MILAN STANISAVLJEVIĆ QUINTET
THE SERBIAN NATIONAL THEATRE, great hall, 8pm
Saturday, 16th November 2019
MILAN STANISAVLJEVIĆ QUINTET
Igor Matković, trumpet; Boštjan Simon, saxophone
Nikola Matošić, double bass; Predrag Milutinović, drums
Milan Stanisavljević, piano
O PROJEKTU
This international band (SLO / SRB) is led by pianist Milan Stanisavljević, who is presenting his new, third, original album entitled Eastern Star. Most of the band members completed their studies at the prestigious European jazz academies (Amsterdam, Linz, Graz). They have a number of projects and records behind them, and they are the leading instrumentalists on the Slovenian and Serbian jazz scene. The new album Eastern Star brings avant-garde and modern jazz primarily based on the traditional jazz idiom.
IGOR MATKOVIĆ
Born into a family where jazz records were played by his father, classical trumpet player, Igor grew to become a prolific jazz trumpeter and composer.
He completed his Master’s Degree at the University of Graz (Austria, in 2009). Travelling throughout Europe and America (particularly New York), he studied with celebrated trumpet players including Steve Gut, John Swana, Charles Toliver, Dave Rodgers and many others.
In the early stages of his career he was involved in various projects as a trumpeter, keyboard player and as a producer. As a session musician he has recorded over 30 albums in collaboration with different groups across a range of genres. He was a regular member of the European Movement Jazz Orchestra, releasing a record on the well-known Clean Feed™ label in 2011.
He has performed at numerous festivals both at home and abroad. These include the Cairo Jazz Festival (Egypt), Bundes Jazz Festival (Germany), Lent Festival (Slovenia), 50th Ljubljana Jazz Festival (Slovenia), Cerkno Jazz Festival (Slovenia), Jazz Club Porgy and Bess (Austria), Brussels Goethe Institute (Belgium), Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Portugal), Teatro Gil Vincente (Portugal), Casa da Musica (Portugal), Centro Cultural de Belem (Portugal, with Maria Joao), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Belgium), Konzerthaus (Germany) and Rome Goethe Institute (Italy), Jazz A Chelah Jazz Festival (Morocco).
In 2017 he performed at the China – CEEC project founded by the Chinese Jazz Association performing in Changzhou, China. In 2018 he was one of the mentors at the first China – CEEC Summer Jazz Camp at Jilin University of Arts in China.
His debut album Motion in Two Dimensions, recorded with pianist Marko Črnčec, was released in 2010. The compilation of well-known jazz standards was described as showing a comprehensive approach and mastery of the jazz tradition by international critics. His second album Sonic Motion, featuring his own original compositions, was released in 2012, with Vladimir Kostadinović on drums, Marko Črnčec on piano/Rhodes and Robert Jukič on bass. The album was very well received by the Slovenian public, and led Igor to explore a more atmospheric approach. Igor followed this approach on his album State of Ku that was released in 2017 by Radio – Television Slovenia. In 2019 he released his fourth album called Ephemeral Lake featuring acclaimed Polish piano player Marcin Wasilewski (ECM Records).
As of recent, composing music for television has become one of Igor’s new ways of engagement. In the last five years he has composed opening title tracks for two TV series (Mamin dan & Usodno vino) and the soundtrack for several seasons of TV series (Usodno vino & Reka ljubezni). He has also contributed his music for two documentary movies – Time to Improvise and Young Lions.
BOŠTJAN SIMON
Boštjan Simon first graduated in Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana (2006), and later in jazz saxophone at the University of Amsterdam (2009). Some of his mentors he has had an opportunity to collaborate with include: Mark Turner, Dick Oatts, Seamus Blake, Primož Fleischmann, Saša Nestorović, Peter Epstein, Jasper Blom and many others. He is very active as an author of music that ranges from jazz and electronic music to free improvisation. He has founded several bands such as: Trus!, There Be Monster, Vanilla Riot, Velkro and Etceteral. He also performs as a member of the Trieste-based big band called the Early Jazz Orchestra. He has collaborated with many, primarily Slovenian musicians and has been credited on over 20 CDs. He has performed at numerous festivals both in Slovenia and abroad.
