The relationship between tradition and modern, “good old” times and contemporary approach to music – is the turning point of the whole present and future jazz scene. Is there a golden mean, a ground on which these two seemingly opposed tendencies meet and coexist?
The eleven-piece band of pianist and composer Vladimir Nikolov and drummer Srdjan Ivanović seems to be trying to provide an answer to this question. Two Balkan musicians of the younger generation with respectable foreign careers are the right choice for this kind of experiment. While Nikolov is prominent in his work with world orchestras and ensembles, active on film projects such as Oscar-winning “The Artist”, Ivanović is somewhat more active in smaller formations. The audience knows him as the leader of the band Blazin’ Quartet, presenting the original vision of joining modern European jazz with Balkan influences.
