Here’s Skoča’s story about the Ring Ring festival and the performance of the Japanese quintet ONJQ, which closed the 29th edition of the festival at Karmakoma Club, on May 25, 2025. The text was originally posted on Skoča’s Facebook profile.
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You know those rare moments in life when you can literally feel yourself changing? There aren’t many, and that’s exactly why they’re so huge. One of those moments happened to me exactly around this time, 28 years ago. It felt like the doors to a whole new world had opened. I tiptoed in, quietly, like I wasn’t even supposed to be there, and started looking around. I didn’t understand much of what I saw, but I knew – just knew – that I loved it. And that it felt deeply, deeply mine.
It’s been almost three decades, and I’m still living in that world. I love it even more now, and thank God, I understand it a lot better. I don’t sneak around anymore – I sit comfortably in an armchair, smiling, watching younger folks stumble through the same door with wide eyes and confused hearts. Joni Mitchell captured that feeling in “The Circle Game”, and The Rolling Stones in “As Tears Go By”.
Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Chris Pitsiokos, guest at the Concert by Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
I was nineteen and didn’t know a damn thing about anything. But I loved music, deeply. I heard on the radio that some Japanese jazz band was coming to Belgrade, to some festival that had “new music” in its subtitle. When you’re nineteen, everything is new. I bought a ticket and headed to the “Rex” Cultural Centre, in Jevrejska Street. The band was called Ground Zero. After that concert, nothing in my life was ever the same.
There were ten or so musicians on stage, playing a mix of jazz, traditional Japanese music, avant-garde, and even some pop – but all done in a totally unique way. Their way. Capital T.
The horns were growling, the guitars were shrieking, the Japanese instruments were Japan-ing like mad, and my heart was pounding out of my chest.
Otomo Yoshihide, Concert ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Yoshigaki Yasuhiro, Concert ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
The band was led by guitarist Otomo Yoshihide. I walked into Rex one person, and came out someone else. Never before – or since – have I experienced anything like that. Words may be my favorite toys, but even I can’t find the right ones to describe what I felt that night.
That was my very first time at the “Ring Ring” festival. After that, I went every year. Late May at “Rex” became one of the most cherished traditions of my life. The green treetops lining Jevrejska Street always held a special meaning for me. I discovered so much amazing music and so many incredible bands there.
In this country, I never had any doubt about which festival was the festival. Exit? Please. Don’t make me laugh.
Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Ground Zero’s frontman, Otomo, kept coming back to “Ring Ring” over the years with different bands and collaborators. Seven times in total – I caught five of those shows. They were always great, but never quite like that first one in May ’97. And then, last night, came his seventh appearance – at the 29th edition of “Ring Ring”. So many years have passed since that life-altering concert, but last night, Otomo brought me closer to that feeling than ever before.
Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet closed this year’s “Ring Ring” at “Karmakoma”. He formed the group right after Ground Zero disbanded in the late ‘90s. If you’ve ever wondered what a musical version of an “orgasm” might sound like, you might’ve found your answer at last night’s show.
Silence. Noise. Gasping. Growling. Whimpering. Shattering. And melodies – dreamlike, soaked in the sweat of daily life – all of it filled the little club near the Danube.
Ruike Shinpei, Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Osamu Imagome, Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
We heard Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”, and also Jim O’Rourke’s “Eureka” – who’s been one of the biggest musical figures in my life for over 25 years. Both pieces were completely reimagined in Otomo’s gloriously warped style. I got chills all over my body. And when “Eureka” started, my friend – who had been with me at that Ground Zero show, and who had gone through the exact same transformation I did – just leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. We’re the same age, we both adore Jim, and we both became different people after that 1997 concert.
If I had to sum up last night’s performance in just one word, it would be emotion. When you tear up at a concert by a Japanese avant-garde jazz band… you know something big is happening.
I want to publicly thank Bojan Đorđević for creating “Ring Ring” nearly thirty years ago – a festival that brought tons of joy into my life, and continues to do so. For me, there simply isn’t a more important music festival in this poor, broken country.
Bojan Đorđević, Ring Ring 2025, Belgrade/Karmakoma (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Concert Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – ONJQ, Ring Ring 2025 (photo: Danko Strahinić)
Back in 1997, I was nineteen. If that Ground Zero concert had never happened, today I’d be 47. But it did happen. And among the million beautiful things it gave me, one of the most precious is this: it stopped time. So now, you’re reading the words of someone who’s far younger than 47. Only music can do that.
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LET’S RECAP THE PROGRAM OF THE 29TH “RING RING” FESTIVAL
Instead of the trio Schick/Håker Flaten/Steidle, on the third night of the 29th Ring Ring Festival – Sunday, May 25, 2025 – we will hear the duo Oliver Steidle & Chris Pitsiokos.
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Instead of the Balkan premiere of the trio Schick/Håker Flaten/Steidle, the third night of the 29th “Ring Ring” Festival will now open with a world premiere: the duo of Oliver Steidle (drums) and Chris Pitsiokos (saxophone).
These things happen… When you’re organizing a festival, you always have to be ready for risks and unpleasant surprises. Sometimes, unfortunately, a concert gets canceled at the last minute. But it’s extremely rare that the same artist cancels their performance two years in a row due to serious health issues. That’s exactly what happened with Ignaz Schick, who was supposed to perform at the 28th Ring Ring Festival in a trio with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Oliver Steidle. His health took a turn, so the concert was rescheduled for the 29th edition. And then – the same thing happened again.
We wish Ignaz Schick a swift and full recovery!
The “Ring Ring” Festival team quickly found a solution, with key advisory and logistical support from dear friends. We want to thank the brilliant Ring Ringers Marina Džukljev and Marko Prokić, who suggested we “try out” the duo of Oliver Steidle and Chris Pitsiokos. Big thanks also go to the Goethe-Institut for their great understanding and flexibility in this situation.
Saxophonist, composer, and improviser Chris Pitsiokos was born in New York in 1990 but has been living in Berlin for several years. Serbian audiences had the chance to hear him live at the 27th “Ring Ring” Festival – in a concert with Otomo Yoshihide, held at the Jewish Cultural Center on May 19, 2023. And, as coincidence would have it – at the 29th “Ring Ring” Festival, Pitsiokos and Yoshihide will once again share the same night, though in different formations.
See you for an evening filled with powerful free music energy!
The 29th edition of Belgrade’s one-of-a-kind festival of new and experimental music will take place from May 23 to 25, 2025, at Radio Belgrade’s Studio 6, the Jewish Cultural Center, and Karmakoma Club. Over the course of three adventurous musical evenings, audiences will hear artists and bands from Norway, Japan, Germany, Austria, Portugal, the Czech Republic, the USA, and Serbia.
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The longest-running festival of alternative, experimental, free-jazz, and improv music in Serbia, “Ring Ring”, has gone through various phases since its inception in 1996, evolving in different circumstances. At times, it boasted a lavish program lasting up to seven days, while at other moments, it took a more stripped-down form. However, regardless of the number of concerts, “Ring Ring” has always focused on high-quality, challenging, and diverse content.
This year’s 29th edition of “Ring Ring” will stay true to that spirit. Despite the challenging circumstances, the festival will be held in its usual May slot, bringing five concerts to delight fans of “different music”. Over three nights of concerts, taking place in three different venues in Belgrade, we will hear musicians from eight countries.
Alongside local favorites such as Otomo Yoshihide, Luís Vicente, and Marina Džukljev, the program will feature old acquaintances and fresh names from the world of top-tier improvised and innovative music, with a slight emphasis on free-jazz this year.
