Those instruments are worth a small fortune - all my belongings together did not even come close to the capital that those instruments and CDs together formed. After we made our appointment, they asked if I wanted to go out with them. They were going to give street concerts again that afternoon.
“Haha, just for a while!”, I said, because I didn't have anything to do at the moment.
They hadn't even been playing for 10 minutes when there were already a lot of people watching them. Very nice, but not much later the police followed. They immediately stopped the concert - to the dismay of the audience - and spoke to the musicians. Ivanhov played the fool. He acted exactly as if he couldn't speak English. He signaled for me to come. The cunning fox! With all his hands and feet, Ivanhov made it clear to the police that I was a friend of theirs. I indeed made myself known that way and started talking to the officer. The bottom line was that no players were allowed to play in the same place for longer than 30 minutes and that they were certainly not allowed to play without a permit. So they had to stop. I thought this had to be arranged. We better get rid of them immediately, otherwise they would have problems every 5 minutes. I explained as best I could what the officer had told me and suggested that I go straight to the administrative center to get that permit in order. We stored the instruments in my studio and headed downtown together. Once there, everything was sorted out quickly. They were allowed to play publicly, as long as it was “cultural” and “professional” used to be. That is not a problem for Ivanhov and his talented classical group. From then on they played everywhere. They had left. These chance encounters in Brussels, in one week, added so much richness to my life. The tone for what the coming years should look like had been set. My volunteer work at Brussels Jazz Club had started and it was as if the very nice introduction to the Russian musicians had guaranteed the good course of events. I started by addressing one person: a student at the conservatory. After a long conversation I was able to convince him to contact me with other students, in exchange for some stage time in Brussels Jazz Club. Ultimately I was allowed to enter the conservatory to hang posters. The phone was ringing off the hook. What a success! Charles, I and the rest of the non-profit organization had devised good marketing strategies. Charles did work for a company, as a European marketing manager, so he knew what he was doing. I learned so much from him. I also got to know him better and better as a person – he was hilarious! We often joked and made fun behind the counter, even during the concerts. Many people have turned around and said “shhh!” hissed at us. That may not have been very appropriate – but Charles Colin and I, we enjoyed ourselves. During that first summer at Brussels Jazz Club, I saw the Russian musicians grow so beautifully. Their license allowed them to further expand their relationships in Belgium and they did so well. They rented an apartment in Ostend and played on the sea wall. This was very successful!
Whenever I had time and energy, I followed them. They released me everywhere because I had helped them so much. I was proud of this, but even prouder of them. I had also put them in touch with Father Johan, who was already booking their concerts for the following year. So they would come back to Belgium, Ivanhov and his Concerto Grosso”! How nice. We knew that the farewell that was coming would not be forever. In October their academic year started again, they had to return to Russia. During their last Belgian evening we said an extensive farewell.
“I'm really going to miss you,” I said to Ivanhov.
“We love you too, Luc,” he said. We held each other.
“We actually have another question,” he continued.
“Okay, what?” I said.
“We provide everything: your plane, your food and your accommodation. Do you want New Year and Christmas with us come and celebrate, in Moscow?”
I got so emotional! What a beautiful surprise. Of course I said yes! That was a countdown to a wonderful trip, and hopefully a wonderful reunion. I also quickly learned that summer that the music world, like any other industry, is not all roses and sunshine – both professionally and personally.
Sometimes students who were going to perform misunderstood the situation: they thought that because Brussels Jazz Club is such a big club, they should not advertise their performance at all. Those who promoted with us almost always had full halls. Those who didn't
and people who thought that the people would come automatically often had much less turnout.
38.
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