Thursday, 16th November
The Serbian National Theatre
Dušan Jevtović, guitar
Asaf Sirkis, drums
Vasil Hadžimanov, keyboards
The inspired pairing of guitarist Dušan Jevtović and pianist Vasil Hadžimanov, mobilized by the convincing playing of Asaf Sirkis on drum kit, has resulted in a sound that cross-pollinates the most forward thinking aspects of progressive music with the excitement of post-jazz. Think ECM record label vibe filtered through Radiohead played at an intimate after-hours jazz venue and you’ll catch the vibe. Choosing to work without a bass player opens new dynamic possibilities and allows the guitar and keyboard voicing to dance and weave in a textural ballet. Vasil’s beautiful arpeggiated piano serves as delicate counterpoint to Dušan’s raw textured playing. Asaf alternates between the delicacy of Jon Christensen and the driving power of vintage Billy Cobham. Mini Moog bass brings a powerful bottom end for Jevtović’ soaring acrobatics and reinforces Sirkis’ driving grooves. As with the very best instrumental music, there is a lot of careful listening, creative comping, and building off the other players’ energy, resulting in a music that is at once confident, inspired and original. Dušan Jevtović’ second international release (his third) on the New York progressive jazz label MoonJune might be his groundbreaking work which will intrigue fans of guitarists such as John Abercrombie, John Frusciante, Terje Rypdal, David Torn, Nels Cline, and Jimi Hendrix.
DUŠAN JEVTOVIĆ, guitar
Born on 5th April 1977 in Kragujevac, Dušan Jevtović has been living in Barcelona since 2003. He started his musical education by listening to music on the radio – everything, ranging from American jazz through British hard rock to Serbian traditional folk music.
He took guitar lessons and attended masterclasses with the following musicians: Mike Stern, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jim Hal, Gary Willis, Horacio Fumero, Gabi Arrdebol, Jordi Bonell, Dave Mitchel, Francisco Paco Salas, Radomir Mihajlović Točak…
He has played in Serbia, Spain, France, Norway, Israel and Bosnia, and on tours in Spain, Jordan and Tunisia. He has established excellent collaborations with drummerXavi’ Reija and with singer Rafo PonsHe has travelled the world on a tour with Rim Banna, famous Arab singer.
He has a long and wide experience in performing, recording, teaching, theatre and musicals.
He has released three solo albums: On The Edge (2009, L’Indi, Spain), Am I Walking Wrong? (MoonJune, 2013, New York) No Answer (MoonJune, 2017, New York). The record house MoonJune specialises in jazz i jazz-rock music.
He has collaborated with a number of renowned international artists and musicians, such as Xavi Reija, Tony Levin, Gary Husband, Asaf Sirkis, Vasil Hadžimanov, Marko Đorđević, Bernat Hernandez, Markus Reuter, Rafa Pons, Rim Banna.
Dušan Jevtović is a great guitarist who can play both whispering and grinning and grilling hard. Together with drummer extraordinaire Asaf Sirkis and the phenomenal keyman Vasil Hadžimanov, who can perform miracles with Rhodes as well as Moog, he has again recorded a new album for MoonJune, the unusual label that keeps intelligent jazz rock from all over the world alive .( Moorsmagazine, Netherlands)
ASAF SIRKIS, drums
Born on 22nd March 1969 in Israel Asaf Sirikis has been living in London since 1999. He is known for his unique drumming and percussion style, as well as composing in jazz, rock and world music styles. He is one of the busiest European drummers, performing over 200 shows per year. He is also an educator.
He has recorded and performed with Tim Garland, Jacob Collier, Larry Coryell, Gwilym Simcock, John Abercrombie, Jeff Berlin, Kenny Wheeler, Gary Husband, Gilad Atzmon, Andy Sheppard, Bob Sheppard, Mark Egan, John Etheridge, Mark Wingfield, Nicolas Meier, Dwiki Dharmawan, Dewa Budjana, Kamal Musallam, David Binney, Billy Sherwood, Carles Benavent, Nguyên Lê, Jimmy Haslip, Beledo, Mauro Pagani, Soft Machine Legacyand many more.
Asaf Sirkis &The Inner Noisehave released three albums, as many as the Asaf Sirkis Trio, and he has released several albums of his original music and a number of albums with different musicians from Israel, London, etc. The album Shepherd’s Stories was voted one of the best albums in 2013 by the All About Jazz.
He has been studying Konnakol, the South Indian art of vocal percussion.
VASIL HADŽIMANOV, keyboards
Vasil Hadžimanov is Serbian pianist/ keyboardist based in Belgrade, and the son of two iconic pop singers from 60’s and 70’s, who are still active: Macedonian legend Zafir Hadžimanov, and Senka Velentalić. Alumni of the Berklee College of Music, Vasil has recorded and performed with Theodossi Spassov, Marko Djordjevic Dušan Jevtović,Toni Kitanovski, David Binney, Antonio Sanchez, Matt Garrison, Nigel Kennedy, Vlatko Stefanovski, and David Gilmore.