The festival opens with a Serbian-Austrian duo consisting of MARINA DŽUKLJEV (piano) and DIEB13 (turntables), two artists whose highly praised album “Štrudel” is the product of long-distance collaboration and a simultaneous performance from Novi Sad and Vienna in “COVID October” 2020. This performance, which is a Balkan premiere, is scheduled for Friday, May 23, at Studio 6, starting at 8:30 PM.
Entrance to this evening is free, with prior registration required via email: ringringfestival@gmail.com.
The second evening, Saturday, May 24, will take place at the iconic “Ring Ring” location, the Jewish Cultural Center “Oneg Shabbat”. Czech percussionist PAVEL FAJT, who last performed at “Ring Ring” in 2012 as a member of the Mie Zabelka Trio, will showcase the richness and excitement of his solo performance, presenting yet another Balkan premiere at the 29th edition of the festival.
The closing performance of the second evening will feature the world premiere of a Portuguese-American-Serbian quartet made up of: LUÍS VICENTE (trumpet), JOHN DIKEMAN (saxophone), BRANISLAV RADOJKOVIĆ (double bass), and ALEKSANDAR ŠKORIĆ (drums). This will be a free-jazz fireworks display from these prominent improvisers.
The third and final evening, Sunday, May 25, at Karmakoma Club, will begin with another Balkan premiere. The German-Norwegian acoustic trio consisting of IGNAZ SCHICK (saxophone), INGEBRIGT HÅKER FLATEN (double bass), and OLIVER STEIDLE (drums) brings together three legendary artists from the contemporary European jazz, improvised, and experimental music scene.
And finally, to close the 29th edition of “Ring Ring”, the festival will welcome true international stars to perform before the local audience, led by the legendary Japanese guitarist OTOMO YOSHIHIDE. Otomo has performed at the festival several times, and now he returns with his acclaimed Japanese quintet ONJQ (Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet), which has been promoting energetic free-jazz and experimental music since 1999.
This will be their first performance in Serbia, expected to be a powerful conclusion to another edition of “Ring Ring”, a festival celebrating new sounds, human creativity, and togetherness through music!
Tickets for the second evening (1,200 RSD) and the third evening (1,700 RSD) can be purchased through tickets.rs and by email: ringringfestival@gmail.com.
The festival is supported by: the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade, Goethe-Institut, the Czech Centre Belgrade, Radio Belgrade 3, the Jewish Cultural Center “Oneg Shabbat”, and “Karmakoma” Club. The organizer is the “Ring Ring” Association in collaboration with MICS.
May is the Ring Ring month! The 28th edition of the prestigious Belgrade festival of new, different, experimental music is ahead of us, and will be held from May 23 to 26, 2024, at the Jewish Cultural Center and Zappa Baza. The organizer of the festival, the Ring Ring Association, promises four exciting musical evenings and a total of seven diverse concerts featuring artists and bands from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, the USA, Turkey, and Serbia.
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Running an independent, alternative festival in Serbia is demanding and challenging work. Each year, you push that stone anew. Sometimes it seems that the uphill climb gets steeper with each passing year. On one hand, financial support is often undefined until the start of the festival, while there’s an increasing number of brilliant bands and musicians. They persistently apply and patiently wait. It appears as if they have more understanding of the situation than we do ourselves.
The program pieces of every “Ring Ring” are arranged according to the desire and necessity to introduce new and familiar names to the audience, both from the domestic and international scenes. However, there is, of course, too much phenomenal music on the planet for just one festival per year. But when that one festival arrives, and the audience fills the familiar space at Jevrejska 16, the organizers are simply ecstatic. And already then, they joyfully begin making a wish list for the next edition of the “Ring Ring” Festival.
The combination of debutants and artists known from previous festivals has reached one of its possible peaks this year. Thus, on the same evening, May 25, the legendary Dutch band The Ex, which has been around for 45 years, and the Istanbul-Belgrade TRIOBROK, which will soon celebrate its first anniversary, will perform.
The opening night, May 23, belongs to a long-awaited collaboration – the Belgrade band Fish in Oil has long admired Vienna’s, and our own Jelena Popržan, recognizable for her creative, alternative approach to instruments, voice, and composition. Their long-held dream comes true in full force this year.
Manja Ristić is another name in our festival program. For the first time, she performs at “Ring Ring”, to the great joy of organizers and audiences, bringing a completely fresh program. In the past few years, Manja, working from Korčula, distanced from all metropolises, has entered the circle of more significant sound explorers. On the same evening, May 24, we will hear another debutant of “Ring Ring”, performing in a solo performance: American experimenter Michael J. Schumacher brings his usual sound devices, including eight special speakers.
As it begins, the festival “Ring Ring 2024” will also end with concerts on the floor of the hall at the Jewish Cultural Center. On the last night, May 26, the Cologne trio C/W|N will perform, led by (again, our own) Dušica Cajlan, joined by the trio’s old acquaintance of festival audiences, Georg Wissel, and Dutch percussionist Etienne Nillesen. The last performance at this year’s festival belongs to the international Šalter Ensemble, which performed seven years ago in a slightly different lineup. In early May, they released a new album, “Tri dela”, on which the collective improvisation of this ten-member ensemble shows that for creative musicians, there are no obstacles to opening new collaborations and achieving an ever closer connection with the audience.
Tickets for the festival (individual and a festival pass) can be purchased via the Tickets.rs website, as well as through email at ringringfestival@gmail.com.
On their tour marking 45 years of work, the legendary Dutch punk group The Ex will perform in Belgrade at Zappa Baza on May 25, 2024, as part of the 28th Ring Ring Festival. The same evening, the Istanbul-Belgrade based TRIOBROK will also perform.
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The years and decades may pass, but The Ex never falter! The famous quartet from the Netherlands, highly respected in circles of unconventional, avant-garde punk music enthusiasts, celebrates its 45th birthday in 2024. This jubilee is marked by an impressive series of concerts in 45 countries, including their 2000th career concert held in the Netherlands at the beginning of March. This is their first tour since the pandemic.
The Ex exude inexhaustible energy and strength. Their concerts and tours boast an enviable intensity, while their discography remains highly dynamic. They are also known for their frequent, unusual, and diverse projects and collaborations, which span the realms of avant-garde, traditional, and improvised music.
Founded in 1979 in Amsterdam, The Ex began collaborating with jazz musicians and a Kurdish-Iraqi group in the early 1980s. Throughout the 1990s, these collaborations became more frequent and diverse, but perhaps their most famous phase of musical cross-pollination began in 2002 with Ethiopia. This culminated in a collaboration with the renowned saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria, with whom The Ex released two albums and performed over a hundred concerts.
As unwavering advocates of the “do it yourself” concept, The Ex have operated independently of record labels, managers, and roadies throughout the years, serving as a model for other progressive bands and musicians. They have released 28 albums on their label “Ex Records”, and from the outset of their career, they formalized their independent management activities under the name “Stichting Ex”. They have performed concerts across nearly all of Europe, as well as in the USA, Russia, Canada, and Ethiopia. In Belgrade, they have performed three times, with their last appearance in 2015, also at the “Ring Ring” festival.
The members of The Ex are: Terrie Hessels (guitar), Arnold de Boer (vocals, guitar), Andy Moor (guitar), and Katherina Bornefeld (drums, vocals).
The concert of The Ex at the 28th “Ring Ring” festival will be preceded by a performance from the Turkish-Serbian ensemble TRIOBROK, starting at 8:30 PM. This very young group, founded in 2023, is composed of esteemed and experienced musicians from the jazz, improvisational, and experimental music scenes: Ali Onur Olgun (tenor saxophone), Daniel Izmaylov (double bass, electric bass), and Atilla Ozan Keskin (drums).
Tickets for the entire evening, priced at 1800 dinars(balcony: 2500 RSD) in advance, can be purchased through the Tickets.rs website, as well as at their sales outlets.
