The product of what was originally intended as a one-off union, GTS Jazz are today one of the most popular jazz trios in the country. Comprising Gabi Faja (piano), Toma Willen (percussion) and Sebastien Adnot (double bass), the band – one part Italian, two parts French – unite the otherwise disparate worlds of classical, gypsy, reggae and jazz. Says Adnot, who began his classical studies at the conservatory in Nice at the relatively late age of 27, alongside precocious eight-year-olds: “The little children always joked with me. They would go to see the teacher and say ‘Oh, the big one, he cannot play!’ But my love for the music was so strong. Before, I didn’t know what to do – at school, I was a chemist. Then one day I touched a double bass. It was as simple as this: I thought to myself, this is what I want to do. It was white. I’ll always remember it. I touched the big string, felt the vibration in my body and that was it.” After seven years, having mastered music theory, Adnot still felt something was missing. “The music I love is gypsy jazz. I started to play with gypsy people and realised they didn’t know shit about music. They can’t name the strings or chords, but music is the heart and the head – that’s all you know. So I lived in a gypsy camp for a year and a half to learn their natural way of making music. I was the gadjo, the ‘white man’. Then I lived for a while in Martinique, where my neighbours were all black and all listened to reggae. I lived in London also, and spent 10 years there learning from Jamaicans how to play reggae. I lived like a tramp and busked. Many times I didn’t have money to pay rent or buy a drink. But as long as I have something to eat and somewhere to sleep, all I need is music. Perhaps that’s why I found it so easy to live with the gypsies.”
WHO: GTS Jazz
WHAT: Classical/gypsy/reggae/jazz
WHERE: Doors, #18 Street 84 & 47
WHEN: 8:30pm September 29
WHY: They’re suuuuuuuperb