are not just known but honored in the neighboring Poland and not by single people but a wide audience. The club where guys had their performance was literally shaking because the fans were bouncing, chilling and sprightly having fun. Three other concerts (in Lodz, Torun and Lublin) took a more chamber-like course. The nature of jazz-clubs has played a major part, people visiting are more responsive, understanding, thoughtful and mature, not simply striving for a party, but listening carefully into music. In the near term “Gurzuf” is planning to go on with their “French campaign” and go for a performance at the famous Strasbourg festival of accordion music “Printemps des bretelles”. The band is going to nail down their success in won-all-hearts Poland by taking part in the major Polish open-air in Gdynia.

We’ll carry on later…