The organizer of the “Ring Ring” festival is the Ring Ring Association, with the concert of The Ex also being organized in collaboration with the Connected Agency.
The twenty-seventh Ring Ring, an international festival of new music, was held in Belgrade, at the Jewish Cultural Center Oneg Shabbat and Studio 6 of Radio Belgrade, from May 17th to May 21st, 2023.
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For many years now, the Ring Ring festival has been starting preparations for its next edition even before the previous one has ended. It’s simple – there is a lot of good music and great musicians in the world, and since we can’t fit them all into one year, even if we had a huge budget at our disposal, it goes without saying that we’ll leave something for the next year. Or the one after that…
During the preparations for the 2022 festival, we came up with the idea that the focus of the next one, in 2023, should be on the youth, on the new generation of improvisers. Whether “youth” officially refers to those under 40 or 35 was one of the less important questions.
Already on the last day of the 26th festival, the performance was agreed upon by the ensemble that opened the 27th festival this year: the TiTiTi trio from Slovenia with Serbian pianist Marina Džukljev. Marina returned on the same day from Cerkno, where she performed for the first time with this trio at our fraternal festival (trio had previously performed at the Ciglana club in Belgrade a few days before, in front of us 12 enthusiasts in the audience).
As life often humorously dictates, it turned out that this first agreed concert happened precisely at the opening of this year’s festival, while the concert that closed the 27th Ring Ring – the trumpet duo of Leonel Kaplan and Franz Hautzinger – was the last one agreed upon, exactly three days before the start of the festival and just seven days before the concert took place! Yes, that’s also possible in Serbia.
But this is just a part of the story of the festival that has passionate followers among musicians, festival organizers, and also among those who support it, such as foreign cultural centres in Serbia, and increasingly local institutions that can financially support the festival.
What particularly satisfies us is that the audience is expanding. The venue at Jevrejska 16 has not been so full on festival evenings for a long time. This year, there were even ensembles completely unknown not only to our audience but also to the European audience, yet the ground floor of the hall was filled to the very entrance doors.
The excitement in the audience could be felt even at the announcement of the call for interested individuals to apply for the opening concert at Studio 6 of Radio Belgrade, where admission is free but due to limited seating, advance registration is required. It has never happened before that the registration process was halted so quickly… If it were possible, it seems that at least 50 more people would have come.
The reason for such increased interest is a special topic for study, but the festival with tradition has once again attracted audiences from Canada, Russia, Germany, Croatia, Italy… Additionally interesting is the fact that within just a month after the Ring Ring festival, three more events will take place in Serbia (two in Belgrade, one in Novi Sad), which will largely have a program that would suit our festival, with some of the artists having already performed at Ring Ring in previous years.
The tragedies that shook Serbia at the beginning of May left us all paralyzed. Tears, a lump in the throat… And the festival was supposed to start in less than two weeks. Despite all the difficulties, aware that there are people whose pain is immeasurably greater, cautiously and with a careful and unobtrusive campaign, we reached that opening on May 17th.
Radio Belgrade 3 has long been a place of freedom and new ideas, as well as an open space for collaboration. Since 2013, Ring Ring has been present in Studio 6 with its programs and concerts, in that special place for musicians and listeners/viewers. And when it comes to something the festival has been promoting from the very beginning – collaboration between local and foreign artists, and when that collaboration is so successful – it has provided us with new levels of enthusiasm for the rest of the festival.
From the second day, everything was moved to the location that both the audience and we, the organizers, love the most, because it is the true home of the Ring Ring festival – Jevrejska 16, now the Jewish Cultural Center Oneg Shabbat.
Even the change of sound engineer went smoothly, without delays or any complaints. When you hear the buzz from outside the building and when the hallway fills up with familiar and new faces patiently waiting to buy tickets, it’s clear that the audience knows well where and why they come. Not always knowing what kind of music will greet them, they come open-minded, full of trust.
On the second night, May 18th, the Austrian trio /kry took the stage, with only one album behind them and a small number of performances outside of Austria. Following them, the quartet named IRK Performing Reflection appeared on stage in the way the audience loves the most – acoustically, from the floor of the hall, in close contact with the audience.
The name of the band IRK Performing Reflection may not say much. Those willing to search the internet could find that the band is led by the young Croatian double bassist Ivar Roban Križić, who lives in Vienna, just like three-quarters of his bandmates. This year, Ivar had the opportunity to perform at three festivals, thanks to the EFFEA platform, which is intended to support and promote young European artists. In a broader context, the band performed at the Music Biennale in Zagreb in April, and after Ring Ring, they are scheduled to perform at the 80 Degrees festival – Laboratory for Innovative Art in Sofia in July.
For the Ring Ring Association, which organizes the festival of the same name, this was a great opportunity to participate in one more European project, as well as to collaborate with other major and significant festivals, and to meet new, young, extremely creative artists. One of them, trumpeter Nikola Vuković from Belgrade, has been hidden from our attention for years due to his studies in Graz and his jazz activities in Vienna. For both us and him, this was an opportunity to open up new possibilities for collaboration.
Joining the EFFEA platform and including the performance of IRK Performing Reflection in the program of the 27th Ring Ring festival may have been our venture of the year.
For the third evening, we knew it would be excellently attended, as one of the heroes of Ring Ring, Otomo Yoshihide, was coming to town. He has performed at the festival multiple times, and his concerts with the group Ground Zero (1997) and with Sachiko M and Toshimaru Nakamura (2000) are still talked about.
This time, in line with the main idea of this year’s festival, Otomo came with the young saxophonist and improviser Chris Pitsiokos, who lives and works in Berlin. Marina Džukljev drew our attention to Pitsiokos, as she increasingly spends time in Berlin, where she plays and records with local musicians, as well as one our “special advisor” from Berlin, who regularly attends concerts of this “ringring” kind of music.
We knew that the second concert of that evening, on May 19th, would meet the high expectations of the local audience. However, uncertainty regarding the first concert was sparked by the “Serbia Against Violence” protest, which gathered 60,000 people in Belgrade during the afternoon. There was concern that not everyone would be able to make it to the start of the evening after the protest, for the performance of Jesper Nordberg Trio. This ensemble had never performed outside of Sweden and Denmark before, and its two younger members were somewhat known to Serbian audience only through collaborations with some of our Roma musicians.
Despite everything, the hall was packed to the brim, and the great reaction of the audience carried the trio, whose debut album was released just two days before the performance, making their concert at Ring Ring their first opportunity for promotion.
Then came the expected auditory and visual assault – Pitsiokos and Yoshihide. It’s exciting to listen to them, but also to observe all the possible ways they produce sounds. Yoshihide on turntables / we haven’t seen that in Belgrade for 23 years! “Ring Ring style”…
Although ticket presales suggested that Saturday would be the least attended day, it turned out to be just a trick. Because the Ring Ring audience eagerly comes, often buying tickets on the spot. Moreover, each successful previous evening enhances the desire of attendees to come to the next concert.
One of the ideas that has guided us from the very beginning is supporting local musicians, promoting the local scene, as well as collaborating with other local projects, initiatives, and organizations. One such project, which has existed for several years and is mostly associated with the Ciglana club, is Muzika iz unutrašnjosti. This open project/band/initiative, led by Bratislav Radovanović and Branislav Radojković, both regular attendees of the Ring Ring festival, deserved an invitation, not only for their musical quality but also for their perseverance and enthusiasm to create a broader base for the further development of the contemporary and improvised music scene in Serbia through collaboration with local musicians.
Further strengthened by Ring Ring veteran, Aleksandar “Aca” Škorić, whose European reputation far surpasses his status in his homeland, Muzika iz unutrašnjosti attracted a large number of fans, friends, and curious individuals on the penultimate evening of Ring Ring, May 20th, who wanted to discover what lay behind such an unusual name. What they found was a furious free jazz energy, with heart and soul on the plate. The sextet sounded hot to the point of sizzling, with excitement in the audience. Viktor Kiš, a visual artist from Belgrade, joined in with a transistor, walking through scales and sounds.
