Maja Alvanović, piano Ištvan Čik, drums
Ervin Malina, double bass Aleksandra Drobac, voice
DamirBačikin, trumpet GisleTorvik, guitar
Gabor Bunford, saxophone Uroš Šećerov, percussions
MAJAMISTY TRIO
”Supreme virtuosity and intense lyricism come together on Majamisty Trio’s Mistyland. Often melancholic, sometimes exuberant but always enchanting, this album has earned its place next to the best examples of European jazz.” (Hrayr Attarian, ALL ABOUT JAZZ)
In 2010, Maja Alvanović formed the unusual combo Majamisty TriO consisting of the following musicians: bass player Ervin Malina (Novi Sad) and drummer Ištvan Čik (Novi Sad), while Aleksandra Drobac (Novi Sad) occasionally “jumps in” as a guest vocalist.
Majamisty TriO seemed to be the most pleasant surprise during the dynamic domestic jazz festival season in 2010.
Their debut album ‘Mistyland’ earned them excellent reviews worldwide (ALLABOUT JAZZ, JAZZ TIMES…) and has already taken them to the most prestigious jazz festivals in Serbia like the Belgrade Jazz festival, the Novi Sad Jazz Festival, Nishville and many others.
Their new project ”Love” with ten tracks, all original, was recorded in May and June 2013 in Novi Sad and was released in October 2014 by Cosmic Sounds Records. Fresh and new in sound, this project also brings new collaborations and new guest musicians, Aleksandra Drobac, vocalist, Bunford Gabor, saxophone player and Uroš Šećerov, percussionist from Novi Sad, as well as international guests, Gisle Torvik, guitarist from Norway and Damir Bačikin, Serbian trumpet player who lives and works in Berlin.
LOVE, because it gives meaning to our lives and is never lost, even if we lose the people we love.
Maja Alvanović (1974), Belgrade, Serbia
“A musical alchemist, Alvanović, constructed a work of subtle elegance from western classical structures, jazz spontaneity and the complex rhythms of her native land. Often melancholic, sometimes exuberant but always enchanting.”(Hrayr Attarian – ALLABOUT JAZZ)
Pianist Maja Alvanović, the author of the music and the leader of the Majamisty Trio, teaches piano at the Art Academy of Novi Sad (Serbia), where she completed piano studies in the class of maestro Kemal Gekić, in 2000.
She has rich experience in performing with different chamber ensembles, instrumentalists and vocalists. Piano duo Majrina, with recorded CD album ‘Tangomania’ – tango nuevo compositions of Argentinean composer Pablo Ziegler, is also among her current projects. The turning point on her music path began with her exploration of Portuguese fado music within the ensemble Agora. It was a sort of ‘wind in the back’ for a more daring approach to improvisational, spontaneous, authorial way of music expression. Admiration for great music influences (Keith Jarreth, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Aziza Mustafa Zadeh…) and getting familiar with modern trends on the world jazz scene inspired her to present her own music to the public – the idea that waited for years to be realized.
Imbued with jazz since childhood, growing up beside her father, a double bass player, she began her own jazz biography under the artistic name Majamisty in 2011.
Ervin Malina(1981), Novi Sad, Serbia
“Malina is an extremely empathic player, his fluid and lyrical style enabling the creation of melodic lines as readily as he holds down the rhythmic heart of a tune”(Bruce Lindsay/ALLABOUT JAZZ)
Ervin Malina, double-bass, is a graduate of the Art Academy of Novi Sad (Serbia).
His ability to transform and identify with different music styles made him a valued member of a variety of ensembles on his musical journey. Great inventiveness and imagination align him with the most sought-after double bassists in Novi Sad, especially for performing improvised music, jazz.
