Pianist, arranger and composer Zvjezdan Ružić has collaborated with renowned artists and ensembles such as 2Cellos, Harlem Gospel Choir, Josipa Lisac, Massimo Savić and Vlatko Stefanovski, confirming his versatility and innovative spirit. He has been awarded the prestigious “Status for the best pianist in Croatia” award six times, and his albums have won the prestigious “Porin” award several times, thus solidifying his status as one of the leading contemporary composers in the country. He is the author of music for the theatre plays “La fatiche di Pseudolus”, “I botoni de la Montura” and for “La finta ammalata”, an Italian drama by the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka. So far, he has recorded the albums “The Knightingale Cabaret”, “Pandaland”, “Elfin Farewell”, “Delightful F”, “Inspiration”, “Dandelion – Live at Lisinski Concert Hall” and “The Rain Made It Blossom – Live at American Gardens”.
In addition to being a pianist, Ružić is also a prolific composer. He creates works that bring a personal approach, regardless of whether they rely on language. jazz, traditional music from the environment in which he grew up or the influences of world music. In these works he fully reveals his inner self, his most hidden thoughts, fears, obsessions, zeal, but also his attitudes towards life and the world in which we live. In his works, emotion and message always come before technique and fascination. These compositions always contain messages of optimism, beauty and hope for achieving betterment, where, although it stems from jazz, increasingly disregards stylistic limitations, and increasingly thinks about creating a special atmosphere.
Today we can say that his style is personal, just as his approach to playing the piano and guitar simultaneously is personal. mellotron, an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument, designed in 1963, which Ružić used during the recordings of his three albums, and which he will play at this concert. This combination, which he called Pianotron, persistently develops, achieving incredible sonic results. In this case mellotron It is no longer an accompanying instrument used only to create a background sound image or imitate the sound of the orchestra; it brings it to the forefront, it is equal to the piano, it participates in various aspects of creating a musical work, its role is broader than that intended for the left hand when playing the piano. In this project, one cannot rely on existing examples because they do not exist. He does not follow the path outlined by some musician or ensemble, he has traced a new path, a path that could become a model for new generations of musicians. This is a unique situation that he created solely on the basis of his own impulse.
Apart from the fact that it is a brave move to create something unique, because you can never be sure how the audience and critics will accept it, simply because something like this has never been done before, it is fascinating how he developed the crazy idea of a "construction" Pianotron by bringing the piano closer - not merging - and mellotron and by networking with his fingers, or rather, with the brain waves he projects while playing. In fact, the construction Pianotron, along with the two aforementioned instruments, also forms an organic implant - the body, mind and spirit of Zvjezdan Ružić. So, Pianotron is a specific instrument that only exists when Ružić sits at the piano and mellotron and plays them at the same time. Solo! Also, Pianotron we can also call it an orchestra because of the sound it produces.
Pianotron, or connection mellotron and piano, best captures Ružić's character. Part of him wants to remain a playful child forever, while the other part is very thoughtful about life and everything that happens around him. That playful child mellotron, and that romantic sage is the piano. Sometimes a romantic piano melody inspires mellotron to a new sound and a new game, while sometimes that very playful mellotron it inspires the piano to a slightly wiser melody and so on.
Apart from the fact that the idea itself is rare on a global scale, Ružić does not play the instrument to recreate the sound of the sixties when mellotron was popular in performances by bands such as King Crimson, Gentle Giant, genesis i Yes, also The Beatles, as most other "freaks" of this instrument do, on the contrary, he creates his own sound world, which he further enriches with the use of a computer and a series of pedals.
However, in the beginning Pianotron did not fully meet the requirements of Ružić's vision, until he grafted onto it a device that he played with his foot, into which he could insert various sounds. He recorded a series of musical examples into it, a different one for each composition, which were not already existing samples, but rather sounds from the environment that he himself selected and recorded. In this way, he gained another dimension in Pianotron and opened up space for new explorations of sound possibilities, which opened up more possibilities for him to create rhythmically and harmonically complex music, although it always seems simple and natural. In fact, there is much more hidden in it, something that can only be understood through multiple listenings. With each new listening, we discover mysterious details, various ways of combining two musical worlds... and only then do we begin to slowly enter the mind of the artist, discovering his musical and non-musical intentions, secrets, character, preferences. Only then can we truly enjoy this unique music.
If you delve deeper into the project Pianotron, you will start unconsciously snapping your fingers, twisting along groove and make faces, be absorbed by what your right hand is playing, the one that plays the piano, and at the same time you will be seized by the urge to, be encouraged by your left hand, the one that plays mellotron, you dance like a robot, with fast, sharp, mechanical movements. But that's just one of his approaches mellotron; in the very next performance he plays a string quartet or orchestra, in some he conjures up the playing of drums or timpani, the sounds of scissors, a dance floor and various atmospheres, or he brings a completely different atmosphere, images, associations... which gives a third dimension Pianotron and enhances the impression of the messages that Ružić wants to send with each individual composition. In search of his own sound, he combines various combinations, seemingly beyond all logic and all rules, offering a new logic and his own rules. In this way, he retains his own personality despite the fact that even this process of exploring sounds, which best evokes his emotions, and they are different in each composition, is not painless and quick.
During project development Pianotron Ružić became the first musician in the region to be an official artist for Yamaha Music Europe i endorser for Yamaha concert pianos. In addition to his reputation, this recognition also brings him material benefits, so Yamaha makes sure that he has a top-notch piano wherever he decides to play, even if it has to be placed on or in water, and water has a strong symbolic meaning for him and is constantly present in his life. He often goes to the sea, rivers and lakes because in such an environment he feels fulfilled, completely relaxed and inspired. He achieves nirvana with water, which is why he has linked some projects to water. For example, he filmed the video for his song "Abundance & Peace" in the water, in the Rječina canyon, more precisely in the area of the old mill in Žaklje, and he performed in front of almost three thousand people on a floating stage on the Second Lake in Zagreb's Maksimir.
Davor Hrvoj