Then, in the middle of the hall, Thomas Lehn and Marcus Schmickler set up their synthesizers. The audience settled right next to them, quickly forming improvised concentric circles, and the quadraphonic sound setup added an extra attraction.
Interestingly, Lehn had only played on stage once before – with the Konk Pack trio in 2002 – and every subsequent time (there were three so far), he always played on the floor of the same hall.
The atmosphere in the lobby and outside the building was once again reminiscent of the years before Ring Ring’s temporary relocation to the Student Cultural Center (SKC): concerts, basketball, protests were being discussed, memories of previous festivals were being evoked, and CDs were being bought…
When it comes to merchandise, the largest merchandise booth ever at the festival was hosted by PoiL Ueda on the last night of the 27th edition, on May 21st. CDs, vinyl records, T-shirts, souvenirs – a true professional approach. Sales corresponded accordingly. However, there wouldn’t have been such extensive sales if the concert hadn’t been phenomenal. The incredible combination of the French alternative rock band and Japanese oral tradition was very attractive. Following their successful performance at WOMEX last year, this quintet has performed at several festivals on two continents during the 2023 tour so far.
And then, finally, there was the concert that had been labelled as a “Last Minute concert” just three days before the start of the festival. When you don’t know the budget until the beginning of the festival, organization can seem like alchemy. But we’ve been in this business for several decades… Ideas are never enough, and neither are great musicians. Especially those who want to perform at the festival. Franz Hautzinger had expressed a desire several months earlier to perform in Belgrade in the year he celebrates his 60th birthday. Surely, he didn’t expect our invitation to look like this:
(Sunday, May 14th, 2023)
“Hello Franz, are you available to perform at the festival next Sunday? We are unsure about the budget, but we’re hoping to have you play alongside Leonel Kaplan, the Argentinian trumpet player who lives here. You met him before, but you two haven’t played together yet, right?”
After a few minutes, enough to check his calendar, Franz replied: “Yes, I am coming! Can you fly me the day before?”
And so it was agreed. We had a world premiere for the festival closing, with two outstanding musicians. Spending time with them the previous evening was wonderful, and the concert… Or was it a performing act? Again, acoustic and again in the middle of the hall. What a way to end the festival!
Dj Click, nicknamed “Dj SUV” or “General” is a restless explorer of global rhythms, from Indian tablas in Rajasthan to gypsy music around Bucharest, Gnawa lilas in Essaouira, and fiestas gitanas in Sevilla.
Whether solo or with his musicians, he creates feverish, captivating performances for audiences everywhere. Pioneer of the Global Bass scene and founder of the No Fridge label, he has produced over 40 albums with artists including Rona Hartner, Gnawa Njoum Experience, Hamadcha de Fés, and Masha Natanson.
He has also collaborated or remixed Manu Chao, Watcha Clan, Mahala Raï Banda, Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan, Rachid Taha, and many others.
Traveling the world with his turntables and mobile studio, Dj Click continuously explores, records, and invents new musical encounters, moving audiences beyond borders.
DJ Click is coming to Serbia for the fifth time. His performance will take place on September 28 in Belgrade, at Karmakoma Club, during the 13th “Todo Mundo Festival”.
Previously, he has performed in Serbia at “Exit” in Novi Sad (2007, 2008), in Guča (2009), and at “Kustendorf” (2021).
DJ Click’s concert in Belgrade is made possible with the support of the French Institute in Serbia.
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LINE-UP
DJ Click: DJ controller, turntables, theremin, Jew’s harp
Nasip Kısmet fuses Anatolian lyrical poetry with the eclectic rhythms of ethnic jazz, fusion, and psychedelic folk, connecting with audiences on a deeply spiritual level.
Formed in 2019 by Arif Erdem Ocak, founder and guitarist of the famed Turkish band Seksendört, the ensemble includes Dávid Szegő on drums, Dániel Mester on saxophone and clarinet, Márton Eged on bass, and Derya Ocak on backing vocals.
Their first 3-song EP (Nasip Kısmet, 2021) quickly built a devoted following, leading to performances at major Budapest venues and festivals. In April 2022, they released their LP “Live at SuperSize Recording” (Hunnia Records).
The band’s name, meaning “fate” in Turkish, reflects their philosophy of surrendering to life’s currents. Even when listeners don’t understand Turkish, the emotive vocals, percussive guitar, and intricate instrumentation resonate universally, creating a powerful musical journey that transcends borders.
Nasip Kısmet is coming to Serbia for the first time. Their debut performance in our country will take place on September 28 in Belgrade, at Karmakoma Club, during the 13th “Todo Mundo Festival”.
Their concert in Belgrade is made possible with the support of the Collegium Hungaricum Beograd.
Founded in 2015 in Groningen, the Netherlands, the AVA Trio – Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone saxophone and wind instruments, Esat Ekincioglu on double bass, and Pino Basile on frame drums and cupaphon – explores the rich sonic landscapes of the Mediterranean.
Combining jazz, improvisation, and maqam music, they have developed a unique style they call “Mediterranean Avantgarde”.
With four critically acclaimed albums and over 160 performances in 17 countries, the trio continues their archaeo-musicological research into Mediterranean civilizations. Their performances reflect a timeless musical journey that transcends borders, blending virtuosity, improvisation, and cultural dialogue.
In September 2025, they bring their music to the Balkans, performing alongside Aron Horvath in Budapest, Zagreb, and Ljubljana, followed by shows in Bihać, Lukavac, and culminating at the “Todo Mundo Festival” in Belgrade, before heading to Istanbul.
AVA Trio is coming to Serbia for the first time. Their debut performance in our country will take place on September 27 in Belgrade, at Czech Center, during the 13th “Todo Mundo Festival”.
Esat Ekincioglu from the AVA Trio has previously been to Serbia, performing at Studio 6 of Radio Belgrade and at the “Pančevo Jazz Festival” with the band Kuhn Fu.
AVA Trio concert is made possible with the support of the Sounds of Europe project.
Tomáš Kočko & ORCHESTR deliver a world of acoustic energy, blending traditional, pagan, and folk influences with virtuosic instrumentation and unforgettable voices. Their concerts bring timeless stories and a powerful acoustic experience to audiences everywhere.
Hailing from the heart of Moravia, their music carries the weight of ancient traditions, expressed through guitars, violin, dulcimer, recorders, percussion, and other folk instruments, creating a raw and natural sound enriched with elements of rock, metal, and jazz.
Critically acclaimed as the “Moravian Jethro Tull” or “Moravian Chieftains”, they have won the ANDEL Award in 2006 and 2012, and their albums “Poplor”, “Velesu”, and “Ona” have achieved high rankings on European World Music Charts.
The orchestra has toured widely across Europe, performing at the European Broadcasting Union Folk Festival in Cork, Rock for People and Colours of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, Nowa Tradycja and Ethnosfera in Poland, Viljandi Folk Festival in Estonia, Heritage World Music Festival in Hungary, Halkaer in Denmark, Harvest in Russia, Le Village Européen des Nouvelles Musiques Traditionnelles in France, Waidhofen an der Thaya in Austria, and the United Islands of Prague.
Tomáš Kočko & ORCHESTR is coming to Serbia for the first time. Their debut performance in our country will take place on September 27 in Belgrade, at Czech Center, during the 13th “Todo Mundo Festival”.
Their concert is made possible with the support of the Czech Center in Belgrade and Ministry of Culture Czech Republic.