NIKOLA MATOŠIĆ
Nikola Matošić was born in Ljubljana. He is among the leading jazz double bass players of the middle generation in Slovenia. His collaboration on numerous projects proves that he is one of the most sought-after jazz double bass players in Slovenia. He has recorded over a hundred albums with different bands, winning the Best Jazz Album 2012 in Croatia with Mira Kadoič’s project Free Point. In addition, he has performed on many European stages as well as outside the EU. He has played with well-known and distinguished jazz musicians such as: Deborah Brown, Rachel Gould, Herb Geller, Renato Chicco, Peter Mihelič, Howard Curtis, Doug Sides, Aaron Goldberg, Tony Lakatos, Vincent Herring, Don Menza, Doug Hammond, etc. He is a regular member of the Doug Hammond Trio and Quintet, with whom he performed at the famous North Sea Jazz Festival 2013 in the Netherlands. He has proven himself in other music genres as well through long-term collaborations with Zoran Predin, Otto Pestner, Svetlana Makarovič, the group Swingatan, etc.
PREDRAG MILUTINOVIĆ
Born on 28.03.1990 in Kragujevac, Predrag took private lessons in jazz drums with Prof. Dušan Ivanišević. He first got a taste of playing in a music band when he was 15, as a member of the Kragujevac music school’s Oktava group. Soon afterwards, he moved to Belgrade, where he started his collaboration with the funk band Rich Bitch. In Belgrade, he had an opportunity to meet a number of musicians from the jazz scene, establishing collaborations with them and performing in the jazz clubs Ptica and Čekaonica.
In 2012 he joined the Max Kochetov Quartet and the Vasil Hadžimanov Band, going on to record two albums with the latter: Can You Dig It 2012 and album Alive with American saxophone player David Binney in the late 2014. Alive found its place among the top 100 albums 2016 in the world, according to the American DownBeat magazine.
In 2013 Predrag cofounded the Qzama Quartet, recording the album Portrait in Black and White released in 2016. Music critics from Serbia and around the world gave the Qzama Quartet the title of the best young band in Serbia and wider.
In 2015, together with Petar Krstajić, he shared the Malta Jazz Festival stage with David Binney in a trio formation called Avenija.
In 2016 Predrag won the 2nd prize as the best instrumentalist at the international competition Best Musical Mind. He was awarded a trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil, where he attended the Brazilian Music workshop and successfully auditioned for the Berklee College of Music. With Luka Ignjatović and Boris Šainović, he founded the Schime Trio, resulting in the 2016 release of their first album under the Metropolis Records label entitled Do You Really Wanna Play?.
The appearance of the Schime Trio + One (Sava Miletić) at the Belgrade Jazz Festival 2016 caught the eye of the critics from the leading world jazz magazines Downbeat Magazine and All About Jazz, who put this band among the best at the Festival.
Recently, Predrag has been increasingly present on the Croatian and Slovenian scenes performing with musicians such as Tomaz Gajšt, Lenart Krečić, Luka Veselinović, and many others.
MILAN STANISAVLJEVIĆ
Milan Stanisavljević was born in Kragujevac. Having graduated from the Faculty of Music Arts (FMA) in Belgrade, he earned his Jazz Piano Master Degree at the University in Graz, studying with Professors Harald Neuwirth and Claus Raible. Attending a number of jazz workshops, he met jazz greats such as Billy Hart, Jerry Bergonzi, Geoffrey Keezer, George Colligan, Peter Herbolzheimer, John Abercromby, among others.
2011 saw the release of his debut album Awakening, which was met with critical acclaim on the jazz web site All About Jazz. His second album Soundquest was released under the Barnette Records label, led by the renowned American pianist Rob Bargad. He is currently preparing his third album with his original music entitled Eastern Star.
He has played in the quartet led by the renowned Serbian trumpet player Steve Gut. As a pianist for the academic KUG Big Band, Milan has collaborated with American trumpeter Derrick Gardnerom. He has also had numerous collaborations with London based jazz guitarist Femi Temowo, who spent a number of years as the music director of the famous British soul singer Amy Winehouse’s band.
He has worked with: Marko Đorđević, Jure Pukl, Adam Klemm, Krunoslav Levačić, the RTV Slovenia Big Band, the KUG Big Band, Ratko Divjak, Morten Ramsbol, Klemens Marktl, Christopher Auer, Anđelko Stupar, Milan Nikolić, Gašper Bertoncelj, Lenart Krečič, Jani Moder, Jadranka Juras, Jaka Kopač, Nina Strnad, Nikola Matošić, Robert Jukič, Igor Matkovič, Tomaž Gajšt, Kristijan Kranjčan…
Since 2012 he has been a jazz piano professor at the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory.
