Koldo Munné’s Musical Journey
This has been a busy but satisfying time for Koldo Munné, saxophonist for the world-renowned Sant Andreu Jazz Band, founded and directed by Joan Chamorro and comprised of young people (some who haven’t yet reached their teens) who play big band swing, bebop, and bossa nova classics like jazz veterans years older.
Koldo himself joined the band when he was barely eight years old, and, a decade later, is now the senior member of the saxophone section.
His busy spring was due to rehearsing and recording the Joan Chamorro presenta Koldo Munné album, part of the long-running series of CDs featuring the more prominent musicians in the band. Some of the tracks were recorded in Chamorro’s home recording/rehearsing studio, known as The Jazz House, and the rest were recorded live at the landmark Jamboree jazz club in Barcelona.
The SAJB Reunion Band — comprised of the senior SAJB musicians and former members — not only provided musical support for Koldo’s recording, but also recorded a separate live CD — thus essentially doubling the workload for all involved.
“Yeah, it’s been incredible,” Koldo says via video chat of the experience recording his first album. “The concerts were great, but kind of exhausting, because there were four gigs. At the second one I was more tired, but it was amazing. I also got to play some originals, which was special for me.”
What made the sessions all the more special was the participation of tenor sax legend Scott Hamilton, who has taken part in many SAJB concerts and recordings in the past decade.
“Just the fact of being able to play at the Jamboree was amazing, because it’s the Jamboree — it’s important, and cool. And also playing with Scott was probably the best just cause he’s just — he sounds so amazing, that’s obvious, we all know that.”
As he describes the experience of playing side-by-side with Hamilton, Koldo finds himself nearly at a loss for words. “The thing about playing with him is that — if he just sits there in his chair, it’s like — I usually play with my eyes closed, I don’t know why, and I’m just playing a solo or whatever, and he’s just ‘oh, yeah, oh yeah!’, and it’s like, incredible, and gives you a lot of motivation.
“I had played with him before, but not as a soloist. I was always in the sax section, so he didn’t notice me a lot. But the first day he came to the Jazz House from the airport, and we had to start recording, I was just like [saying to myself], ‘You need to focus, you need to play with a good sound, you need to play good solos, ’cause it’s Scott Hamilton right next to you, so you have to make the best impression of yourself!’
“But then I was playing, and he said, ‘you have a great sound,’ and was very friendly, and so, in the end, that first day I was trying to push myself a little further to kind of impress him, but by the end of the day we became kind of friends, so it was like playing with a friend.
“He’s played with incredible, legendary musicians, and after the first recording session, we were at the car with Joan and Elia, ’cause we were taking him to the hotel, and he was telling us stories the whole time, about the day he met this musician, or the day he met another musician, and he would tell all these jokes and funny stories, so I love him so much. He’s amazing.”
One of Koldo’s original tunes recorded for his album is “Snails and Jellyfishes,” which sounds like an authentic swing tune from the ’40s, thanks in great part to the arrangement. “When I write music, I just sit at the keyboard, and with that song, I just wrote the lyrics and the melody and chords, and sent it to Joan Monné, who wrote the arrangement. I kind of knew what I wanted it to sound like, but he is so amazing, he basically took my song and he made it sound incredible. Basically every song the SAJB plays now is arranged by him.
“The thing about this week, it was so intense because we weren’t just recording …presenta Koldo Munné, we were also recording …presenta the Reunion Band’ which is this new band Joan has created, so some of the songs we played at the Jamboree were for this other recording. And ‘Old Macdonald’ I sing with [SAJB trombonist] Perot Rigau, and he showed me Ella Fitzgerald’s version of the song we all sang when we were ten years old. And we were just, ‘oh my god, this is amazing, we have to do this!’ And then we showed it to Joan. At first, Perot was supposed to sing it by himself, but he said, ‘I don’t want to sing this crazy, silly song on my own, I want someone by my side doing silly things with me,’ so we ended up singing it together, and I think its funnier that way.”
“Perot plays the trombone incredibly, and he actually has a scholarship for classical trombone, so that’s not a problem, and he sings amazing, and has started singing with the SAJB just recently, and he’s still a little shy about it, like I am.” [Update: Perot left the band at the end of 2023 to pursue studies in classical trombone.]
