Nir Blu

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG


SHANTI-BABA, BABY: Nir Blue, Jess Hart and
Tamar Kozlov-Blue at Blue Zula

The word zula, explains Tamar Kozlov-Blue, is an Israeli slang term, borrowed from the Bedouins. “You go anywhere in Israel or the Middle East, in the middle of the forest, and you see maybe a hammock hanging, or maybe a couple of chairs here and there—a place where people go and make a campfire, a sort of happy place. That’s what I want the place to be when people walk in, a zula.�

Kozlov-Blue is talking about the Blue Zula, the St-Henri loft that doubles as the home she has shared since September with her husband, the Israeli-born, globetrotting troubadour Nir Blue, and the charming, intimate and acoustically superior concert space that, on the first weekend of every second month, hosts performances by regulars Blue and Jess Hart, as well as special invitees.

In other words, it’s a space perfectly suited to those indecisive souls who, come the weekend, can’t choose between rolling out for a night on the town and enjoying the familiar comforts of home. The Blue Zula offers the best of both—varied music with quality sound, never to mention the company of a few dozen fun, funky creative types, in an inviting locale that’s BYOB (with a dépanneur just two blocks down), smoke-positive (an endangered species of hangout), comfortable, easy on the ears and full of character. Kozlov-Blue describes the vibe as “shanty-baba,� though she giggles that she’s not 100 per cent sure what it means, other than chill and fun.

The Blue Zula is tucked away at the end of a labyrinth of doorways, stairwells and twisting corridors in a former industrial complex turned loft/studio agglomeration, buzzing with artists of all stripes. The inspiration, in fact, came from another space in the same building, the Bread Factory, which, for a couple of years now, has hosted shows by Torngat, Bell Orchestre and so forth. December saw the first Blue Zula event, February the second.
Where everybody knows your name

The residential, artist-friendly character of the building, in which parties are okay if announcements are posted 48 hours in advance, and Blue Zula’s BYOB policy mean noise complaints leading to cops canning the whole affair just as it’s kicking off (the bane of any loft party) are thankfully not in the cards. Of course, it is in St-Henri, with all the good and bad that entails. “In the last year,� says Nir Blue, “I’ve noticed a lot of cool people around here. Still, there are a lot of dodgy people. That’s why we try to keep it not advertised, we won’t put up posters. I don’t want dodgy people coming here. Not interested.�

Attendee quality control is kept by the strict word-of-mouth publicity machine, which in this day and age means MySpace—if you want in on this Friday’s party, visit www.myspace.com/nirblue or www.myspace.com/jesshartmusic, shoot ’em a note and they’ll get back to you with the address and directions. Admission is by donation, ten bucks suggested.

Blue and Hart are the residents, musically, each performing a set at every Blue Zula party—according to Kozlov-Blue, “Whatever their genre is, it’s the same, a mix of grunge, rock, folk and jazz.� Blue helpfully adds the phrase “melodically correct� to the descriptive. After that, though, all bets are off. The parties have already seen sets by such diverse performers as raga-tronic fusioneer Xnorophis, a sitar player and studio owner, as well as a hip hop MC in the ICM crew’s Annakin Slayd, and burlesque babe Miss Sugarpuss. On hand for the party this Friday, April 6, is the band Sérotonique—“melancholic, bizarre, electronic but acoustic,� says Nir Blue, “very modern and cool.�

The Blue Zula crew pride themselves on providing a space as rewarding for the musicians as for the audience. Just ask Hart, who hardly knew the Blues when they first asked her to play. “The idea of it was so good,� she says, “I couldn’t turn it down. I showed up and didn’t quite know what to expect, and it was awesome.�

Hart doubles as the Blue Zula sound and recording tech, and that, along with documentary reporter Kozlov-Blue’s capable camera work, means that the shows can be preserved for posterity, on YouTube and eventually maybe a dedicated Web site, for promotional purposes and as mementos for what’s quickly becoming a regular crowd.

“We’re hoping to build a scene through our parties,� says Blue. “People can come here, they sit down, they relax—it’s not like you’re going out, you’re going to a home. Everybody here, eventually, knows each other.� - Montreal Mirror