He was a regular member of the “Vojvođanski Simfoničari” Orchestra, as well as of the former Novi Sad Chamber Orchestra. He is a member of many ensembles with which he has recorded a number of CD albums: the Earth Wheel Sky Band, Serboplov, the Mezei Szilard Trio and Quartet… the OSSA quartet, the MAKUZ Ensemble. He also cooperates with Jozef Nagy, B. Kovač, the Serbian National Theatre, and the Novi Novi Sad Theatre. With them he has performed at many concerts and festivals in Serbia, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Romania, Ukraine, Norway, Japan…
IštvanČik (1978), Novi Sad, Serbia
“Čik’s rock-influenced and inventive drumming on ”With You” stands in contrast to his band mates’ distinctly eastern tonalities, creating a unique whole”(Hrayr Attarian/ALLABOUT JAZZ).
Since his first appearance on the Jazz Scene of Novi Sad (Serbia) in 1995, Ištvan Čik has attracted attention by his prominent individuality and creativity, being predestined from the beginning for the music genre which expresses his personality and creativity the best way – jazz and other forms of improvisational music.
In his hands drums cease to be just a rhythmic instrument, he plays and shapes music melodiously.
Beside Majamisty TriO he has also been a member of a great number of music ensembles: the LADAABA Orchestra, the La Campanella quintet, the Mezei Szilard Trio, Quintet, Octet, Serboplov… With those ensembles he has a number of CD recordings published in Germany, England, Hungary, Canada, Portugal, Poland…
Another important cooperation is with the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad. He plays the drums in the modern ballet The Language of Walls and in the drama The Doll Ship, for which the music was composed by Darko Rundek.
Aleksandra Drobac (1973), Novi Sad, Serbia
”Drobac’s vocals add extra depth and color to the band’s overall sound.” (Bruce Lindsay /ALLABOUT JAZZ)
Aleksandra presents a unique phenomenon on the Serbian music scene because of her sophisticated sensibility. She explores different music genres (fado, jazz, evergreen, pop, etc.) and she brings authentic personal expression, originality of interpretation and splendid musicality in every melody created and sung.
The excellent reviews she received come mainly as the result of her performing with Agora ensemble at festivals like “Dani Evrope” in Novi Sad and “Mermer i zvuci” in Aranđelovac , where she introduced Portuguese fado music and the art of Madredeus group to Serbian audiences. The interaction and further work with pianist Maja Alvanović originally started from performing in Agora ensemble.
Aleksandra has also recorded various CD albums as a guest vocalist.
Damir Bačikin (1980), Zrenjanin, Serbia
Damir Bačikin graduated in 2008 from the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin (Hochschulefuer Musik ”HannsEisler”).
Bačikin is the composer, arranger and producer of the ensemble ”Damir Out Loud,” which was formed in 2012.
The ensemble won the Berlin Senate’s ”Studio Prize” (2012) to record their debut album ”Graduation Day.” It was selected as one of the Top 10 Albums of 2013 by ”Jazz Thing” magazine and received great reviews in Switzerland (”Kulturtipp Zurich”), Austria (”Concerto”), Germany (”Jazz Thing”, ”Deutschlandradiokultur”) and Serbia (”Politika”, Vojislav Pantić). The ensemble has been invited to perform in the concert series ”Jazz im MIM” at the Berlin Philharmonic in April 2015. Bačikin has been based in Berlin since 2005 and is active in the new music, improvised music and jazz music scenes.
Gisle Torvik (1974), Oslo, Norway
Gisle Torvik is considered as a one of Scandinavia’s most talented jazz guitarists, and is first and foremost known for his lyrical and melodic tones but also for his virtuoso expression. He works with all kinds of musical genres, and is not afraid of mixing them in his own releases. His latest release, Tranquil Fjord, has earned incredible reviews. Downbeat called the album exceptional, and music journalists all over the world described both his music and playing with a lot of superlatives. Torvik has also toured extensively both internationally as well as nationally. He has played concerts from solo format to big ensembles all over the world, and worked with great jazz artists such as Bendik Hofseth, Eddie Gomez, Paolo Vinaccia, Sigmund Groven, Emil Viklicky, Petter Wettre, Øystein Sevåg, Karl Seglem, and many more.