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LINE-UP
Tomáš Kočko: lead vocals, guitars, mandoline
Helena Vyvozilová: recorders, quinton, dulcimer, vocals
Jakob Steinkellner, born in 1995 in Linz, discovered his passion for music at six. He began on accordion and later focused on the Styrian harmonica. At 14, he entered the Anton Bruckner Private University while finishing secondary school. He earned dual Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Performance, graduating with distinction, and completed a Master’s with highest honors.
Steinkellner teaches at the Upper Austrian Music School System and has lectured internationally in Peru, Vietnam, Japan, Tunisia, and the Philippines. In addition, he is focused on making music with people with disabilities.
Since 2017, he has endorsed Landerer harmonicas and serves as deputy chairman of the Harmonica Association of Upper Austria.
Between 2023 – 2025, he performed over 200 concerts in more than 30 countries worldwide.
He has received awards including the Cultural Promotion Award (2020), EXTRA funding (2021), NASOM selection (2023), and the Rotary Music Award (2024).
Jakob Steinkellner is coming to Serbia for the first time. His debut performance in our country will take place on September 25 in Belgrade, at Ložionica, during the 13th Todo Mundo Festival.
Jakob Steinkellner’s concert is made possible with the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade.
Tamala’s third album, “Diboli”, marks the quartet’s new formation with harmonica player Olivier Vander Bauwede. Named after a border town between Senegal and Mali, the album honors West Africa’s musical heritage and ancestral support.
Tamala, meaning “travelers”, explores blending kora, violin, harmonica, and voice. Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist Mola Sylla plays and makes traditional West African instruments. Violinist Wouter Vandenabeele adds a European touch, while Olivier Vander Bauwede brings bluesy harmonica tones. Kora virtuoso Bao Sissoko, a griot descendant, contributes rhythm, solos, and composition.
Guided by tradition and innovation, Tamala performs globally, supporting Senegalese education and earning the nickname “ambassadors of CEPPE”, combining versatility, spiritual depth, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Tamala is coming to Serbia for the first time. Their debut performance in our country will take place on September 25 in Belgrade, at Ložionica, during the 13th Todo Mundo Festival.
Mola Sylla himself performed at the “Ring Ring Festival” in Belgrade in 2002 with the group Vershki da Koreshki.
The Tamala quartet concert is made possible with the support of the UpBeat platform.
You can also order tickets by email: todomundofestival@gmail.com.
. . .
September 25
Jakob Steinkellner / Tamala
September 27
AVA Trio / Tomáš Kočko & ORCHESTR
September 28
Nasip Kısmet / DJ Click
OLIVER STEIDLE & CHRIS PITSIOKOS
(Germany)
The duo features two well-known figures of the contemporary European jazz, improvised, and experimental music scenes.
Oliver Steidle (drums) and Chris Pitsiokos (alto saxophone) know each other well and have extensive experience performing together – for example, in Oliver’s quartet Rokc Music.
However, this will be their first time performing as a duo, making their concert at the 29th “Ring Ring” Festival a world premiere!
Berlin-based saxophonist, composer, and improviser Chris Pitsiokos (1990), originally from Brooklyn, composes music as a framework that enables performers to express their own aesthetic vision and creativity without subordination. In this way, his compositional approach challenges the traditional role of the composer as the dominant or sole decision-maker who pre-defines the musical flow. “Rolling Stone” magazine praised Pitsiokos for his surprisingly original vision and astonishing speed on the saxophone.
Oliver Steidle (1975) is one of Germany’s most innovative jazz drummers, known for his virtuosic, polyrhythmic playing and wide stylistic range. With roots in both jazz and hardcore punk, he first played piano before switching to drums at age 11. After experience in garage rock bands and jazz orchestras, he studied in Nuremberg and went on to become a key figure in Berlin’s jazz scene. He co-founded the bands Klima Kalima and Der Rote Bereich, both recipients of the “German Jazz Prize”. Steidle’s versatility is reflected in his many projects – from avant-garde trios to large ensembles – and collaborations with a variety of musicians. A regular presence at festivals worldwide, he continues to push the boundaries of contemporary musical expression.
This premiere duo performance of Oliver Steidle and Chris Pitsiokos is presented in place of the canceled concert by the trio Schick/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Steidle.
The concert by the Oliver Steidle & Chris Pitsiokos duo was supported by the Goethe-Institut in Belgrade.
These four well-known and experienced improvisers will perform together on stagefor the first time. Although their paths have crossed many times – and they have played in various combinations of duos and trios – the “Ring Ring” Festival has brought them together for this unique new collaboration.
Luís Vicente is a Portuguese trumpet player based in Lisbon. A highly active musician, he performs in numerous ensembles with a variety of approaches – from fully improvised to composed music – always maintaining a deep sense of freedom, which remains central to his artistic identity. He has performed at dozens of venues and festivals across Europe and North America, and his long list of collaborators speaks to his versatility. He also leads his own trio and quartet, performing original compositions.
John Dikeman is an American saxophonist currently based in Belgium. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, his playing spans the full spectrum of improvised music and technique. He is an active member of numerous ensembles, including a trio with William Parker and Hamid Drake, a duo with Steve Noble, collaborations with Dirk Serries, and projects with Jasper Stadhouders, Joe McPhee, Luís Vicente, Alexander Hawkins, Roger Turner, Aleksandar Škorić, among many others.
One of the local heroes is Aleksandar Škorić, a drummer known for his intense yet nuanced performances with the Charles Gayle Trio, Akira Sakata & Entasis, Muzika iz unutrašnjosti, and numerous spontaneous collaborations throughout Europe.
Also featured is Branislav Radojković, a bassist from the Serbian bands Fish in Oil, Naked, and Muzika iz unutrašnjosti. He has performed on four continents and collaborated with artists such as Marc Ribot, Monika Lakatos, Jelena Popržan, Matthew Ostrowski, and George Cremaschi.
The duo of Serbian pianist Marina Džukljev (1983) and Austrian artist Dieter Kovačič (1973), known as dieb13, who works with turntables and computer, began during the COVID era, in October 2020. In line with the circumstances at the time, their collaboration took the form of remote sessions – dieb13 based in Vienna, and Marina in Novi Sad.
Their partnership evolved into a remote live concert streamed on YouTube on November 11. Both the performance and the collaboration were part of the artistic residency program NOISM, organized by kuda.org, aimed at developing new artistic productions in the field of improvisation.
Thanks to the recording sessions in October 2020, material was created for the acclaimed album “Štrudel”, released in April 2021 on the “Tak-ta-t” label. The album features a single continuous piece lasting nearly 43 minutes, presenting a wide spectrum of improvisations, dynamic contrasts, and rich sonic textures.
The duo’s first and so far only live performance took place in Vienna, at Echoraum, in June 2024. Their concert at the opening of the 29th “Ring Ring” Festival is not only their Balkan premiere, but also a rare opportunity to witness in person the perfect synergy between two highly creative minds working within improvisation, minimalism, repetition, and free jazz.
Marina Džukljev, throughout her extensive career as a pianist and pedagogue, has been merging the worlds of classical, contemporary composed, applied, and improvised music. She has collaborated with numerous (primarily European) musicians over the years.
Dieb13 has been a prominent name in the electroacoustic improvisation scene since the early 2000s, known for his work with improvisers such as Mats Gustafsson, Phil Minton, John Butcher, and Ken Vandermark.
The concert by Marina and Dieter is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade and Radio Belgrade 3.
Pavel Fajt (1957) is a drummer, composer, and producer, and one of the key figures in the Czech and European experimental and improvised music scene. His extensive career includes collaborations with numerous international musicians such as Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Anna Homler, and many others, as well as performances at prestigious festivals across Europe, the Americas, and Canada.
