The Mellophonium: "Octave Up" Shljuka Quintet - By Adriano Ghirardo

The long wave of Serbian jazz, documented by the local label A.MA Records, continues to reveal precious fruits. This is now the case of this quintet, led by pianist Aleksandar Jovanovic “Shijuka”, which includes some of the best exponents of their country and, in particular, Ivan Radivojevic on trumpet, Rastko Obradovic on saxophones, Milan Pavkovic on double bass and Aleksandar Cvetkovic on drums. If the formation is typical of hardbop combos, the music is the result of the happy union between the improvisational freedom of jazz and the rhythmic and melodic tradition of their land of origin. Just listen to "Five or none", which opens this beautiful work, to find that mixture of odd musical and rhythmic scales that make the Balkans one of the most ethnically interesting areas to listen to. Obviously, given the origins of the quintet, it's not that superficial ethnojazz that ends up displeasing everyone but a heartfelt fusion between seemingly distant worlds that find a perfect synthesis here. On the melodic “Blue Danube” and “Missing part” as in the more rhythmic “What if...” and “Impure blue” and in the intricate “Eleven changes” the soloists demonstrate their skills, confirming the good state of health of the scene Serbian. And if the title of the final piece, “Which way?”, is a question about which artistic path to pursue, we are advised to continue like this.