Gabor Bunford (1972), Subotica, Serbia
Graduated in clarinet and saxophone at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad.
He is one of the most prominent saxophonists in Serbia. During his career he cooperated with many famous musicians such as: Đorđe Balašević, Vlado Georgiev, Šaban Bajramović, Zdravko Čolić, Dejan Cukić, Dado Topić, Leb i sol, Dino Dvornik, Silvester Levay and many others. He was awarded the Dr. Ferenc Bodrogvari award, by the city of Subotica in 2010., for his contribution in educational work. He is a permanent member of Novi Sad Big Band, Novi Sad. Saxophone Quartet and also, he has been the art director of ”Jazzik” international Subotica jazz festival, since 2010. He currentlyworks at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad as professional assistant professor at the department of saxophone.
Uroš Šećerov (1956), Novi Sad, Serbia
Uroš Šećerov was born in Novi Kneževac.
Considering his musical family roots, he showed his interest in music at a very early age, so he founded his first band with his neighbourhood friends while he was still in primary school. His later musical experience was associated with famous Vojislav Brković (Voya Bee) with whose sextet he had his first concert in 1976 in Studio M of Radio Novi Sad, with Linda Sharock and Peter Ponger. Then his professional career started with the RTVNS Dance Orchestra, where he played for many years. He was a regular guest of the RTV Ljubljana and RTV Belgrade Big Bands and collaborated for many years with top musicians such as Bubiša Simić, Zvonimir Skerl, Milivoj Marković, Lazar Tošić, Mimo Mitrović, Slobodan Marković, Ratko Divjak, Petar Ugrin, Joža Privšek, Tone Janša…
Recognised as a talent by Ratko Divjak, who has been his greatest influence and whom he still plays with, Šećerov was invited to join the cult group Sončna pot – Lado Jakša and Dani Gančev, touring and recording with them their first and only vinyl.
He was invited by Vojislav Brković to perform as a guest with his group Medaya featuring Wolfang Reisinger and Beata Furer. Subsequently, he took part in recording several albums with him and played concert within the projects Jimmy Hendrix Reincarnation and Jimmy Hendrix Pure. His version Hay Joe was released on Sony Music. At that time he was working with Robert Riegler, Oliver Gattringer, and Laurinho Bandeira.
At about the same time, he started his collaboration with Mitar Subotić Suba – Rex Illusiivi, which began with creating the soundtrack for the TV series made by Suba’s father, Radomir Subotić. For the recorded music Mitar received a UNICEF award. Together with him, Milan Mladenović, Firchi, Švaba, Branka Parlić, and Deze Molnar he continued a collaboration which resulted in a host of recorded musical material which is kept in the fund of Radio Novi Sad. They recorded the cult song ‘Plava jutra’ authored by Suba.
A special chapter in his career belongs to the cooperation with Vlada Labat – Rovnjev, with whom he works on the affirmation of his musical sculptures from the very start. A very inspiring part of his musical development was the friendship with the remarkable Rudolf Tomšič in a trio formation. During his engagement in the RTVNS Dance Orchestra he had an opportunity to share the stage with the Hungarian jazz greats – Tony Lakatoš, Pege Aladar, Imre Kesegi… He had successful collaborations with Miša Blam, Stjepko Gut, Mikan Zlatković and Ratko Divjak in the YU Jazz Summit Quintet. At about the same time he worked with the legendary Boris Kovač, a brilliant musician and composer of refined sensibility. As a member of the YU Jazz-Rock Selection (Bončina, Ugrin, Divjak, Pop Asanović, Savin, Novak, Boček), he appeared at the BOOM Festival. After that, he was invited by two greats, Lale Kovačev i Voki Kostić, and started working with them on Lala’s project Balkanski izvorni jazz (The Balkan Original Jazz) i Balkan Impressions. He also played with the legends of the musical scene: Bora Roković, Vojin Mališ Draškoci, Vlatko Stefanovski, Goce Dimitrovski, the Feat Sejdić Orchestra, Paganke…
As an already established percussionist, he met the world legend Tony Scot, continuing to work intensively with him over the next two years. The work and friendship with him was a great experience and profiled Šećerov’s musical aesthetics. During all this time, Šećerov had constantly been working the aforementioned Big Bands. Working with Jovan Maljoković and his orchestra was an exceptional experience, as well as the collaboration with Vlada Maričić in his quartet with Bata Božanić and Dušan Ivanišević.
