MY MUSIC IS ....... my jazz band "Afinado"..... where I have the most extraordinairy musical "conversations" with my amazing younger colleague Petar Culibrk on piano....... (afinado=in tune)............
MY MUSIC IS ....... my gospel band "Agape", where I let myself go to "the spirit", and where every solo I take is so much "beyond" just a "musical" journey....
MY MUSIC IS ....... my freejazz "B&B Band" where we take a leap right into ourselves, and let the music that is within fly freely.... with the freedom that only JAZZ can bring to reality..... for the people who gave birth to JAZZ were those who loved "freedom" more than anyone and carried the "greatest" longing for it in their hearts and minds ...
AFINADO...
... is founded on the musical collaboration between vocalist Morana Mesic (b. 1981) and pianist Petar Culibrk (b. 1986), both students of classical music in their home town at The Music Academy in Zagreb.
This collaboration as a jazz duo began in December, 2006, with an appearance on a national televison show including a live performance of Jimmy Van Heusen's "I thought about you", which you can see here on Youtube:
After this appearance, Afinado started performing regularly in a small jazz club in Zagreb.
The band was at first a quartet. Then, shortly, a quintet; after that a duo (for the longest period). Most recent edition of Afinado is trio, with Sasa Borovec on double bass.
However... "the music of Afinado" seems to continuosly underline the original duo setting as "the core of Afinado"
Afinado at the Spring Jazz Revue in 2008:
AGAPE...
... is a gospel ensemble from Zagreb which was founded in 1983, and has been continuously performing ever since, with, understandably, occasional changes in personnel.
For a quarter of a century now, Agape has been appearing in numerous concert halls in their home country (Croatia), mainly in benefit concerts, with a sincere and hearttfelt desire to help all those who are in some way misfortunate. In their humanitary activities, Agape has always been "particularly" focused on children.
Agape live in concert in Osijek, June 2008, performing I Wanna Be Ready, solo - Morana Mesic. (This concert was a fund raising event to help raise money for the "Sretna Kuća" project which deals with children born with AIDS.)
The rich repertoire of the group represents almost every musical style in spiritual music: classic and contemporary gospel, black spiritual songs, country gospel, and also, works of Croatian contemporary composers. The group has so far recorded 6 CD albums and 1 DVD.
Agape has always been a most warmly welcomed music guest of many different cities throughout Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Canada and USA.
Agape vocalists performing the 8th Psalm with Croatian lyrics, Elizabeta Skobe accompanying on piano
The word «Agape» descends from Greek, and is originally used in the Holy Bible, representing God's Love For Man.
Listen to AGAPE singers a cappella, performing "Aleluja", a composition by Tomislav Uhlik (Croatia) and a black spiritual song "If we ever":
AGAPE's myspace URL: http://www.myspace.com/grupaagape83
BED & BREAKFAST BAND…
…is a freejazz quintet performing exclusively improvised music.
The making of this band was «parented» by a Jazz Workshop which took place in Zagreb in November 2007, and was organised as part of No Jazz Festival.
(Here is a Youtube video clip offering an overview of the main events at the No Jazz Festival 2007 in Zagreb. Features Rashied Ali, Miles Griffith, William Parker and many others...)The workshop was held by one of the greatest musicians and true geniuses of contemporary music and avantgarde jazz…. bass player William Parker….
This great Music Master's guidance left an especially strong mark on 5 of the participants: Morana Mesic (voice), Matej Deronjic (piano), Vjeko Crljen (double bass), Borko Rupena (drums) and Dario Krmpotic (electric saw, percussion).
These five young musicians were reassembled under the initiative of Morana Mesic long after the workshop had passed, to form a quintet that would base their music on solely improvised music, travelling through the vast and beautiful spaces of atonality, sometimes politonality, surrendering entirely to «phantasy», which binds them together, into a creative and exciting musical organism, full of colour and expression, in freedom of form and harmony… «as free as can be»…