Teona Kontridze revealed the secret of her show: dresses weighing 4 kg

– How are you doing? What new things did you discover this summer?

– I’m doing great, I’m in my house in Georgia with my family and friends, this summer I discovered that I want to spend my time more statically, not to fly to any Europe-Asia-America. I want to spend more time at home with loved ones. Georgia for me is a place of power, where I connect with my “root system” and at 46 I want this more and more.

– What inspires you now musically?

– Recently, almost nothing … I’m a fatalist in this sense and I think that all the coolest things in music happened in the 20th century and before. For the last two years I have been listening exclusively to Brazilian music. Very colorful, rhythmic, rich harmonically, melodically, and I have a feeling that this music heals not only the soul, but also the body. How can you listen to samba and get alzheimer’s? It seems to me that this is impossible. Therefore, my last choice is samba, bossa nova and pagoji.

– You are known not only for musical, but also for your culinary preparations. Perhaps there is something in common between cuisine and jazz with its energy of mix, fusion, interpenetration and connection of various elements?

– I do not like to make preparations, I am for fresh food, for impulse, for the moment. For me, gastronomy and cooking in general is a full-fledged hobby, a way of self-expression, therefore – no, no preparations – only improvisation, only jazz. Between jazz and cuisine, this is exactly what is common, that it all depends on your improvisational talent. In addition, you must have a school, it is impossible to be a great cook without a school. But you still need to have good taste. If you don’t have good taste, you will have crap jazz and cooking.

– What songs do you plan to show at the Moscow concert?

– Due to the fact that we have not given concerts for more than a year, I am convinced that in addition to new songs we should sing our favorite hits, because the most important thing that will happen in this concert is not a demonstration of something new, it will be a love concert . The audience and I missed each other very much, so the goal now is to hug and remember all the best that happened between us, to restore the connection.

– You are often asked to sing “Tbiliso”, what other Georgian songs do you perform at concerts?

– I have many Georgian songs in the program and I combine them. “Argo” is what sounds constantly, no matter what my mood is: sad, cheerful, decadent, tired. This is my flagship song.

– What do you like most about jazz?

– In jazz, I love freedom, and everything in general: the structure, the energy of jazz, and jazz musicians. I love the atmosphere that this music creates, the space in which it is performed. I love the historical context of jazz. It was a historical movement, people were escaping segregation and racism in underground clubs. According to my observations, the time of big superstars is gone forever. Now there are few jazz superstars, but this is not only a problem of jazz, exactly the same thing is happening in pop music, in fashion – all this is secondary and has already happened. Now is the time of interpreters, not authors, social networks have done us a disservice in this sense.

– Jazz is already a classic, the genre is 100 years old. Do you feel like a classic diva who can do something that the young cannot do?

– I don’t feel like just a jazz singer. I have a jazz element in the show, but it’s just an element. I don’t dedicate myself entirely to improvisational music. I have a huge stylistic kaleidoscope in the program. In part, not only to me, but also to representatives of my creative class, a lot of things have been given that are not given to the young. For example, I noticed that the younger generation absolutely underestimate the narrative register in the song. They are not repelled by the text. The text is now completely impersonal. They eat up vowels, consonants, stylize articulation in the English language, everything somehow crumple, do not repel meaning and even musical harmony. Everything is about simplification. Our generation, of course, was more subtle about poetry in song.

– And of course jazz is the music of love, playful youth, isn’t it?

“It’s a lifestyle first and foremost. A jazz musician must be both a snob and a punk. He should always be open to some kind of collaborations, duets, trios, joint musical brainstorming. My jazz is jazz-punk, it is very free, it is in the body and in the heart, not in the mind, which is important.

– How did you understand that you would sound exactly like that, and not otherwise?

– Sound is like eye color, and as soon as a person transforms his timbre into something that is not organic for him, it sounds like hypocrisy. The vocalists have a pretense, an unhealthy mannerism, but I just can’t stand it. I have always had such a thick tone. We were looking for a style for a long time, tried something, altered something with costumes … But the musical Metro had a huge influence on me, thanks to it I realized what I want to do. I wanted to take swing and jazz styles as a basis and add stand-up at the same time.

– Your concert “brilliant” dresses are a separate legend. How many different colors do you have? How do you choose what color the concert will be in?

– So far I have 13 concert costumes, I choose them according to the mood and length of the concert. Because they all weigh differently, there is a dress that weighs four kilograms. If we have a big solo concert, then I take light options, because in heavy ones you can just die, it’s like chain mail. Dresses are chosen according to the mood and their weight.

– How do you look for musicians for your jazz band? How was it formed?

– The team was formed in 2002. When the musical “Metro” ended, I realized that I needed to pull myself together and go solo. I was already desperate to look for managers, producers, directors who would be involved in my sales. And then I decided that I would do the project myself and move it myself. I gathered a group not according to the music class, but those musicians that I could then afford. And as the concert income added, I changed musicians and eventually reached an amazing level. At the moment, the first echelon of jazz musicians in the country is playing with me.

– Are you a pathetic person? Does an artist need a good pathos or is it not needed?

– I’m not a pretentious person, moreover, this texture makes me laugh and inspires me to various comedy sketches. Paphos cannot be “good”, in my opinion, this phenomenon is characteristic of fools, the artist must be smart, subtle and very empathic person. Absolutely for sure – the artist does not need pathos.

– How difficult is it to be completely open with the public, or otherwise there is no connection?

– I am completely open with the public, and my different sides are involved on the stage. But I only have sides for close people that the public doesn’t see. Only relatives know some types of Theona.

– How to remain yourself, not to succumb to external influences?

– It is impossible that a person is not subject to external influences. Man is a dynamic being, at the age of 20 he is one, and at 40 he is already different. I fearlessly dive into life and let it change me. Only fools and very stubborn infantile people do not change.

What is the most important thing in an artist’s career?

– The most important thing in the career of an artist is to be happy in the profession, and that it adequately supports you. That’s all.

***

Apparently, Theon achieved this happiness. And the public can only wait for the concert and find out what the long-awaited meeting with the artist will be filled with, and with what relevant and kind jokes she will color her musical cartoons.