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In memory of Matija Dedic
One of the most famous Serbian jazz musicians - pianist, composer, arranger, producer and music pedagogue - Vasil Hadžimanov, with this concert, pays tribute to the untimely death of pianist and composer Matija Dedić, with whom he was connected by a long-standing friendship, deep mutual understanding and intense artistic collaboration.
Although both were pianists, Hadžimanov and Dedić performed together in a duo, but also in a trio, with Bojan Zulfikarpašić. Their careers were not intertwined by chance: they were born in the same year, started playing the piano at the age of five, and were educated at prestigious jazz academies – Hadžimanov in Boston, Dedić in Graz. They developed on similar musical foundations, including mainstream jazz, fusion, ethno-jazz and free-jazz, and in parallel built careers as soloists and band leaders, but also as collaborators of numerous musicians of various profiles.
Asil Hadžimanov was chosen to perform at the commemoration for Matija Dedić in the Small Hall of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, alongside double bassist Žiga Golob, drummer Kruno Levačić, and trumpeter Davor Križić. After that, on various occasions and with various collaborators, he continued to pay tribute to his friend and colleague with music.
In Split, he does this with the Vasil Hadžimanov Band, a band that has gone through numerous sonic transformations and line-up changes over the years, but has remained consistent with Hadžimanov's fundamental idea: complete autonomy for each band member, encouragement of personal expression, and collective creation of music through mutual listening, dialogue, and improvisation.
Hadžimanov has thoroughly studied the work of great jazz pianists and composers who have marked the development of jazz, and Keith Jarrett, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter had a strong influence on his musical formation. However, these names served him primarily as an incentive to shape his own, recognizable sound. He finds inspiration in music in general, regardless of genre, with his key values being love, curiosity and spirituality from which music is born.
His authorial approach is characterized by the free fusion of jazz with traditional music, especially Balkan music, which develops a unique and authentic musical language. This interest in tradition is also connected to his family heritage: his grandfather was a prominent performer of Macedonian folk songs and one of the most important ethnomusicologists of the former state. Hadžimanov, however, always filters the motifs of traditional music through his own authorial filter, using them only when they are completely in harmony with his personality and inner voice.
Regardless of style or context, at the heart of his work are always the principles of jazz music, especially improvisation, which allows him the freedom of momentary decision, but also deeper emotional, spiritual and intellectual expression. He sees such an approach as a way of fighting against rubbish and bad taste and as an advocacy of true values that arise from continuous learning, work and research.
Vasil Hadzhimanov is one of the key names in contemporary jazz music in Serbia and beyond. He has released a number of albums as a band leader, including eight releases with his Vasil Hadžimanov Band. Albums Fun i Innerspace He has released for the record company Croatia Records, and has collaborated with numerous foreign labels. He was a member of various bands, including Darkwood Dub, Bace Quartet and Trio Sveti.
His entire oeuvre is recognized as a work of art of exceptional importance in the cultural context of Serbia.. He is the winner of numerous awards and recognitions, among them the Award for the best debut album of the Beovizija festival (11 reasons for…), Award for the best instrumental album at the Sunčane skale festival (Taverns), the "Vojin Mališa Draškoci" Award of the World Music Association of Serbia, the "Golden Badge" of the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, the "Magister Humanitas" Award, the Honorary Doctorate of Musical Arts from Goca Delčev University in Štip, the GODUM Award for contribution to jazz music and the Annual Jazz Station Awards 2019 for the best jazz pianist on the electric piano.
In 2003, he performed with his band at the Enter Music festival in Belgrade, where he shared the stage with Joe Zawinul's Zawinul Syndicate, who then invited him to perform at Joe's Birdland club in Vienna. He was also invited to collaborate with violinist Nigel Kennedy, with whom he performed at a major concert in Belgrade. In 2005, he represented his country at the Jazzy Colors festival in Paris, where he gave three notable concerts.
He received his most important jazz education at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was a scholarship student. He graduated in 1995 after three years of study, and then spent two more years in the United States, where he worked as a music programmer and composer at Tomandandy Studio in New York and collaborated with musicians such as David Gilmour, David Binney, Matt Garrison, George Garzone and Chris Cheek. This period decisively shaped his musical taste and artistic approach.
Today he also works as a music pedagogue. Since 2011, he has been a visiting professor and head of the Jazz Piano Department at the Music Academy in Štip, and since 2020, he has been a professor at the Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad. He actively participates in numerous workshops and international projects, including the Tutti project in cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. Since 2015, he has been the moderator and host of the music-educational series M Lab on RTV Vojvodina.
In addition to his own compositions, he also composes music for documentaries and feature films, as well as television series.
Davor Hrvoj
