The Port of Life

»Welcome to The Port of Life.

The Port of Life is a harbor of hope, revival and a new birth. It’s a sonic experience based on a personal story and an honest confession of an immigrant on an unforgiving emotional path of acculturation.

The very first drafts of this music were sketched in January of 2011, when I left my hometown in Slovenia to pursue my dreams and find the happiness and inner fulfillment abroad, in New York City. Created through more than five year long difficult process, the music on this record represents the most honest reflection of my development as an artist and a human being in that period.«
Jean John

Offered a scholarship to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York following a workshop with the legendary Reggie Workman, percussionist Žan Tetičkovič alias Jean John has twice been awarded (2012 and 2014) the prestigious ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award for composition. In the 50-year history of the prize this has been achieved by only five Americans. He also was awarded the Downbeat magazine prize in 2014 in the “Outstanding Performance - Small Group” category for his debut album Balchemy with the eponymous New York ensemble, and the Jazzon Prize in Slovenia. He plays and composes with the best American and Slovenian jazz musicians.