It’s difficult to imagine Koldo feeling shy about singing, considering how, after Alba Armengou and Alba Esteban left the band at the end of 2022, he and trombonist Claudia Rostey became the two singers in the SAJB. “When I started singing,” he says, “I was very nervous. I have to say I’m more comfortable playing saxophone, cause when I play saxophone I know it’s gonna sound good, ’cause I’ve been playing it for a long time. Maybe sometimes it doesn’t sound good for some reason, but I have the confidence.
“But when it comes to singing, I don’t have a technique with my voice. I took, I think, four singing lessons last year, but that’s all. So sometimes I feel I don’t know exactly how to control my voice, so when it comes to singing, I’m like, ‘oh my god, I have to tune all the notes, I have to sound good…’ I’m less confident about it, and more nervous.
“In the last two years at SAJB, it was me, Claudia and the two Albas singing, and when the two Albas left, it was just me and Claudia, but now Perot is starting to sing, and the little boys and girls are starting to sing, and they’re amazing.”
Another interesting element to be heard on the album is a new string quartet created by Elia Bastida, former SAJB violinist/saxophonist/singer. In the SAJB world, new ideas, and the right people to experiment with them, are encouraged, so Koldo is happy to have the quartet appear on his CD.
“I was very lucky to record two songs with them. ‘You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,’ from Aretha Franklin, which was just amazing because it was this version with a symphonic orchestra, and Joan Monne made the arrangement for string quartet, some woodwinds and brass. I think Elia wants to really focus on this quartet and begin projects with it, and I think they sound incredible. Obviously the four of them have classical experience, like I do, but the thing about them is that they’re so open-minded, they could do whatever they want — jazz, classical, so many things. Whatever they do, they’ll be just fine.”
“When we talked about this album, I told Joan I don’t want it to be just jazz. When I’m listening to music, I’m not just listening to jazz, I listen to a lot of other stuff. And so, I really wanted to have different music styles on this album. It’s mostly jazz, but there’s also ‘Natural Woman,’ and ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ made famous by Barbara Streisand.”
Also recorded for the album’s eclectic song list is a bossa nova, Paul Desmond’s “Curacao Doloroso,” which Koldo performed with Dmitri Baevsky at the SAJB’s 2022 Jazzing Fest. “When we were doing Jazzing last year with the Brazilian music, Joan showed me this song and said, ‘you can do it with Dmitiri Baevsky.’ And we ended up loving it so much, we decided to record it for this album. We recorded it with Scott, which was just like…I have no words!”
He speaks and jokes animatedly, and also a little apologetically, about how he’s not familiar enough with other words in English to describe his feelings regarding the recording and performances for the two albums. “I’m just so excited about all of this, I feel like I’m repeating myself, and saying “amazing, amazing’ and ‘incredible, incredible’ all the time. I don’t know more words — ‘spectacular’ maybe!”
He also shares his thoughts on the current sax section, and the changes in personnel he’s seen in his years with the band. “I’ve been in the SAJB for ten years. For a long time, it was basically 20-year-olds, 17-year-olds…there was Andrea, Rita, but then all those people left, and a lot of new, younger people came in. Now the saxophone section has a lot of little kids, that I absolutely love. It sounds amazing, the people are amazing.
“I feel like I am sort of the ‘boss’ of the saxophone section, so sometimes I have to get a little mad, and get all bossy with them ‘cause that is currently my role in the saxophone section. ‘You have to do this! You have to take notes for what we’re singing at rehearsal!’ I feel like now it’s my ‘job,’ because when I entered the SAJB, I was, like 7 years old and I had all these people I could look up to and learn from. And now, there are still a lot of people I can learn things from, but there’s also a lot of new people, a lot of little kids I have to teach, or whatever, now I think it’s kind of my role. But they do what I say most of the time! And I can also learn from them, too. That’s actually a good thing about the SAJB is that you can help everyone, you can learn from everyone, getting things from one another.”
He offers considerable praise for his fellow saxophonists, such as Lola Peñaranda. “She is amazing. I met Lola I think six years ago. We went to the same high school. And since she started in the SAJB, she has made such huge progress, and now she’s playing amazing solos and her tenor sounds incredible. I love listening to her. I think she’s been in the band two or three years, and she’s had an amazing evolution. She’s kind of shy when you meet her for the first time, she doesn’t talk a lot, but when you start hanging out with her more often, she’s just a lovely person.”
