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Vladan: Ornaments
ByTo listen to his debut solo album Ornaments is to be engulfed by the whirlwind that is Vladan. His music mixes a classical sensibility with Balkan folk music coupled with improvisation, making him end up sounding like a modern Balkan Chopin merged with Oscar Peterson (to really stretch an allusion), from whom endless ideas flow.
The music has an intensity that runs underneath the waves of notes that flow from Vladan's fingers. While the music of Ornaments does not swing in the traditional jazz sense, he can swing with a vengeance as evidenced by the Music and Video pages on his site.
The tracks vary in the amount of apparent Balkan influence, and the rhythmic and scalar idiosyncrasies of that area's folk music are not always obvious; what is obvious is Vladan's ability to communicate his emotions through his music.
In the end, making music, any kind of music, is all about the performer connecting with his or her audience. This, Vladan does without question; his playing opens his heart to ours.
Track Listing
Ornaments; Rock & Folk; Leoland; Homeland; Biljana; Jeremija; Serbian Leaves; There Are Days; When I Don’t Know What To Do…; Free Improv (Relatives Impressions); Free Improv (D String Impressions); Free Improv (Arpeggio Impressions); Free Improv (My Spontaneous Heart)
Personnel
Vladan
pianoVladan (Mijatovic): piano.
Album information
Title: Ornaments | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Self Produced