Jazz Articles about Ratko Zjaca

About Ratko Zjaca

Album Review

Nocturnal Four: Light In The World

Read "Light In The World" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 27, 2020

A band of the night embraces light. It's an equipoise in interests that propels this outing to great depths and heights. Croatian guitarist Ratko Zjaca, long a proponent for cross-cultural exchange in music, uses this dark yet illuminating platform to sow the seeds of accord with a band of brothers from different motherlands. He reunites with Italian saxophonist Stefano Bedetti and Slovenian organist Renato Chicco, who proved to be his perfect match(es) on Life on Earth (In ...

Album Review

Nocturnal Four: Life On Earth

Read "Life On Earth" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 18, 2018

What's in a band name? Sometimes, absolutely nothing; but in this case, a world of truth. Croatian guitarist Ratko Zjaca's Nocturnal Four infuses his music with vespertine vibes and shrouds it in shadows, living up to its name while carving out its own identity on an absorbing program calling to the moonlight. After forging a bandstand brotherhood through touring with saxophonist Stefano Bedetti and organist Renato Chicco, it was clear to Zjaca that they needed to be ...

Album Review

Ratko Zjaca: Now & Then: A Portrait

Read "Now & Then: A Portrait" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 31, 2011

Boiling a decade's worth of work down to one CD must be a frustrating yet gratifying process. Frustration likely surrounds the idea of reducing ten years of blood, sweat, composing and performing into a single package, but the recorded evidence of one's artistic growth and reach is the ultimate reward. Such is the case with the music on Now & Then: A Portrait, which serves as a survey of Croatian guitarist Ratko Zjaca's output from 2000 to 2011.

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Album Review

Ratko Zjaca / Simone Zanchini: The Way We Walk

Read "The Way We Walk" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
February 27, 2011

Jazz musicians are, in essence and practice, explorers and high-wire artists. The finest improvising players use their instruments to mine the dimensions of sound, rhythm and emotional perception, doing so without a safety net. Like its keyboard cousin the piano, the accordion as an instrument that challenges its players to explore the technical and harmonic universes out there. Unlike the piano, however, the accordion has only recently crossed cultural barriers into jazz and into more abstract playing. ...

Album Review

Ratko Zjaca - Simone Zanchini: The Way We Talk

Read "The Way We Talk" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 31, 2011

The Way We Talk - “Il nostro modo di parlare" - è l'emblematico titolo del CD d'esordio di questo quartetto che fa della molteplicità di radici, geografiche e musicali, la propria peculiarità e ricchezza. Capitanato dal chitarrista Ratko Zjaca, croato stanziato a Rotterdam, e dal fisarmonicista Simone Zanchini, il quartetto è completato alla ritmica dalla batteria del newyorkese Adam Nussbaum e dal contrabbasso di Martin Gjakonovski, macedone trasferitosi in Germania. Le disparate provenienze geografiche dei quattro fanno da pendant all'ampiezza ...

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Album Review

Ratko Zjaca / Simone Zanchini: The Way We Talk

Read "The Way We Talk" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
January 12, 2011

Little more than a year ago, the great Croation guitarist, Ratko Zjaca, released the terrific Continental Talk (In + Out Records 2009) with his longtime collaborator, saxophonist, Stanislav Mitrovic, and some all-star American support. Not content to follow even a highly successful formula, Zjaca has teamed with Italian accordionist Simone Zanchini, Macedonian bassist Martin Gjakonovski and American drummer Adam Nussbaum for The Way We Talk. Zjaca's new--but still global--quartet represents a change, not only in group structure, but in its ...

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Album Review

Ratko Zjaca / Simone Zanchini: The Way We Talk

Read "The Way We Talk" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 10, 2010

Guitarist Ratko Zjaca's previous albums have been cross-cultural affairs, with top-flight American jazz musicians joining the Croatian guitarist on his musical journeys. While these players have vastly different backgrounds, Zjaca's music has acted as a binding agent, allowing these disparate musical personalities to coalesce into a solid working unit that moves together in service of the music. The Way We Talk continues this global trend with an American drummer, Italian accordion player and Macedonian bassist joining the guitarist, but the ...