MAJA JAKU spent her childhood in Kosovo, fled to Austria during the wars in the region and has lived here ever since. The jazz singer has just released her fourth album “Soul Searching”. MAJA JAKU spoke to Jürgen Plank regarding spirituality as well as regarding her inspiring teachers and why she likes to teach singing herself. MAJA JAKU lived in Graz for a while, there will be an album presentation on February 3, 2023 on the floor.
Your new album is titled “Soul Searching”, what kind of search did you embark on?
Maja Jaku: It is the search for everything that has a soul. I’m originally from the Balkans and I’m a gut person. Of course I’ve studied and studied music and I use my brain, but there’s a certain warmth to that soul. It’s regarding not being wrong. This attitude can be present in small things in everyday life. You notice it, for example, when you go to the doctor and are not treated well. You can also have a bad day, but I’m looking for that “soul”: a true, empathetic, real interaction with each other. Above all, honest dealings with each other. It’s not regarding saying people should be nice, that’s not enough. We need to feel each other. Be honest and genuine, be authentic with empathy, in small and large contexts.
The album has a connection to the USA, what can you tell regarding it?
Maja Jaku: I agree. Of course I’ve had a lot of performances and concerts in recent years, there was the single “Cross My Heart” in 2018, which Alex Deutsch produced. And I already had a collaboration with the producer of Erykah Badu. but I wanted to make a new album and I asked myself: What do I want to say? I have a good friend in the US who is a very active musician and knows me well. I called my friend in San Diego and said you’ve known me for so long. How was I 30 years ago? And he answered: You always did something between jazz and pop. Also between jazz and soul or neo soul. I then asked him if he knew anyone who composes music in this direction, a bit retro, like in the past Blue Note Records. Because with albums by Blue Note i grew up And that’s how this cooperation with Dave Scott came regarding, who writes songs that are arranged in a jazzy way.
You have with an artist from Blue Note studied with Sheila Jordan. What can you learn from a teacher like that?
Maja Jaku: Very much! I thought to myself: if I didn’t study with her, it would be enough just to know her as a person. I’m still in contact with her today, she always believed in me and gave me a lot of jazz blessings. She’s an artist and that’s a small word in her case: she’s a personality, a jazz legend. She was our mom when we were studying jazz in Graz, I get tears in my eyes when I talk regarding her. She shaped my life, all my professors have.
In what way?
Maja Jaku: I came to Austria from Kosovo at the age of 18, with weak English and no German skills. Straight to teachers like Sheila Jordan. These are my gurus and they still are today.
The opening track “Rise and Shine” on your new album takes the whole world into view. The text addresses environmental issues and peaceful coexistence.
Maja Jaku: This is a positive text and that was important to me because I tend to write dark, socially critical texts. Dave Scott wrote the lyrics and they were absolutely on my line. It says that together, together, we can create a paradise. Let’s do it! A paradise without hate, without war, without pollution. What creative person doesn’t want that? The lyrics took me away, I feel something regarding it and that’s why I sing this song.
In the piece “Be real” you sing the following line: “try to be an honest soul”. What constitutes an “honest soul” for you?
Maja Jaku: An example: Communication is often packed in different envelopes. I also teach singing and I see how important it is to honestly tell students: that wasn’t so good, you can do it better. Be real is also regarding being loving. Own it, be who you are and be honest without obscuring anything with your words. “Be real” doesn’t mean being angry, but standing by what you liked and what you didn’t. Man is an intuitive being and already senses when something is being veiled.
On your new record there is a track called ‘Power to the people’ which addresses Martin Luther King directly and John Lennon also titled a song of his own by that title. How do you relate to Lennon?
Maja Jaku: No, I’m not referring to him, but of course I know John Lennon, he was a fantastic musician. “Power to the people” is regarding power: what can people do for other people. Everything we get, we get from other people. Both positive and negative inputs. We are all in a structure. For example, if I need feedback on an album, I get in touch with you. If I need a performance, I have to write to an organizer. We work together a lot and always forget how powerful we are together and what we can do. But it’s easy to forget how powerful we are when we support one another. That’s a great strength. By the way, this title is currently in rotation on Radio Swiss Jazz and I am very honored by that.
I keep hearing Buddhist approaches between your words. Do you have connections in that direction?
Maja Jaku: no I’m basically spiritual. I wake up with the idea: What good can I do today? Who can I touch with my music? What can I do? If you don’t wake up feeling the need to make the world a better place for at least five minutes a day, then I don’t think there’s much artistic potential.
“Everyone has their blues”
To what extent is the piece “My blues” autobiographical? You sing regarding how the painful moments and experiences make people who they are.
Maja Jaku: Yes, the piece is also autobiographical. I think everyone has their own blues. For example, Sheila Jordan told me: Put your pain and your joy in your music! Blues often has an approach to pain, at the end of a blues piece there is sometimes an ironic twist and the message that you can do it following all.
What else is autobiographical in this song?
Maja Jaku: I sing regarding myself, regarding my mother who gave birth to me at the age of 17. About the fact that I grew up with jazz music and was very scared in Kosovo.
And that I came to Austria, where I no longer had to be afraid. “I lost my country, I lost my friends”, it says in the text, that’s actually true: I lost my country and many of my friends died in the war. But: the blues, this melancholic self, with all its pain, has always stayed with me and that’s nice too.
“I am very grateful that I can pass on my experiences”
Leaving your home country is not easy and losing people can also be traumatic. To what extent is music an outlet for you to process something for yourself?
Maja Jaku: Yes, the stage in general is a kind of therapy. You treat yourself, but you have to give something. There is power in this honest give and take because it is nurturing. When I give something, I create a reaction. The music we play on stage is soul food for the audience. And his reaction is my soul food. This give and take is therapeutic. For me and for the people who listen to the music. Because art is regarding true feelings.
You teach singing, how important is that to you?
Maja Jaku: This is very important to me, I learn a lot from it. It’s a completely different dynamic to be around young people. It makes me alive, active and I also learn from these young people. They are different and I let them be different. Passing this piece of music on to her is the best thing that might have happened to me. Teaching can be very creative if you see it creatively. I can now give back everything I received from my teachers Sheila Jordan, Andy Bey, Mark Murphy and Jay Clayton. This is jazz and popular singing and it’s just great to see how the students develop. There are also many singer-songwriters in my class, Vienna has this beautiful scene of young people playing guitars and telling stories. I am very grateful that I can share my experiences.
Many thanks for the interview.
Jurgen Plank
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Live:
02/03/2023: Floor, Jakominiplatz 18, Graz
March 24, 2023: Red Salon, Wipplingerstrasse 20, Vienna
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Link:
Maja Jaku (Facebook)
Maja Jaku (Instagram)