His other fellow saxophonists include Sander Theuns, 14 years old, and Pere Company, 11. “Both of them are wonderful and have done an amazing evolution throughout these few years they have been part of the band. Sander is getting an outstanding lead alto sound with his instrument, and Pere is improving a lot with the tenor, considering he has been playing it for a short period of time, since clarinet is his principal instrument.
“One of the younger kids, his name is Bernat [11 years old], started with the band a few months ago, and when he came to rehearsal first day, he was like, ‘Hi, I’m Bernat, and I want to play the baritone!’ It’s one of his dreams, but Joan told him, ‘Well, let’s wait a while because the baritone is taller than you’. But one rehearsal, he was there playing baritone, and I was like, oh my god — at some point he’ll start playing baritone, but I don’t know when.”
This begs the question of how Koldo feels about playing baritone in the big band after years of playing alto — since the extraordinary Alba Esteban left that chair in the section at the end of 2022, to continue her music studies in Switzerland. “I was okay with playing baritone,” he says, “I wasn’t okay with Alba leaving! And now she’s in Basel, so we don’t really hang out a lot. We talk sometimes on the phone. She was one of my best friends in the SAJB, and now she’s just too far away. When I started playing baritone in the SAJB, I wasn’t really sure about it, because I was living my best life being first alto, and it was so amazing, and I could be the lead of the section, it was so cool. And then it was like, ‘I have to play baritone now, when I’m first alto?’ But then I started playing baritone and actually, when I play it with the big band, I just feels so powerful, ’cause I always have the lower notes, and it’s just like, ‘booom’, oh yes!’”
Just as a young Alba needed time to adjust to baritone after spending a few years playing mostly soprano sax, Koldo also needed time to get comfortable. “Playing baritone is another experience,” he says. “I had actually played baritone before, in my high school band, but I didn’t study a lot of baritone. Since I started playing it in the SAJB, it involves more practicing, so I love it. And also, being able to play the baritone as well as the alto gives me more range, and hopefully more job opportunities in the future!”
His younger brother Max joined the SAJB trumpet section at age 9. How is he doing these days? “He’s doing great,” Koldo reports. “At the Jamboree we recorded a song together, we wanted to do a song together as brothers for the album, so we recorded a song called ‘C.T.A.’ by Jimmy Heath, and he did a solo. We prepared for a long time.”
Perhaps before much longer, SAJB fans will see more of Max stepping into the spotlight. Joan Chamorro has a timetable of sorts (known best to himself), as he keeps a close eye on the progress of each band member. “Basically, with Joan,” Koldo says, “if you work hard, and you practice, and you study, and you play your instrument and have motivation, then you’re gonna improve. And that means you’re gonna do a lot of solos, or whatever. Obviously, if you just don’t like to play your instrument, or you don’t practice or you don’t care about it, then you’re not gonna have solos, but that’s obvious. Joan works like that — if you work hard, if you show you have commitment and want to be here and you want to work, you’re gonna have solos, you’re gonna have your reward.”
There will always be a few, however, who will decide to leave the band sooner than expected, due to any number of reasons, including the realization that playing jazz — and so rigorously — just might not be for them.
“There’s a lot of people who start in the band at a very young age,” Koldo explains, “and at first you have a lot of motivation, but when you grow up and maybe realize that’s not what you want to do…I think if you’re not having fun while you’re playing, then there’s no point to being part of the band. So, I guess there are people who left the band because they were just not having fun. And that’s okay, maybe not everybody’s meant to — we can’t pretend to make everybody love jazz or to make everybody love music — if you just don’t want to do it, it’s your choice.”
Having said that, he adds a simple fact that many others have long observed. “I guess Joan has the ability to make you love jazz.”
But Koldo also enjoys music that is not jazz, just as he enjoys forms of art that are not music.
“I talked about this with Claudia a few times. I think when it comes to art, I like to be open-minded. People sometimes ask me if I’m a jazz musician, and I say no, I am a musician. I like to think I’m not just a musician, I like to think I’m an artist. I like dancing, painting, I like theatre…I had a teacher who once told me that if you want to be a musician, you have to listen to a lot of music, practice, study your instrument, whatever, but if you want to be more than a musician, you can be an artist. And that means you have to be able to take pieces of every form of art to create your own perspective, to create what you want to do. So, I think it’s really about that. I obviously love jazz and I love music, and it’s obviously what I’m doing, but in the future I want to be able to take from other things too. Since my teacher told me that, that’s what I try to do…
“This summer [of 2023], the Reunion Band will tour Austria and Hungary, but I want to rest. I just finished my last year in high school, so I had all these final exams, which was exhausting, and with the recording of the album and everything, I’ve finally finished everything I’ve had to do this year, so I just want to relax. That’s my plan for the summer!”
