On November 29th, at 19:00, a new concert from the jazz season at the "Ion Dacian" National Operetta and Musical Theatre takes place. The protagonists will be vocalist Luiza Zan, pianist Sorin Zlat, bassist Adrian Flautistu and drummer Iulian Nicolau. Viorel Grecu talked to Luiza Zan about this event and not only, at the Romanian jazz society section.

The Operetta Lounge series, initiated by pianist Sorin Zlat, continues on Friday, November 29 with a concert entitled A Night With Monk. The guest of the evening is vocalist Luiza Zan who we have with us at Radio Romania Muzical. She will tell us what she has prepared for Friday with Sorin Zlat, but also about her other recent projects. Welcome, Luiza.

Thanks for the invite. Good to see you.

It's a special evening, it's called A Night With Monk. Please give us details of what will happen.

For jazz connoisseurs it is clear that it is not a meeting with a monk, but a meeting with Thelonious Monk, one of the symbols of avant-garde jazz. It is an interesting meeting, because I did not particularly like Thelonious Monk, on the contrary, he is one of the composers who put me in difficulty. The shape of the pieces written by Monk is an atypical one, the way of linking harmonies is an atypical kind. It's a challenge I challenge myself when I choose to sing Thelonious Monk. Because I like challenges, I chose this music. It was my idea. This is the third time in my life I've played Thelonious Monk. So I can't say I have a little experience, I've been singing for a long time, but I haven't wrestled with Monk very often.

The concert will start at 19.00 and let's say that with you and Sorin there will be two more musicians who will perform the "harmonic twists". Who are the other two band members?

The drums will be played by Iulian Nicolau, and the double bass will be played by Adrian Flautistu. There are musicians I've played with before, but quite a bit and I can't wait to meet them again. The less we sing, the more interesting we are to each other.

The most recent album was already released in 2023, it is called In My Village. What can you tell us about it? It has a story as far as I can tell, a special story.

Generally my albums have a story. This album is backed by my love for the village I moved to. During the pandemic, he moved me to a very small village in Transylvania. Although at first it was a very strong cultural and social shock, I ended up falling in love with country life, and this album is an elegy, it is a dedication to the village and the people of my village. This album is very loved by the people of my village, so loved, that whenever possible, whenever I sing it, representatives of my village come to listen to it. Most recently, this summer, at the biggest concert I had with In My Village in the center of Bucharest, the mayor and my priest were present. This album is not just mine, but the village's.

Another commendable thing about this album, you have a very young band, if you can introduce them to us.

I am Vlad Briciu on piano and Răzvan Florescu on vibraphone. They also helped me with the arrangements, on the percussion was on the Philip Goron album, on the bass guitar, "on the wrong side", that is, left-handed, it is Dimitrie Cristian Milea, on the drums it is Anthony Gutierrez from Venezuela and we have a special guest in the person of MC Mr. Honey and we also have a special contribution from the button engineer, namely, Ieronim Pogorilovschi to the trombone.

Let's remind those in Bucharest that on Friday you will descend from your mysterious village in Transylvania and sing at the Operetta, together with Sorin Zlat, the music of Thelonious Monk. Thank you for your interview and we look forward to seeing you here, as we are sure you have other news in the near future.

I'm really working on some news in the near future. I will have a new attempt to express my ideas in the form of a sound material, which is already finished, but we are also waiting to see the video, which is on its way to the audience. Part of the video was shot in Japan where I just got back from, so I can't wait to show the audience what I've been doing, there and there.