Coming from Slovenia, where I grew up in the brass band world, with Balkan and Oberkrainer tradition, I discovered jazz and it rocked my world! In fact, it still does. In my teenage years, I had the luck to hear great tuba players like Jon Sass, Michel Godard and Dave Bargeron, who pushed me into the "right direction". :) In August 2004, I met Dutch/American bass player Joris Teepe at the Jazzinty Workshop in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, who promptly recruited me to the Prins Claus Conservatorium in Groningen, the Netherlands, where I flew to within a month!
I've now graduated from the program, after a time of unimaginable growth with my friends, the new environments, and the Dutch, as well as USA guest faculty (currently composed by Alex Sipiagin, Mark Gross, Don Braden, Freddie Bryant, Dena DeRose, David Berkman, Joris Teepe & Ralph Peterson). For a couple years, fitting in as a jazz tuba player seemed a distant, at times even unachievable goal... until I started working with several student bands, of which most notably...
Acropolis quartet, led by Kaja Draksler , with whom we released the CD "Akropola" (Goga Music) in 2008. Currently, we are preparing a new record with Turkish singer Sanem Kalfa .
Next Music Ensemble, led by Andrej Hocevar , a band exploring the undercurrents of life flowing through music, to achieve sophistication not by looking for sophistication, but by removing layer after layer of stiff ideas and learned preconceptions and digging deep towards the source that drives life and its many manifestations, including music. We're getting ready to record our debut CD featuring Alex Sipiagin , preceded by a tour of Slovenia and Croatia.
Future plans include a trip across the pond and a further step of musical experience. And speaking of experience, through past ups and downs, there is one thought that appears more and more clear and constant, and it should be kept in mind at all times:
No life, no music.
