Perpetuum Jazzile

The vocal group Perpetuum Jazzile is comprised of both female and male singers, who perform songs without any instrumental accompaniment and therefore use various techniques, including vocal percussion, to cover all the elements in the music. Conducted by the renowned Swedish singer, arranger, and conductor, Peder Karlsson, the group mostly performs well-known pop songs, Slovene folk music, and gospel songs, which are re-arranged into different musical genres, such as jazz, bossa nova, funk and swing. The group became internationally popular with their performance of the song "Africa" (by Toto) in which the choir uses thunderstorm simulation effects inspired by the Kearsney College Choir from South Africa.

Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa by Perpetuum Jazzile on YouTube

Background

The vocal group Perpetuum Jazzile was initially known as the Gaudeamus Chamber Choir, which was established by Marko Tiran in 1983. In 2001, music producer and choir conductor Tomaž Kozlevčar became the choir's conductor for 10 years until 2011, when the former member of the professional Swedish acapella ensemble the Real Group Peder Karlsson took over the artistic direction.

Repertoire

Perpetuum Jazzile mostly performs acappella arrangements of popular songs, such as "True Colors", "Killing me Softly", "Aquarela do Brasil" and medleys of songs by artists, such as the Bee Gees and Michael Jackson as well as some classical pieces, such as "The Flight of the Bumblebee" and a jazz version of Bach's "Badinerie", which is usually included in the choir's Christmas-time concert activities.

The choir's arrangements include an array of vocal elements, such as close harmony, vocal percussion and singing in many jazz styles. These vocal characteristics and musical orientation of Perpetuum Jazzile were also inspired by vocal groups such as the Singers Unlimited and the Swingle Singers.

International cooperation and performances

In 2011 the choir performed at many sold out venues around the world. Their World Tour included concerts in countries such as Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Canada and the USA. The choir also gave two humanitarian concerts at Ground Zero in New York City and at the UN building. Their concert repertoire included covers of songs by the Beatles, Van Halen, and Lady Gaga.

The choir occasionally includes jazz instrumentalists from the RTV Slovenia Big Band in their performances as well as Slovene pop stars, such as Alenka Godec, 6Pack Čukur, and Oto Pestner.

Perpetuum Jazzile cooperated with Swingle Singers founder Ward Swingle in the organisation of a vocal jazz seminar in Ljubljana. The choir also participated in the International Vocal Group Festival (Tilburg, Netherlands) and other international vocal group festivals and competitions such as Vokal.Total (Graz, Austria).

The main concert event organised by Perpetuum Jazzile is the yearly concert they host at Cankarjev dom in autumn. The event is entitled Vokal Xtravaganzza and features the choir's newest repertoire.

Recordings

The choir has released 5 CDs as well as one DVD recording of their live performance in Cankarjev dom, which includes the performance of the song "Africa". The first CD entitled When you come to Bled (Ko boš prišla na Bled) was released in 1999 and consists of songs arranged by Grammy Award winner and vocal arranger of the Singers Unlimited Gene Puerling. Mostly the recordings feature arrangements of popular music, including songs by Stevie Wonder as well as Slovene pop songs.

External links

Perpetuum Jazzile website