After the summer and the 10th annual Jazzing Festival in early September, he’ll be back to work finishing his album. As is the custom with the ‘presenta’ series, once the rest of the recording is complete, he’ll be involved with Chamorro and audio engineer David Casamitjanas in the mixing of the album.
UPDATE:
Koldo did indeed debut his CD at the crowded Jamboree club on February 10, and it’s an understatement to say he is happy with the result.
“The album sounds great, I’m actually really proud of it. It’s really kind of overwhelming because it’s my first ‘solo’ album, and it’s really exciting. I was waiting for the release. It was released here I think at 12:00 o’clock and so I was about to go to sleep, and I waited about two hours just so I could see it released on Spotify. Also, its exciting because there are three original songs, my original music being out there, I’m really proud of.”
Some songs, such as “Cherokee,” “Curacao Doloroso,” and “Old MacDonald” didn’t make the final track listing, as good as those recordings may have been. “I think when we finished recording the album we had 20 or 21 songs, and obviously we couldn’t do a 21-song album, so we had to pick, and just remove some of the songs.”
The days leading to the Jamboree gig brought a concern about his ability to sing well. “Just the week before the concert I was feeling ill, and so I was taking medication for my voice, ‘cause I couldn’t sing. I had to get to the concert with my voice! So, the first set was great, the second one, I was like, “ugh…”
He was accompanied onstage by Joan Chamorro on double bass, Josep Traver on guitar, Arnau Julia on drums, and Marc Martin on piano (with SAJB pianist Pau Garcia on piano for some songs, and Koldo’s friend Mireia Espelt for the song “Ona’s Lullaby,” as she did for the album). The SAJB Reunion Band provided backing for several songs as well.
“We did very little talking [onstage],” he says, “we wanted to fit as many songs as we could into the set. It was amazing but obviously exhausting, so when we finished the concert, I went to dinner with some of my friends, and then I went home for some sleep. I was physically and emotionally so tired.”
What did he do to celebrate afterward?
“I went to sleep! For me it was a really emotional experience — a lot of my family was there, a lot of friends, and for me, the reunion band was there, all the people that I love. it was really overwhelming, so I went to sleep. I’m still kind of emotional about it. It’s so huge for me. Also, there were so many people at the Jamboree, it was pretty full.”
While the release of an SAJB musician’s …presenta CD often signals that musician’s imminent departure from the band, Koldo is in no hurry to do so. He simply loves the life of being in the band. “For now, I’m not thinking about getting out of SAJB. I’m fine! I feel like I still have some things to pass to the little ones, and I’m glad to do it. For me they’re all incredible musicians. It’s really great to be there and experience that, and to help along the way.”
He’s looking forward to playing in more concerts and is almost as excited about starting work in support of Elsa Armengou’s own …presenta album later this year as he has been for his own. Both are now the senior members of the band, and each is studying for a four-year music degree at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona.
“For me now — I released the album and that’s amazing, but I’m really looking forward to record Elsa’s. I’ve been sharing this SAJB experience with her for almost 12 years now, so I’m really looking forward to being there, you know, when her album happens.
“Elsa just has this unique way of playing trumpet. For me, listening to her play is just mind-blowing. She has this beautiful, clean sound. And she’s doing amazing solos. I went to see her gig at the Jamboree with Gerard Peñaranda, and I was mind-blown. Gerard also plays amazing; Elsa has a lot of years of experience outside the band. And we go to the same school to study, so we have kind of a close relationship and that’s also why I’m looking forward to recording her album because she deserves it so much.”
He’s also already looking forward to the next Jazzing in September.
“I get really excited about Jazzing. For me it’s like the greatest thing that could ever happen, ’cause you get to play with people and meet people, you get to listen to amazing artists…it’s the whole package.
“When I was little, I could go there and learn from all these people, and now it’s like I can still learn from them in the masterclasses and all of that. Last Jazzing I was listening to Joel Frahm talking, and it was so interesting. And also, for me, I’ve been in the band for many years, so Jazzing is not something that’s new for me, but to see the little kids who are just starting getting to play in the jam sessions and be there…”
At one jam session at the 2023 Jazzing, Koldo and some of the younger musicians joined guest Joel Frahm. Aspiring baritone saxophonist Bernat looked noticeably nervous to take his solo, but Koldo was there to give him an encouraging nod and eased Bernat’s step toward the mic stand.
