Pedro Negrescu, a jazzman in love with a cello

The yard of the "grandfather" in Buciumeni is filled with people who want to see and hear "Uncle Cuculea" sing. The mood is joyous and the instruments are put to test by the musicians.

Amongst scattered boxes, an agile and sensitive kid frantically searches through the piles wanting to discover all the secrets of music. Years have passed and today Pedro Negrescu (Aciocarlanoaei V. Petronius) remembers that period of his childhood with nostalgia.

Born in a family of philologists, Pedro fell in love with music early as a child, due to his grandfather and numerous relatives that were a sort of "musical clan" in the area. It's true, none of them had studies but they interpreted known tunes almost to the perfection, much to the delight of the assistance, that applauded them every time.

The sounds of the accordion, saxophone, cello and trumpet rose in young Pedro the taste for music and the taste for Jazz came almost certainly from the time spent in "Uncle Cuculea's" yard, where every night there was a "concert." When he was eight, his father brought him to Bucharest and entered him at the "George Enescu" High School, in the cello class.

The impact with the new environment was extremely painful. The school here resembled the army life. He was "stationed" in a 30-bed room, with rock-hard pillows, blue blankets that stank and lockers that didn't lock. All valuables disappeared in a blink of an eye. Rats ruled the halls and ate even the toothbrushes. Older students vented their anger and proved their might on the younger ones.

As he was the youngest, Pedro was a natural target. He had to wash dirty laundry, massage and clean for the older ones and they put water into his bed "to keep him cool." He doesn't even want to remember the fleas and the rashes. One night some of the older students that came drunk from the town wanted to have sex with him. He refused and they beat him to a pulp. Although he was only 11 he was elected for a "total talent" group and become the leader of the little high school orchestra.

He did not make it past the first exams though. He got admitted to an architecture high school and it is there that he had his first contact with rock music. After the high school he was drafted and he entered a military fanfare. There he got acquainted with the "althorn," "euphon" and "basflugelhornul," that he enjoyed playing.

His parents advised he should prepare for a theology school but he failed the exam and left home for Bucharest where he took a job on a construction yard, as a carpenter.

He continued playing with a folkloric band. He ended up at the Nottara Theatre as a dolly grip boy and prepared with Professor Gheorghiu, working days and studying nights. He finally got to the Conservatory, at the Musical Theatre - Directing section. He was latter transferred to the Jazz section led by pianist Mircea Tiberian.

Pedro Negrescu saw his dream come true. He felt that Jazz fitted him like a glove and he familiarised himself with the technique. In short time he was working with some of the most important Jazzmen in Romania: Dan Ionescu, Mircea Tiberian, Johnny Raducanu.

He participated to many concerts and festivals in Poland, Hungary, Austria, German, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Spain, he received a grant in Bad Goisern in Austria, where he met Larry Grenadier, drummer Billy Hard and sax player Rick Margitza.

He is the only Romanian proposed for a grant at the Mannes College of Music in New York, where, misfortunately, he never got, due to lack of funding. The same difficulties he had when Professor Sigi Busch proposed him for a Hochschule der Kunste grant in Berlin.

He worked with Swinging Europe (European Jazz Youth Orchestra), under the guidance of a renowned Danish jazzman Erik Maseholm, when he was elected to represent Romania at the tour they held in Europe. He also received 10.000 Danish crowns.

Pedro Negrescu recently returned from the Hanover Display 2000, where he concerted in the Romanian stand. He is now a student at the Haendel Academy in Karlsruhe and he participated to baroque music classes in Argentan - Normandie.

He still pursues his dream of becoming a director and considers that even though jazz in not enough it still remains his great love.