Fajt is also known as the co-founder of the cult bands Dunaj and Pluto, the leader of the international drumming project Slet bubeníků, and a member of several creative formations including Autopilote and the Mia Zabelka Trio. As part of the duo Bittová & Fajt, he left a lasting mark on the music scene of former Czechoslovakia and beyond—their self-titled album was voted one of the best LPs of the decade by “Rock & Pop” magazine.
He is the author of music for numerous theatre and film projects (“Hamlet: Neúplný sen”, “Don Quixote”, “Macbeth”), and was nominated for the prestigious “Alfred Radok” Award for his work. Fajt is also active as an educator, heading the audio department at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno, and collaborates with writer Václav Cílek on music-literature projects.
Pavel Fajt has previously performed at the “Ring Ring” festival, most recently in 2012 with the Mia Zabelka Trio. This time, he will present his solo project – a Balkan premiere!
This performance is supported by the Czech Centre in Belgrade.
Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet (ONJQ) is a Japanese free jazz/experimental ensemble led by a composer, sound producer, turntablist and guitarist Otomo Yoshihide.
What John Zorn means to the New York scene, Otomo Yoshihide means to the Japanese. Like an iconoclast, Otomo tackled the jazz repertoire, always with untold respect, virtuosity and skill. After more than 100 releases, including eight with his New Jazz Quintet, Otomo continues to search for a captivating balance between melodic structures and intense moments of improvisation.
ONJQ toured across Europe in January/February 2024 with 15 concerts in 8 countries – it was a successfull, almost completely sold out tour. Seeing Otomo live with his quintet or any other projects is an absolutely unique experience!
Jelena Popržan is a charismatic and vocally expressive violist, singer, and sound artist from Serbia, who has brought fresh vitality to the Austrian music scene through projects like Catch-Pop String-Strong, Sormeh, and Madame Baheux. Among her newest projects, alongside her acclaimed solo program “La Folia”, is the JELENA POPRŽAN QUARTETT, a venture she’s been nurturing since its concert debut at the “Glatt & Verkehrt” festival in Krems in 2021.
The quartet is formed by three renowned figures from the Austrian jazz scene: Christoph Pepe Auer, Clemens Sainitzer, and Lina Neuner.
Jelena discovered the poems of Polish-Viennese poet Tamar Radzyner (1927 – 1991) in a publication by the “Theodor Kramer Society”, which deeply moved her. Radzyner, a Polish Jew who survived the Shoah and participated in armed resistance, later found a home in Vienna and in the German language. She worked with figures like Georg Kreisler and Topsy Küppers. Her poetry, marked by a blend of wry humor and bittersweet pessimism, left a lasting impression on Jelena.
In tribute, Jelena has crafted a song cycle as a musical homage to Radzyner. However, the majority of the program is dedicated to Jelena’s brand-new instrumental compositions, which feature rich sonic imagery and melodic storytelling.
In September 2022, the Jelena Popržan Quartett released their self-titled debut album.
Jelena Popržan Quartett’s concert at the “Pocket Globe” Festival will mark their debut performance in Serbia!
This event is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum in Belgrade.
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POSTAVA KONCERTA
Jelena Popržan: viola, voice
Lina Neuner: double bass
Clemens Sainitzer: violoncello
Richie Winkler: clarinet, alt saxophone
🔗 LINKS
Jelena Popržan: Website ǀ Jelena Popržan: Facebook ǀ Album “Jelena Popržan Quartett”: Bandcamp
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TEIJA NIKU
(Finland)
Teija Niku (photo: Antti Kokkola)
TEIJA NIKU is a Finnish accordionist, known for her expertise in Nordic and Balkan folk music. She has been described as a composer with an excellent sense of melody, as well as an inventive arranger, and her lyrical style of playing the accordion transcends technical accomplishment or pose.
In the summer of 2019, Ääniä Records released Niku’s third solo album “Hetkessä”, which features the artist in a truly solo performance. The wide range of registers, as well as the dynamic and technical possibilities of the accordion, combined with in-the-moment improvisations, form the foundation of the music, which is entirely composed, arranged, and recorded by Niku herself. Hetkessä received glowing reviews and airplay across Europe.
Since 2022, Niku has been working on new music, supported by a three-year artist grant awarded by the National Council for Music in Finland.
Teija Niku’s performance at the “Pocket Globe” festival marks her debut concert in Serbia!
This concert is supported by the Sounds of Europe project.
MANIUCHA & KSAWERY is a duo that uniquely combines jazz improvisation with the traditional, endangered songs of the Polissya region in Ukraine. In their compositions, they evoke spring, wedding, and love songs, as well as lullabies, weaving them into narratives that trace the cycles of nature and human life. Their music tells tales that cross eras and genres, drawing from Maniucha’s years of traveling to meet Ukrainian village singers, along with their shared musical imagination.
In their concerts, they not only sing and play but also share the stories and folklore connected to their repertoire.
Maniucha Bikont is a vocalist, musician, and anthropologist who has conducted numerous field recordings in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. She is a member of various music and theater groups dedicated to traditional music, rituals, improvisation, and unconventional vocal techniques. She sings and plays the tuba with Tęgie Chłopy and collaborates with groups like Janusz Prusinowski Kompania, along with jazz and avant-garde musicians.
Ksawery Wójciński is a double bass player and composer, known for his broad musical sensitivity and adventurous experimentation. His range spans early music to sophisticated contemporary improvised music, and he has collaborated with musicians like Charles Gayle, Satoko Fuji, Ken Vandermark, and Mats Gustafsson.
The album “Oj borom, borom…” (2017) by Maniucha & Ksawery is a layered narrative rooted in ancient songs from Western Polissya. Traditional songs, tales, and fairy tales are the starting point for a dialogue of voice and double bass, which serve as equal storytellers. The bass doesn’t merely accompany the voice; it narrates its own stories and engages in dialogue with the voice, creating a fluid, balanced musical exchange. In this process, traditional and improvised music emerge as kindred languages, as if they were local dialects of a shared musical language.
The duo’s performance at the “Pocket Globe” Festival will be their debut in Serbia!
This concert is supported by the Sounds of Europe, the Polish Institute in Belgrade, and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Hiram Salsano & Marcello De Carolis (photo: Vito D’Andrea)
The music project “Fronni D’alia” was born from the meeting of Hiram Salsano’s young yet ancient voice and Marcello De Caroli’s modern, virtuosic chitarra battente.
Together, the two artists fully express the sonic and evocative potential of the sounds and rhythms of southern Italy. Their musical exploration merges tradition with original compositions, enhanced by the use of loop stations.
Each note, like a gentle breeze, caresses the soul, carrying the sounds of narrative songs, serenades, and work chants across the landscapes of southern Italy. At the same time, the driving rhythms convey strength and vigor, echoing the resilience and passion of a community that has lived its history with tenacity.
HIRAM SALSANO, an independent ethnographic researcher from Cilento (Salerno), explores the voice as an instrument and plays southern Italian frame drums (tammorra and tamburello). In 2023, she released her debut album, “Bucolica. In 2024, her ethnographic research book “Chi fa ammore va Camminanne was published. She has earned several prestigious Italian awards for her contributions to the world music scene.
MARCELLO DE CAROLIS is an artist specializing in the chitarra battente. His recordings include “The Eclectic Beating – Contemporary Music for Chitarra Battente”, “Venti” (with Francesco Loccisano, a project selected for the official Womex ’23 lineup), and “Cordaminations” (with Luca Fabrizio). In 2019, he co-authored “La chitarra battente – Metodo Base” with Francesco Loccisano, the first beginner’s method for the chitarra battente.
Salsano’s and De Carolis’s concert at the “Pocket Globe” Festival will be their debut performance in Serbia!
This event is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Belgrade.