It’s clear that Koldo eagerly anticipates more to come, whether it’s from the world of music, or elsewhere. “I think you should do whatever makes you happy, and if you want to be a jazz musician your entire life, that’s okay. For me, I love jazz, but I don’t just want to play jazz. There’s a whole lot of other things and adventures waiting for me out there.”
Until next time…
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Read my previous articles related to the Sant Andreu Jazz Band at the links below, or at the “Garry’s Blog” page on the website www.GarryBerman.com, and feel free to visit or join the Facebook group Friends of Sant Andreu Jazz Band (of which I am co-founder and administrator).
“Andrea Motis: Europe’s Jazz Queen“ ”| by Garry Berman | Jan, 2024 | Medium
“Joana Casanova Finds Her New Musical Direction” | by Garry Berman | Jan, 2024 | Medium
“Bossa Nova Returns to Barcelona”| by Garry Berman | Medium
“Memories of my Visit to Jazzing Fest, 2023” | by Garry Berman | Medium
“Carla Motis: A Quiet Force on Jazz Guitar” | by Garry Berman | Medium
“Meet Asier Vázquez, The SAJB’s Eager New Guitarist” | by Garry Berman | Medium
“Claudia Rostey’s Rising Star”| by Garry Berman | Jun, 2023 | Medium
“A Film About Kids and Music: Ten Years Later” https://medium.com/@garryberman/a-film-about-kids-and-music-ten-years-later-50d5bf96f53b
“Marching to a Different Bassist: The Music of Magali Datzira” | by Garry Berman | Medium
“Kindred Spirits: How Joan Chamorro and Isidore Rudnick Teach Jazz to Kids” https://medium.com/@garryberman/kindred-spirits-how-joan-chamorro-and-isidore-rudnick-teach-jazz-to-kids-2d0cb80bed77
“The Compelling Music of Elia Bastida and Carolina Alabau” https://medium.com/@garryberman/the-compelling-music-of-%C3%A8lia-bastida-and-carolina-alabau-65da74f07804
“The SAJB’s Koldo Munne Steps into the Jazz Spotlight” https://garryberman.medium.com/the-sajbs-koldo-munn%C3%A9-steps-into-the-jazz-spotlight-238b3231626f
“A Tale of Two Albas” https://garryberman.medium.com/a-tale-of-two-albas-904849a5e697
“How a Kids Band in Barcelona Rekindled My Love of Jazz” https://garryberman.medium.com/how-a-kids-band-in-barcelona-rekindled-my-love-of-jazz-a20ea8873670
“Jan Domenech’s New Chapter as a Jazz Musician” https://garryberman.medium.com/jan-domenechs-new-chapter-as-a-jazz-musician-e1f0da8b19b9
“Joan Chamorro and the SAJB: Past, Present, and Future” https://medium.com/@garryberman/joan-chamorro-and-the-sajb-past-present-and-future-573eedcbff76
“Josep Traver: Guitarist of All Trades” https://garryberman.medium.com/josep-traver-guitarist-of-all-trades-608296f9d00a
“When American Jazz Pros Meet Spanish Jazz Kids” https://garryberman.medium.com/when-american-jazz-pros-meet-spanish-jazz-kids-25c7f5023571
“Claudia Rostey: The Life of an 18-year-old Bacelona Jazz Trombonist” https://garryberman.medium.com/claudia-rostey-the-life-of-an-18-year-old-barcelona-jazz-trombonist-d13b82c770a3
“The Magic of the Voice: The Singers of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band” https://garryberman.medium.com/the-magic-of-the-voice-the-singers-of-the-sant-andreu-jazz-band-208dfb629221
“Jobim is Alive and Well in Barcelona” https://garryberman.medium.com/jobim-is-alive-and-well-in-barcelona-d384b40d8c2e
“Did Someone Say Anastasia Ivanova?” https://garryberman.medium.com/did-someone-say-anastasia-ivanova-dd6f67277c64
“Struck by (musical) Lightning” https://garryberman.medium.com/struck-by-musical-lightning-6583ecb0de13
Sant Andreu Jazz Band CDs and DVDs are available at: https://jazztojazz.com, eBay, and Amazon.com.
