Every Monday at around half past seven, a hum of anticipation fills the space of downtown burger joint Le Kock. Heroes of the Reykjavík jazz scene, MÍT students, tourists, and general music enthusiasts all grab a drink and cram into the booths for Mánudjass.
Mánudjass (Monday Jazz, in English) has staged hundreds of concerts since its inception in 2014, and has firmly established itself as a cornerstone of the Reykjavík jazz scene. Over the years, many venues have made space for the weekly session, including Bíó Paradís, Röntgen, Stúdentakjallarinn, Hressó, and Skuggabaldur. It found a home at Húrra for several years, though when that space faltered, so did Mánudjass. But in the first week of 2023, the team announced to their delighted Facebook group that Mánudjass would restart at Le Kock.
Sveinn Snorri Sverrisson is one of the organisers, and he’s quick to compliment the new venue. “The musicians feel at home,” he says, with a smile. Sveinn has also been helping Le Kock apply for grants to keep the night alive. “It takes money to keep these things going,” he says, noting that Le Kock dreams of adding a Thursday evening (Fimmtudjass, anyone?) to the regular Mondays. But it’s difficult to finance another night, having received a single grant of 500.000 ISK. “You can’t really do much with it,” says Sveinn. “But still, it helps.”
In a jam
One of the core tenets of Mánudjass is splitting the evening into an opening ensemble performance, followed by a jam session. Mánudjass is the only consistent jazz night in town that provides this staple of jazz experimentation.
Being able to provide a welcoming stage for learners, experienced players who want to try new things, or musicians returning to jazz after some time away is essential to the Mánudjass ethos. “Last Monday, we had a tourist come by and join in, in his mountain suit and boots,” says Sveinn. “It’s a melting pot, you could say, to have a jam session.”
A jazz masterclass
This air of acceptance also creates the space for whatever happens in the session to unfold. “I know for a fact that this is a place where you can come and just try new things out and just let loose,” says Sveinn. “You can goof around and mess around with ideas, and to be able to have that certain freedom — it’s a kind of inspiration.”
These jam sessions also provide a stage to up-and-coming jazz musicians, many of whom are students. “A lot of people who come are teachers, or at least mentors,” says Sveinn. “You can see it — they come to their students and talk them into playing, just getting the new musicians’ confidence up, and getting them up on stage.” Mánudjass is really the only spot in town to do that.
Protecting the future
The topic of places to play leads to a familiar conversation — the lack of small/mid-sized venues for new musicians to perform at. “With the number of young musicians that are getting their education, I think the future is really bright,” says Sveinn. “I just hope that we will have the foresight to help the venues give these artists a stage, for them to progress and introduce their music.”
The scene does have another hope: Bird, a new bar where Frederiksen Ale House used to be. It opened this past June, and is working to establish itself as an approachable music venue. The Reykjavík Jazz Festival hosted post-performance concerts at Bird this year, and welcomed students to the stage.
Sveinn also contends that music isn’t just for locals, listing it alongside nature and volcanoes as one of the top reasons people visit Iceland. “Music is a big reason we have tourists coming over,” he says. He smiles knowingly. “It’s a large part of what keeps us here. It’s not great weather, or cheap food. It’s something else. Icelanders will say literature is our greatest value of wealth, but I think music is becoming our greatest wealth today, and our musicians our best representatives abroad.”
Despite the fact that more venues are closing than are opening, Sveinn does feel confident about one thing: “Monday Jazz as an establishment is set, and that will continue in this form or another for the coming years. I think it’s a really, really significant part of the Icelandic jazz scene, and for musicians to grow and then to know each other and just to progress.”
Mánudjass happens every Monday at 19:30 at Le Kock on Tryggvagata.
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