Goran Bregovic

Goran Bregović – The Belly Button Of The World (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:01 minutes | 568 MB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Division Decca Records France

Musician, lyricist, arranger and producer Goran Bregović has established the genre “Balkan Music” on the map of world music. Unable to tour during the pandemic, like his colleagues, he took the opportunity to record an album of five works written for three solo violins, a symphony orchestra, a sextet of male voices and, of course, his Wedding and Funeral Band.

(more…)

Goran Bregovic – Three Letters From Sarajevo (Opus 1) (Deluxe) (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 42:08 minutes | 507 MB | Genre: World, Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Division Decca Records France

Goran Bregović pays tribute here to the city where he was born. The three letters from the title are missives of love and peace coming from the three religious communities that have constructed Sarajevo’s history. They are symbolized by violin instrumental intermissions, the instrument on which the musician learnt music. Mirjana Neskovic’s classic violin for the Christian letter, Gershon Leizerson’s Klezmer violin for the Jewish letter and Zied Zouari’s Eastern violin for the Muslim letter offer punctuations to an overall frenzied program. Brass instruments forward, sustained pace, Goran Bregovic’s faithful Weddings and Funerals Orchestra live the high life. Aboard, some colorful guests—also coming from the three monotheistic cultures—make the show. The Spanish Bebe, the Israeli Asaf Avidan and Riff Cohen, the French of Algerian descent Rachid Taha and the Serbo-Croatian Sifet and Mehmed each sing in their respective mother tongues. All of them have very distinct characters, a certain taste for insolence, rock music and joie de vivre, all typical of the world of Bregović, who manages once again to freshen up his work while remaining faithful to its spirit.

(more…)

Goran Bregovic – Three Letters From Sarajevo (Opus 1) (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:16 minutes | 441 MB | Genre: Folk, World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca

Goran Bregović rend ici hommage à la ville qui l’a vu naître. Les trois lettres de son titre sont des missives d’amour et de paix provenant des trois communautés religieuses qui ont fait l’histoire de Sarajevo. Elles sont symbolisées par des intermèdes instrumentaux joués au violon, qui fut l’instrument d’apprentissage du musicien. Le violon classique de Mirjana Neskovic pour la lettre chrétienne, le violon klezmer de Gershon Leizerson pour la lettre juive et le violon oriental de Zied Zouari pour la lettre musulmane offrent des ponctuations recueillies à un programme pour le reste endiablé. Cuivres en avant, rythmes soutenus, le fidèle Orchestre des Mariages et des Enterrements de Goran Bregovic mène grand train. A son bord, des invités hauts en couleurs, eux aussi issus des trois cultures monothéistes, font le spectacle. L’Espagnole Bébé, les Israéliens Asaf Avidan et Riff Cohen, le Français d’origine algérienne Rachid Taha et les Serbo-croates Sifet et Mehmed chantent chacun dans leur langue de naissance. Tous partagent des caractères tranchés, un certain goût pour l’insolence, le rock et la joie de vivre, caractéristiques indissociables de l’univers de Bregović, qui réussit une nouvelle fois à rafraîchir son œuvre tout en restant fidèle à son esprit.

(more…)