Šećerov took part in the formation of the YUpika Quintet with D. Ivanišević, I. Aleksijević, G. Bunford and I. Mađarić, and, in the three years that followed, they appeared at all jazz festivals. He worked with Aleksandar Dujin in all his formations, and in a trio with Aleksandar Kravić-Caki.
In 1996, with Dragoljub Djuričić and Lav Bratuša, he founded the band ‘Two Drums and Percussions’. The concept was unique, the performance furious, with only two drums, percussions and three musicians on the stage… Culmination, besides a European tour, was their 1999 concert in front of the full house of the Sava Centre. In 2013 the band reunited for a charity concert, now reinforced by Firchi (Ivan Fece). At about the same time he was a permanent member of Dejan Cukić’ band, touring with them.
Another important collaboration is with Kornelije Bata Kovač. He played on vinyl records of Ekatarina Velika and recorded Đorđe Balašević’ debut album.
His friends and members of the fantastic Cubismo, led by Hrvoje Rupčić, made him a great honour by inviting him as a guest for their first SRY appearance, in Podgorica’s Montanaro club – excellent musicians and great friends!
He played with the international legend, trumpet player Dusko Goykovich, and his All Star Big Band and recorded the CD ‘Handsfull o’ Soul’. His association with Brad Leali, Tomonao Hara, Peter King, Vito Giordano, Michael Lutzeier, Phil Abraham, Manuel Rocheman, Auwi Geyer, Butch Kellem, and Branko Pejaković dates back from that time.
His collaboration with Montenegrin composer and arranger Vladimir Maraš was very fruitful, resulting in two CDs ‘Letters from Montenegro’ and ‘Pod kamenom’.
With Kiki Lesendrić, Šećerov contributed on the recording of his friend’s comeback CD and played his concerts in Novi Sad and the Belgrade Arena.
In 2012 he started working with Ivan Grlić in his project ‘Serbian Jazz Bre!’, recording a CD with the band of the same name. This collaboration is still on-going.
In November 2013 Šećerov started working with the band Gyass founded by virtuoso brothers Kurina – Mišel, Ferenc and Lajoš, and featuring the accordionist of an exceptional sensibility Bojan Jovanović. For recording and concerts, the band was reinforced by the violin king – Roby Lakatoš. Playing with these top-class musicians was a new, unprecedented experience.
Šećerov has recorded over 40 vinyls and CDs in his career, and played at all relevant jazz festivals and recorded for all major labels. He has taken part in a number of TV and radio shows in our country and abroad.
In addition, he is active in his community: he is one of the founders of the Days of Jazz in Novi Sad, a member of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival Council since its establishment (1999), being the Festival Art Director for two-years; together with Milan Radulović, Ištvan Varga and his brother Miomir, he initiated and participated in the realisation of the New Year’s Eve celebration in the main city square in Novi Sad in 1997, which was adopted by almost all other cities and towns of our country. In 1997, together with Milan Radulović and Ištvan Varga, he initiated the formation of the ensemble Camerata Academica.
He is particularly proud of his long friendship with Ivan Fece – Firchi, who he is associated with not only musically. Namely, Šećerov took part in the procedure of registering Firchi’s snare patent, which is now used by almost all the major names of this instrument. Particularly important is the fact that Firchi has moved the entire production in Novi Sad and now the snares reach all the continents of the world from here.