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CONCERT LINEUP
Hiram Salsano: voice, frame drums, Jew’s harp, loop station
Marcello De Carolis: chitarra battente, loop station
Offering polyphonic creations rooted in traditional song, the trio SAMAÏA creates a sound that is entirely their own, woven from harmonies, drones, and polyrhythms. Their voices, solidly anchored in the earth, reinvent traditional stories of Eurasia. Their repertoire draws from traditions dear to each of the three singers and honors the regional languages of France (Occitan and Breton), as well as other regions of Europe and the Middle East.
Their music is a powerful blend of their different life journeys:
Eléonore Fourniau, a specialist in Kurdish and Anatolian music, lived in Istanbul for six years to study languages and music, focusing on singing and the saz. With her powerful voice and unique style of playing the hurdy-gurdy, drawing inspiration from various stringed and wind instruments, she has won over Kurdish audiences and a wider global following;
Noémie Nael, a singer-songwriter in the French chanson tradition, trained as an actress before turning to singing and songwriting. She began composing and performing her own songs, accompanied by Joël Simon on piano. In 2017, her singing career took a leap with the creation of Trio Samaïa;
Luna Silva, a singer-songwriter of folk/world music, is the daughter of an English actress and a Spanish circus clown and grew up immersed in diversity and travel. Trained as an ethnomusicologist, she journeyed around the world, making it her open-air conservatory. Her passion lies in exploring various vocal techniques, which she incorporates into her songwriting.
The name “samaïa” comes from a traditional Georgian dance performed by three women, symbolizing the different facets of Queen Tamar: the young princess, the wise mother, and the all-powerful sovereign.
On stage, the three expressive singers accompany themselves with percussion and the hurdy-gurdy. They offer an intimate performance that is both moving and refreshing, leaving no one untouched.
Their second album, “Traversées”, celebrates life and its challenges through stories from various rural traditions across Eurasia. Each song narrates a rite of passage, a welcome, a farewell, a plea, or a celebration.
Their concert at the “Pocket Globe” Festival will be their premiere performance in Serbia!
This event is supported by the French Institute in Serbia.
ANA ALCAIDE is a musician and composer from Toledo, Spain, known for her research on ancient traditions and cultures. She is one of the most recognized Spanish artists in the folk and world music scene.
Alcaide has performed her music at major festivals, theaters, and venues across Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Morocco, China, Malaysia, Tunisia, Canada, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Estonia, Switzerland, Hungary, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Uruguay, and more – over 600 concerts on four continents!
She has played a pioneering role in introducing and popularizing the nyckelharpa in Spain. Rooted in ancient traditions yet distinctly modern, her compositions blend musical styles from various cultures with finesse. Inspired by the city of Toledo, Ana writes and produces her songs, crafts new arrangements, and adapts the nyckelharpa to ancient melodies from medieval Spain that have traveled throughout the Mediterranean region. In recent years, her personal and artistic evolution has led her to explore new creative territories.
In Novi Sad, Ana Alcaide will perform her “Essentia” program, alongside her husband, Bill Cooley, a multi-instrumentalist originally from the USA.
Ana Alcaide’s concert at the “Pocket Globe” Festival will mark her premiere performance in Serbia!
This event is supported by the Embassy of Spain in Serbia.
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CONCERT LINEUP
Ana Alcaide: vocals, nyckelharpa, Hardanger violin
Bill Cooley: oud, psaltery, bouzouki, bass pedal, programming
CONFERENCE “ROMA PEOPLE AND MUSIC: FREEDOM, ADAPTATION, TAKING OVER”
International Conference “Music on the Move“, Todo Mundo Festival, Belgrade, RTS Club – Radio Belgrade, 2022 (photo: Vladimir Milisavljević)
The CONFERENCE “ROMA PEOPLE AND MUSIC: FREEDOM, ADAPTATION, TAKING OVER” will be held at the Jewish Cultural Center “Oneg Shabat” (Jevrejska 16) on September 22, 2024, starting at 11 AM.
The conference will feature SPEAKERS from nine European countries: Ciro De Rosa (Italy), Maša Vukanović (Serbia), Christian Pliefke (Germany), Dragan Ristić (Serbia), Martyna Van Nieuwland (Netherlands/Poland), Tcha Limberger (Belgium), Júlia Kozáková (Slovakia), Dušan Sviba (Czech Republic), Marija Dumnić Vilotijević (Serbia), Anti Kovács (Hungary), and Marija Vitas (moderator/Serbia).
The Roma are undeniably a very attractive topic for artists and their audiences, as well as for scholars and a wider circle of people. This has been the case for a long time, and it is still true today. The Roma are a theme through which various elements, interpretations, and stereotypes intersect: truths, falsehoods, assumptions, imagination, idealization, belittlement, and assumed associations with certain talents and temperaments…
At the top of the most common associations with the Roma are music and passion. The proverbial connection of the Roma with music (and dance), as well as the presumed need for freedom in behavior and expression (of passionate) feelings, has inspired numerous artistic music names from different eras: Tartini, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Bizet, Liszt, Sarasate, Dvořák, and others. Their compositions inspired by the imagined or real life and creativity of the Roma are generally extremely attractive to audiences, both from past centuries and contemporary ones. One reason for this perception and taste lies in the fact that the Roma are a paradigm for freedom and overcoming social boundaries and demands, which can be found as at least a latent, inherent need in almost every human being.
This very story of freedom carries a question mark… Are the Roma really the embodiment of freedom and some kind of social relaxation, considering the strongly patriarchal environment in which they have functioned for centuries up to the present day?
Aren’t the Roma actually quite framed by patriarchy and superstitions that largely shape their lives? Do we perhaps recognize freedom in the Roma because they have long lived a different way of life, which is not free, but precisely – different?
In addition to various dilemmas and themes related to the Roma and the question of freedom, there are also several issues concerning the Roma in music. In Serbia, the attitude of the non-Roma population towards Roma musicians has often been ambivalent – from admiration for their ability and openness to various types of music to some derogatory views, characteristic of the past (in the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, more often in smaller communities), where music was considered an unworthy “Gypsy job” or certain instruments (e.g., the violin) were seen as typically “Gypsy” and thus unsuitable for Serbs, Serbian peasants, Serbian children to play…
It is true that the Roma in Serbia have popularized music as a profession, as a craft, which is also the reason for their musical openness and ability to perform and combine different types of music. In the past, in Serbia, the Roma began to play Serbian music to approach the dominant people, to perform what they needed, loved, and wanted to hear for them as a reward.
In this process of adopting the foreign, they added something of their own to the foreign, some kind of temperament, sensibility, ornamentation in music…
The famous Vranje singer Stana Avramović Karaminga (1897 – 1969) once described the difference between the true, Vranje urban singing, which was “pure”, in which no melisma was allowed in the middle of the melody or at the end, as she believed applied to Roma singers when they performed Serbian, Vranje songs.
In the 1990s, primarily influenced by film art, the Roma seemed to become a synonym for the Balkans, Serbia, and the legacy of brass bands for the West (and not only the West). Although traditional Serbian music is rich and diverse, and despite the fact that Serbs themselves have a strong brass tradition spanning over a century, what makes Serbian music most recognizable to the rest of the world remains the Roma and Roma brass bands.
Today, the Roma continue to adapt to the needs of contemporary listeners, not only to the Serbian rural, urban, and city populations but even more to the listening habits of audiences in the West.
Hence, among today’s Balkan brass bands (Boban and Marko Marković, Džambo Aguševi, etc.), we observe an increasing tendency towards a pure, “polished”, and highly produced sound, as well as the use of various well-known motifs, i.e., quotes from pop, funk, rock, Latino, and other genres.
What is the current situation with Roma musicians today, in Serbia, Europe, and the world? How many Roma musicians and bandleaders are there, as well as international groups and non-Roma bands that don a Roma guise or in any way allude to the Roma? To what extent are the Roma turning to musical literacy and education today? What is the role and place of Roma women in music and on the contemporary music scene? What about the modern audience and their relationship to Roma temperament and creativity?
All these and many other anticipated and unforeseen questions will be discussed and debated at the carefully planned fourth conference organized by the Ring Ring Association.
The conference will bring together local and international, primarily music professionals, to provide insights from their perspectives – musical, managerial, organizational, scientific, ethnomusicological, ethnological, journalistic, and research – on the complexity of Roma life and work in society and the music world, both past and present, especially within the polygenre milieu known as world music.
With the support of the moderator of the conference, which will be divided into two sessions, a debate will develop among the participants, and at the end of each session, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions, comment, and engage in lively discussion with the speakers.
The conference is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, which has also supported all previous conferences organized by the Ring Ring Association: “Women in the World Music – Artists, Managers, Journalists…” (2021), “Music on the Move” (2022), and “Tradition Nowadays, in the World Music” (2023).
Admission to the conference is free.
TERNE ČHAVE
Terne Čhave, 2023 (photo: Dušan Sviba)
TERNE ČHAVE is considered probably the oldest active, and definitely one of the most well-known Roma bands in the Czech Republic. The band is famous for its distinctive sound that blends traditional Roma music of Central Europe with funk, rock, soul, ska, jazz, blues, and other influences.
Many years ago, these musicians have stood on their own feet, crossing the boundaries of the Roma ghetto. By bringing their gadjo friends among musicians and working with them together, Terne Čhave took confident steps into the big world.
Traveling across Europe, from the Czech Republic and Slovakia through Poland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Benelux, to England and Scotland, wherever they perform, people happily dance along with them.
Today, Terne Čhave is a band that has transcended the phenomenon of genre boundaries, but their Roma roots provide a solid base for musical journeys to destinations that are too far for many.
The band is not burdened by questions of style, but they don’t leave the audience time to think about it either, as they are mostly stunned by the devilish pace of the group’s songs. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Terne Čhave’s slogan is: It’s only Rom’n’Roll!
The band ROMANO DROM (meaning “Gypsy’s Road” in Romani), today the most prominent representative of contemporary Roma culture in Hungary, was founded in 1999 by a father and son, both with the same name and surname – Antal Kovács. Father Antal Kovács has since passed away, but the group has continued to work and preserve the tradition, thanks also to the grandchildren who joined the band.
The group performs predominantly composed music by Antal Kovács Junior, based on tradition and roots, as well as the language of the Vlach Roma, but with distinctly modern arrangements and a contemporary concept that combines old Roma heritage with Catalan rumba, as well as Arabic and Balkan rhythms.
Romano Drom, a band whose every performance is marked by an eruption of musical energy, with moments of melancholy and warm emotion, boasts an international career with a series of concerts and tours in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. The band has released seven albums, with the latest being “Give Me Wine” (2019) – for the prestigious British label “Riverboat”.
At the “Todo Mundo” festival, the group will, with guest participation, present their special project marking 25 years of work.
The unique musical world of Romano Drom has brought them great success and made them one of the most sought-after global music ensembles dedicated to Roma heritage.
Lenhart Tapes feat. Tijana Stanković, 2022 (photo: Vladimir Opsenica)
Vladimir Lenhart, known by his stage name LENHART TAPES will happily drop Ethno-Noise on you, then leave you to work out what that might mean. You’ll have a pretty good idea after about a minute of the “Dens” album (Glitterbeat, 2023) - or indeed if you’ve spent any time in the Balkans generally, surrounded by folk music in all its incarnations, and in Belgrade specifically, which yields up the ghosts of the Yugoslav punk and industrial scenes of the 1980s and the city’s current experimental excursions to anyone with time to listen and explore.
Vladimir’s grandfather Ján was a popular interpreter of Slovak folk song in the 1950s, and the careful marshalling of national minority cultures in Yugoslavia produced a musical heritage that continues to resonate for those that have come after. Being younger, however, means that they have their own musical stories to tell and influences to work around.
Vladimir’s tapes-by-the-kilo, car-boot-sale approach is something familiar to turntablists and hip-hop artists, but it’s his love of industrial sound that’s key, producing a magical, beauty-and-the-beast encounter of dirty noise, improvised violin and righteous folk.
Lenhart Tapes is only one half of the story here, however. Enter Tijana Stanković: singer, classically trained violinist, ethnomusicologist and Radio Belgrade music editor. By Vladimir’s own admission, her encyclopaedic knowledge of the music he had grown up with turned the project from something somewhat ironic to something very sincere.
He recalls an immediate connection, over a shared love of that music, and it’s a connection that has since developed in perhaps unforeseen directions, with Tijana herself pushing Vladimir into an even more uncompromising sonic stance.
The slow burn of Lenhart Tapes’ emergence has been built upon a set of scorching small-venue performances, with Vladimir’s Walkmans laying down a collage of beat, noise and tune for Tijana’s voice and violin to respond to and, at times, work against. But if you think that makes them more of a live than a recorded proposition, you’d be wrong. A decade of sporadic releases, frequently on cassette, was followed by 2021’s “Duets”, a sweeping, sample-heavy progress report. Now comes “Dens”, which hits a different kind of stride.
The loops and samples of the previous record are still there, but are joined by an expanded roster of musicians. It’s denser, more considered, but still spacious; and it’s as rackety as Belgrade, one of Europe’s most intense capitals, but beautifully put together.
Šalter Ensemble operates on the border between free improvisation and composition, focusing on collective processes as a central part of its practice. The project is an international electroacoustic ensemble initiated in 2017 by Jonas Kocher in collaboration with Zavod Sploh Ljubljana and Izlog Festival Zagreb, and has since performed at numerous venues and festivals in Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and Serbia.
In 2021, the ensemble released the album Štiri dela and in 2024 it’s second album Tri dela.
The ensemble consists of outstanding personalities from the international music scene. The musicians come from a wide range of backgrounds – from jazz to traditional and folk music to contemporary improvised and electronic music – and are from different generations.
In its current programme, Šalter presents new compositions, which were developed especially for Šalter during a residency in Venice in May 2023: “Interstices / Interferences” (Jonas Kocher & Gaudenz Badrutt), “šum III” (Elisabeth Harnik) and “My Wish Your Command” (Tomaž Grom).
Line-up:
Gaudenz Badrutt – electronics; Estelle Beiner – violin; Ilia Belorukov – saxophone; Tomaž Grom – doublebass, electronics; Elisabeth Harnik – piano; Josef Klammer – drums, electronics; Jonas Kocher – accordion; Samo Kutin – hurdy gurdy; Alfred Lang – trumpet; Irena Z. Tomažin – voice
The Cologne-based ensemble, Trio C / W | N consists of three accomplished and experienced improvisers and personalities of the international improvised music scene: pianist Dušica Cajlan, saxophonist Georg Wissel and percussionist Etienne Nillesen.
Since 2016, Trio C / W | N has been continuously developing their concentrated ensemble language and convince with fascinating, imaginative, lively and subtle playing.
A trialogue of musicians who simultaneously co-create, react, complement each other and always act highly musically. In doing so, they place the qualities of sound, tone and noise with open forms, precisely formulated structures and accentuated rhythms at the centre of their music composed in real-time.
In November 2022, their album Thirty Nine Fifty Five was released on the New York label Acheulian Handaxe and was enthusiastically received by the critics. In March of 2023, C / W | N performed at renowed ART ACTS Festival in Austria, one of the most important European festivals for contemporary Improvised music and free jazz.
Currently, the trio is concentrating on a kind of analogue granular-synthetic ensemble playing, in which the music creates itself, so to speak.
